On June 4, 2012, the U.S Citizenship and Immigration Services issued an updated count of cases filed against the Fiscal Year 2013 (FY13) cap. This count reflects that the cap filings are getting close to the annual limit, both for the advanced-degree exemption and the...
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has instituted new procedures designed to facilitate prompt resolution of certain specific, clear USCIS case processing errors. The procedures and case types that may be addressed through this expedited case review are explained here for the benefit of...
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has confirmed at the end of May 2012, that delays are being experienced in the issuance of receipt notices for Form I-129. The I-129 is used for many employment-based, nonimmigrant categories, including H1B petitions. Increased H1B Cap Filings The USCIS...
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has announced its May 22, 2012 launch of the initial phase of USCIS ELIS (electronic immigration system) for filing requests for certain immigration benefits. This is part of the overhaul of the systems previously used by the USCIS...
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) blog, known as the Beacon, recently posted information on what the USCIS characterizes as three myths regarding the adjustment-of-status (AOS or I-485) process. These three myths, and the USCIS clarifications, are discussed here for the benefit of MurthyDotCom...
The U.S. Department of State (DOS) Visa Bulletin for June 2012 contains the expected "U" - indicating unavailable - in the EB2 category for India and China. The depletion of the EB2 visa numbers for India and China was confirmed in April 2012. The June...
The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has audited a significant percentage of PERM labor certification (LC or labor) cases since early 2012. The incidence of PERM audits became noticeably higher around February 2012. As explained here for the benefit of MurthyDotCom and MurthyBulletin readers, many...
The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments on the constitutionality of portions of Arizona's controversial immigration law, S.B. 1070, on April 25, 2012. As many MurthyDotCom and MurthyBulletin readers are aware, S.B. 1070 was partially blocked on April 11, 2011 by a federal appeals court. Thereafter,...
For the past four weeks, starting on April 2, 2012, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has been accepting H1B petitions to be counted against the fiscal year 2013 (FY13) H1B Cap. As of the latest count at the time of this writing (through...
The U.S. Department of State (DOS) recently announced major changes to nonimmigrant and immigrant visa fees. These fees are charged to applicants who apply for visas (sometimes referred to as visa "stamping") at U.S. embassies and consulates abroad. These new fees became effective April 13,...
