Many inquiries regarding the projected timeline for fiscal year (FY) 2017 H1B cap case milestones continue to reach the Murthy Law Firm. While most applicants are aware that they can begin filing H1B cap-subject cases on the first business day in April each year, there...
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has acknowledged noticeable delays in processing H1B petitions. The American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) raised concerns over these delays in a call with USCIS Service Center Operations (SCOPS) on February 3, 2016. A prime cause of the delays...
For the seventh year in a row, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has approved 10,000 U visa petitions, the maximum allowed by law per year under this category. The U visa is reserved for victims of certain types of crime who cooperate with...
For many years, the Murthy Law Firm has addressed questions regarding the interpretation of a "same or similar" occupational classification for job portability in the permanent resident (green card) process. This is a key concept in the American Competitiveness in the 21st Century Act (AC21),...
As previously discussed on MurthyDotCom, the omnibus spending bill passed by Congress in December 2015 included provisions that increase an already hefty filing fee for H1B and L-1 petitions filed by companies that meet certain requirements. As of December 18, 2015 - the date the bill...
This morning, a proposed rule was published in the Federal Register that would provide a number of immigration benefits, including grace periods for certain nonimmigrant workers, improved job flexibility, and greater clarity on a number of existing immigration rules. Some of these benefits include:Once an...
A draft version of a revised form I-765, application for employment authorization has been released, and the corresponding instructions appear to reveal the eligibility criteria for the proposed I-140 employment document authorization (EAD) rule. Unfortunately, it appears that the proposed rule will be more restrictive than hoped....
On December 22, 2015, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) concluded its review of a rule proposed by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) that would "allow certain approved immigrant petition for alien worker (form I-140) beneficiaries to obtain work authorization…" The rule...
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) released a policy memorandum updating guidance on the approval of immediate relative spousal petitions after the death of the U.S. citizen spouse in cases where the widow/er has remarried. The memo, and the related revisions to the USCIS Adjudicator's...
On October 07, 2015, a proposed update of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) online policy manual was released. This is a centralized policy manual, with new online sections added sporadically. The latest proposed addition pertains to grounds for filing discretionary waivers of inadmissibility, based...
