Mr. Don Heflin, the Minister Counselor for Consular Affairs at the U.S. Embassy in India, recently conducted a question-and-answer session to update the public on the state of visa appointments at U.S. consulates in India. Staffing Levels Mr. Heflin noted that staffing levels at the consulates have...
If certain criteria are met, a group of ten or more applicants may schedule a group appointment at a U.S. consulate. An overview of the process of scheduling such an appointment at a U.S. consular post in India is provided here for the benefit of...
The United States allows for the issuance of a Social Security number (SSN) to an individual who is authorized to work in the U.S. One of the key purposes of the SSN is to serve as a tracking number for income tax and related matters....
On August 10, 2022, the U.S. Department of State (DOS) shared a briefing where Ms. Julie M. Stufft, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Visa Services in the Bureau of Consular Affairs, discussed the status of immigrant and nonimmigrant visa processing at U.S. embassies and consulates around...
For most types of immigrant petitions, such as a family-based petition for an alien relative (form I-130) or an employment-based petition for an alien worker (form I-140), the petitioner must indicate whether the foreign national beneficiary will be applying for adjustment of status (form I-485)...
The U.S. consulates in India have recently altered the method for a visa applicant to appear for a follow-up appointment following a 221(g) refusal. The new process appears to be an improvement over the prior method, which required the applicant to schedule the follow-up appointment...
There has been a shortage of nonimmigrant visa (NIV) appointments at the U.S. consulates in India throughout the ongoing pandemic. This problem has been exacerbated by certain agents who have been booking visa appointments in bulk, and then charging visa applicants for these scarce appointment...
The use of domestic workers, such as live-in maids or nannies, tends to be less common in the United States than it is in many other parts of the world. Foreign nationals planning to come to the United States, in addition to U.S. citizens living...
Under certain circumstances, the U.S. Department of State (DOS) has the authority to terminate an immigrant visa registration and revoke the underlying immigrant visa petition if the priority date is current and the case has remained inactive for a specific duration. The following is an...
Foreign nationals may be deemed ineligible for admission (i.e. inadmissible) to the United States for a variety of reasons. Common grounds of inadmissibility include the following: medical grounds, criminal grounds, and immigration violations (including fraud or material misrepresentation in connection with an immigration benefit). In...
