Newcomers to the United States face many practical challenges adapting to a new country. In an effort to ease this transition, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has released updated online resources, intended to "help you settle into everyday life in the U.S." The guide,...
The U.S. Department of State (DOS) provides a monthly visa bulletin explanation, through Charles Oppenheim, Chief of the Visa Control and Reporting Division. This month, Mr. Oppenheim provides more details regarding the predictions in the December 2015 Visa Bulletin, as well as insights into the reasons...
For the December 2015 Visa Bulletin, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is limiting the filing of adjustment of status applications (form I-485s) to the cutoff dates listed in final action (FA) chart for all employment-based (EB) cases. For family-based (FB) cases, the more-favorable...
The visa Interview Waiver Program (IWP) allows eligible foreign nationals who are applying to renew a nonimmigrant visa "stamp" to request that the standard requirement of an in-person interview at a U.S. consulate or embassy be waived. A recent change to the eligibility criteria will...
The U.S. Department of State (DOS) December 2015 Visa Bulletin contains modest advancements in the employment-based (EB) final action (FA) cutoff dates. The cutoff dates in the date of filing (DF) chart remain unchanged. As of the time of this writing, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration...
On November 9, 2015, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ruled against President Barack Obama's Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents (DAPA) program and the expansion of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. Barring a reversal...
This afternoon, the U.S. Department of State (DOS) released the December 2015 Visa Bulletin. There is no movement in the dates for filing (DF) chart for any of the employment-based or family-based categories. As for the final action (FA) chart, the only major movement is in...
The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) Employment and Training Administration (ETA) has released data on labor conditions applications (LCA) filed in connection with H1B petitions during fiscal year 2015 (FY15). The information reflects the number of LCA filings, as well as the most common occupations, the...
Earlier today, the Director of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), León Rodríguez, made a presentation during the Office of the Citizenship and Immigration Services Ombudsman Fifth Annual Conference. During his speech, Mr. Rodríguez only spent a few minutes discussing issues related to the...
A decision issued by the U.S. Department of Labor earlier this year illustrates the importance of systematizing the selection of the wage levels when filing H1B petitions. In Quintanilla v. Myriad RBM Inc. the DOL considered whether the employer had paid the correct wage to...
