Permanent resident ("green card") cases can be finalized either in the United States or at a U.S. consulate abroad. When applying at the consulate, the process involves an application for an immigrant visa. One important part of the documentation needed for approval of an immigrant...
The U.S. Department of State (DOS) issued the November 2011 Visa Bulletin during the first week of October. To the delight of many, the employment-based, second preference (EB2) category for India and China continues to advance significantly. This change will allow many individuals to file...
The U.S. Department of State (DOS) Visa Bulletin for November 2011 has been released earlier than expected. The cutoff dates for the employment-based, second preference (EB2) category for India and China move to November 1, 2007, effective in November 2011.This is remarkable, as it opens...
The U.S. Department of State (DOS) issued an announcement dated September 15, 2011 stating that all employment-based (EB) visa numbers for fiscal year 2011 (FY11) have been utilized. This means that no more immigrant visa numbers are available in the EB categories until October 1,...
On September 19, 2011, the Murthy Law Firm began receiving "courtesy copies" of case approval notices (Form I-797C) from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), rather than the "original" approval notices (I-797A or I-797B). This is at variance with long standing procedures, and was...
The U.S. Department of State (DOS) has issued the October 2011 Visa Bulletin, the first in the federal government's 2012 fiscal year (FY12). The most remarkable development, effective in October, is the substantial forward movement in the employment- based, second preference (EB2) category for India...
The U.S. Department of State (DOS) has issued the September 2011 Visa Bulletin. This is the final Visa Bulletin for the federal government's fiscal year (FY) 2011. The employment-based, second preference (EB2) category for India and China will remain unchanged in the month of September...
The U.S. Department of State (DOS) recently conducted a second random lottery to select "winners" of the 2012 Diversity Visa (DV) lottery. The DV 2012 new "winners" have been finalized and posted. All DV 2012 applicants must check the official lottery website in order to...
In an unexpected and encouraging move, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced an initiative on August 2, 2011, to encourage immigrant entrepreneurs and start-up companies to the United States. This USCIS initiative will be especially helpful to people from countries like India and...
The American Competitiveness in the Twenty-First Century Act, known as AC21, became law more than a decade ago. As of this writing, the USCIS has issued neither proposed nor final regulations interpreting the provisions of AC21. Rather, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has...
