Read the update on this ruling here.Today, a federal district court held that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) exceeded its authority in issuing the August 2019 public charge rule. The judge ordered the DHS to immediately cease enforcement of the rule, including the...
The U.S. Department of State (DOS) has finally released the November 2020 Visa Bulletin. There is some movement in the final action (FA) chart, but the dates for filing (DF) chart remains nearly completely unchanged. Visa Bulletin Summary Employment-Based, First Preference (EB1) Category The EB1 China and India...
This evening, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced a proposed rule that, if finalized, would end the random selection process used in the current H1B lottery system, and replace it with one that prioritizes H1B registrations based on wage-levels. If this rule is...
The American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) reports that the November 2020 Visa Bulletin is still awaiting clearance at the U.S. Department of State (DOS). Per AILA, the delay is the result of some sort of dispute regarding language in the visa bulletin, but that the...
On October 21, 2020, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced that the agency had arrested 15 students in F-1 status with approved optional practical training (OPT), who allegedly committed fraud by reporting employment with "companies that don't exist."In addition, ICE reportedly intends to...
In Part 1 of this two-part NewsBrief, MurthyDotCom readers were provided with an explanation of the procedure known as interfiling, also known as transfer of basis. Continuing from where Part 1 left off, we now address how such requests can be made, as well as some of...
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced today that, effective October 19, 2020, the filing fee for premium processing is increasing to $2,500. The only exception to this is for I-129 petitions being filed requesting H2B or R-1 status, the fee is increasing to...
Some of the options for making changes to the basis of a permanent resident ("green card") case after reaching the adjustment-of-status (I-485) stage are addressed here for the benefit of MurthyDotCom readers. Specifically discussed is interfiling, also referred to by the USCIS as "Transfer of...
The U.S. Department of State (DOS) has issued instructions for entry into the fiscal year (FY) 2022 diversity visa (DV) lottery, more commonly known as the "green card" lottery. The FY22 diversity lottery will grant up to 55,000 immigrant visas to qualified applicants. Registration for...
Today, Thursday, October 8, 2020, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) published an interim final rule, entitled "Strengthening Wage Protections for the Temporary and Permanent Employment of Certain Aliens in the United States," that changes how prevailing wages are calculated. This applies to foreign national...
