Due to the partisan disagreements at the federal level related to the annual budget, there is a possibility that the federal government will be forced to shut down temporarily starting October 1, 2016. Such shutdowns are rare and there is still hope that it will...
Each quarter, the Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) releases a report that provides key data from the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS) on the makeup of international students who study in the United States. A look at these quarterly reports can be...
As of August 1, 2016, any civil surgeon completing a report of medical examination and vaccination record (form I-693) for an applicant who is 15 years of age or older, must test the applicant for gonorrhea. This policy change came with virtually no notice to...
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced this afternoon that the 'dates for filing' (DF) chart in the October 2016 Visa Bulletin may be used as a basis for filing adjustment-of-status applications (form I-485) for nearly all employment- and family-based categories. The only exceptions...
With limited exceptions, foreign nationals are issued Social Security number (SSN) only if they are authorized to work in the United States. Therefore, many who lack work authorization obtain individual tax identification numbers (ITIN) from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) as an alternative. As explained...
The U.S. Department of State (DOS), through Charles Oppenheim, Chief of the Visa Control and Reporting Division, provides monthly visa bulletin insights and predictions. As discussed in the MurthyDotCom NewsBrief, Overview of October 2016 Visa Bulletin (15.Sep.2016), the first visa bulletin of fiscal year 2017...
Last week, the U.S. Department of State (DOS) issued the October 2016 Visa Bulletin, which is the first visa bulletin of fiscal year 2017 (FY17). In the final action (FA) chart, the most significant movements are in the employment-based, second preference (EB2) category. The cutoff...
The U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is seeking to collect social media identifiers from visa waiver program (VWP) travelers. This proposal is part of ongoing security-related changes to the VWP. Individuals who use the VWP, or may wish to do so in the future,...
On August 31, 2016, a proposed Department of Homeland Security (DHS) international entrepreneur rule was published in the Federal Register. The proposed rule is aimed at expanding the limited immigration options for foreign entrepreneurs who, in turn, help the U.S. economy by creating jobs, generating...
This afternoon, the U.S. Department of State (DOS) released the October 2016 Visa Bulletin. There is considerable movement in the final action (FA) chart for the employment-based, second preference (EB2) category. As of October 1, 2016, EB2 will be current for all countries of chargeability,...
