The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) reinstated premium processing for Nonimmigrant Religious Workers (R-1s), effective July 20, 2009. The premium, expedited processing option was suspended since November 28, 2006, based on concerns of fraud. The premium processing service for R-1 petitions will be limited...
We at the Murthy Law Firm have received some recent questions about proposed legislative changes to the H1B and L-1 programs. Specifically, there are concerns regarding legislation that was introduced on April 23, 2009 by U.S. Senators Richard Durbin (D-IL) and Charles Grassley (R-IA). Known...
Special immigrant religious workers are currently able to petition for permanent residence in two distinct categories. One category is for those who enter the United States to carry on the vocation of minister in a religious denomination. The other category is for those who have...
International Medical Graduates (IMGs), who are completing their graduate medical training in the H1B classification, and who seek to undertake employment with U.S. employers in H1B classification, must be mindful of the applicability of the H1B numerical cap. When moving from a cap-exempt H1B to...
California Service Center (CSC) views and clarifications on various immigration matters and procedures were provided to American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) on January 28, 2009. This summary of the highlights of that report, including the 30-day timeline to respond to Requests for Evidence (RFEs), transfer...
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) recently announced that a sufficient number of H2B filings has been received for the second half of Fiscal Year (FY) 2009. As long-time MurthyDotCom and MurthyBulletin readers may recall from articles including, Overview: H2B Temporary Workers (Sep 14,...
The U.S. Department of State (DOS) published a public notice in the Federal Register on December 19, 2008, announcing changes in the completion of the J-1 Visa Waiver Recommendation Application Form (DS-3035). Beginning February 1, 2009, all applicants will be required to complete and submit...
The Murthy Law Firm is pleased to report that we recently obtained the approval of an I-485 Motion to Reopen (MTR) of a former J-1 physician, who had received a denial of her I-485, adjustment-of-status application, filed by another law firm. The physician was prepared...
The USCIS has just released a memo dated December 5, 2006, that makes significant positive changes to the counting of time for H1Bs, H-4s, L-1s, and L-2s. This Memo addresses three separate issues. It decouples time spent in H-4 or L-2 status from the time...
The USCIS has announced an increase in the allowable period of admission for foreign nationals using the Trade-NAFTA (TN) status. This status is available only to Canadian and Mexican citizens. The TN status was previously issued in one-year increments, with no limit on the number...
