Historically, there has been considerable variation in the amount of time required for the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) to process PERM labor certification applications. The recent trend, however, has been for the processing of these cases to drag on significantly longer than in years...
The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) issued guidance on October 31, 2013, regarding PERM labor certification cases impacted by the recent government shutdown. During the shutdown, it was not possible to use the DOL Office of Foreign Labor Certification (OFLC) electronic submission systems. The guidance...
On October 30, 2013, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) revealed its redesigned website to the general public. The site's web address, www.uscis.gov, remains unchanged, but the content has been rearranged with an eye on simplifying the user's online experience. Easier Navigation In conjunction with the...
As reported in the MurthyDotCom NewsBrief, Fiscal Year 2014 Visa Bulletin Predictions (25.Oct.2013), the Chief of the U.S. Department of State (DOS) Immigrant Visa Control and Reporting Division made a number of predictions regarding how much (or little) cutoff date movement in the employment-based categories...
As explained in Part 1 of this article, the Department of Homeland Security's Office of Inspector General (OIG) recently released a report with its findings and recommendations regarding the L-1 intracompany transferee program. Part 1 discussed the OIG's findings of inconsistencies in adjudications. This second...
On October 23, 2013, Chief of the Immigrant Visa Control and Reporting Division, U.S. Department of State, who is responsible for content of the visa bulletin, provided predictions for future visa bulletin developments. Several attorneys from the Murthy Law Firm attended the October 23rd American...
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has issued a brief announcement regarding the acceptance of H1B petitions (as well as H2A and H2B petitions) that were filed late because of the recent government shutdown. The following discusses the application of these instructions when seeking relief...
The EB2 cutoff dates for India will retrogress in December 2013. The exact cutoff date, which will be set in the Department of State (DOS) Visa Bulletin for December, is yet to be determined. However, it is expected to be at a point between the...
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Office of Inspector General (OIG) released a report analyzing the current state of the L-1, intracompany transferee program. The report, entitled Implementation of L-1 Visa Regulations, addresses perceived problems with the processing of L-1 cases, and provides suggestions to make...
Now that the U.S. federal government shutdown has thankfully ended, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has resumed the processing of labor condition applications (LCAs). However, the bill to reauthorize funding for the federal government is only a stopgap, and is set to expire in...
