From time to time, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) internally reassigns pending cases by moving them from one USCIS service center to another. These case transfers are an effort to balance workloads between service centers. Such a shift was announced at the end...
The USCIS Service Center Operations (SCOPS) participated in a March 4, 2015 teleconference with members of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA), during which a number of key immigration concerns were addressed. One topic of particular note to many stakeholders is that of ongoing delays...
As previously reported to MurthyDotCom readers, the U.S. Department of State (DOS) and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued a notice of request for information (RFI) in December 2014, seeking input from the public on ways to improve the nation's immigration system. Accordingly, the...
Each month, the U.S. Department of State (DOS) explains key visa bulletin developments and, when possible, provides predictions for future cutoff date movement. The source of this helpful information is Charles Oppenheim, the Chief of the Visa Control and Reporting Division at the DOS. The...
Since June 2013, same-sex couples have been eligible for the same type of U.S. immigration benefits as opposite-sex couples. This policy shift, however, has given rise to safety concerns for beneficiaries in certain types of cases involving same-sex couples; more specifically, the U.S. Department of...
The U.S. Department of State (DOS) and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued a notice of request for information (RFI), on December 30, 2014, asking for input from the general public on streamlining and improving the nation's immigration system. This RFI is a result...
Effective January 27, 2015, changes will be made to the issuance of decisions and correspondence, as well as documents related to permanent residence. The changes impact which parties will receive written communication or notices and documents from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). Parties Involved...
The U.S. Department of State, National Visa Center (NVC) plays a key role in applications for immigrant visas that are utilizing the consular processing (CP) option. In a November 2014 meeting with the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA), the NVC provided some insights into how...
The National Visa Center (NVC) has changed the requirements regarding supporting documentation submitted in immigrant visa applications. As of November 12, 2014, the NVC has begun accepting photocopies of civil documents, rather than requiring originals. Background on the NVC In cases where a foreign national wishes to...
Each month, the U.S. Department of State (DOS), provides visa bulletin insights and predictions, when possible, of future visa bulletin content. This information is provided to the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) by Charles Oppenheim, Chief of the Visa Control and Reporting Division. For December...
