The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has announced plans for a Haitian Family Reunification Program (HFRP), which will allow some Haitian nationals who are the beneficiaries of family-based petitions to enter the United States while the cases are still pending. The program is expected to...
A foreign national in the United States who needs to apply for a new U.S. visa "stamp" may wish to do so without the inconvenience of a trip to the person's home county. Rather, the U.S. embassy in Kingston, Jamaica may seem like an appealing...
A policy alert was issued in September 2014, announcing an update to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) online policy manual. The USCIS Policy Manual, which was published online in January 2013, remains a work-in-progress, with new sections sporadically being added. This latest addition pertains to...
The U.S. Department of State (DOS) provides official insights into the visa bulletin on a monthly basis. This information comes directly from Charles Oppenheim, Chief of the Visa Control and Reporting Division, to members of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA). These predictions are in...
Top officials from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) participated in an October 9, 2014 meeting with an American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) committee on immigration benefits. One key topic discussed during that meeting was the current state of the H1B and L-1 Administrative...
The United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit issued an important decision in September 2014 that favorably impacts the legal rights of certain foreign nationals applying to become permanent residents (i.e. "green card" holders). The case addresses the rights of a foreign national...
As previously reported on MurthyDotCom, the U.S. Department of State (DOS) experienced large-scale computer problems this summer that resulted in visa issuance delays globally. While these issues have been resolved, the resulting notations in some visa applicants' files have raised additional questions. The DOS addressed...
On October 6, 2014, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced the creation of a new website, myE-Verify, that is related to the E-Verify program and is intended to help workers combat fraud and protect against identity theft. It also will serve to educate employees...
As previously noted on MurthyDotCom, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced having mistakenly scheduled some applicants for more than one biometric appointment. On October 3, 2014, the USCIS issued instructions on the steps individuals should take upon being scheduled for a second appointment. Problem Identified in...
As previously reported on MurthyDotCom, the U.S. Department of State (DOS) has released the November 2014 Visa Bulletin. This latest visa bulletin brings unwelcome, yet expected news of severe retrogression in the employment-based, second preference (EB2) category for people born in India. Still, there were a...
