The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) recently confirmed its current examination of the circumstances under which employers must file amended H1B petitions for their employees. This is a matter of great importance to many employers of H1B workers. The key questions involve whether the...
MurthyDotCom and MurthyBulletin readers were previously advised of changes in U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) procedures regarding transmission of certain receipt / approval notices to attorneys. The change was not favorably received. Therefore, on October 20, 2011, the USCIS announced that the changes will...
H1B visa refusals have become common for those working within the IT consulting industry, as regular MurthyDotCom and MurthyBulletin readers are aware. These problems have made travel abroad by H1B employees risky, if a new visa is required for reentry to the United States. This...
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 H1B cap for fiscal year 2012 (FY12) continues to have numbers available, as of this writing. The volume of filings for FY12 has been light. The latest U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) statistics on H1B usage is always available via MurthyDotCom, on the...
At the Murthy Law Firm, we continue to receive inquiries as to the current status of the delays in prevailing wage determinations (PWDs) at the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL). As of this writing, the DOL has made no new announcements; in particular, there has...
The U.S. Consulate in Mumbai, India, has announced the resumption of interviews for H and L visa applicants. The Consulate reopened the appointment schedule for all H and L applicants on August 26, 2011. The first appointments are being scheduled for September 6, 2011. Background: Temporary...
In Part I (26.Aug.2011) of this NewsBrief, MurthyDotCom and MurthyBulletin readers were informed of August 2, 2011 policy announcements from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), intended to facilitate immigration benefits for foreign national entrepreneurs. That article discussed the potential use of the H1B...
Secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Janet Napolitano, and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Director Alejandro Mayorkas recently announced policies intended to allow the utilization of current immigration categories by foreign national entrepreneurs in a more expansive manner. These announcements were...
The Murthy Law Firm has started to receive Prevailing Wage Determinations (PWDs) from the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) as of August 24, 2011. This is newsworthy, as the DOL had ceased processing such requests in July, as explained in our NewsBrief, DOL Not Issuing...
