Answer One MUST be in the United States to file an I-485. If one is not, s/he must apply for a green card through consular processing with the U.S. Department of State at a U.S. consulate. The employer may need to file form I-824 to convert...
On July 10, 2019, the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R.1044, the Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act of 2019. If passed into law, the bill would eliminate the per-country cap on employment-based green cards, and increase the per-country limit for family-based categories. While this news...
The August 2019 Visa Bulletin has been released by the U.S. Department of State (DOS). There are some notable retrogressions in employment-based (EB) categories, with EB3 India moving to January 1, 2006 and EB2 and EB3 all other countries retrogressing to January 1, 2017 and...
Most months, Charles Oppenheim, the U.S. Department of State (DOS) Chief of the Visa Control and Reporting Division, provides visa bulletin explanations and predictions. Following the release of the July 2019 Visa Bulletin, Mr. Oppenheim explained the reasoning for making the family-based, second preference A...
Answer We oftentimes recommend to clients that they remain in H1B status, if possible, but this is not a requirement. The main benefit of maintaining H1B status is that it is a "backup" if the I-485 application is denied for some reason. Also, one may continue...
Answer Generally speaking, moving to a new H1B employer would not impact the dependent spouse's pending H-4/EAD extension applications. (24.Jun.2019)In frequent sessions of our Chat, Sheela Murthy and other senior attorneys provide guidance that clarifies the law in real time. For details on chat participation, click...
The July 2019 Visa Bulletin has been released by the U.S. Department of State (DOS). There are some notable movements in family-based (FB) as well as employment-based (EB) categories. Most significantly, the F2A category becomes current for all countries of chargeability, as well as the...
Answer In general, an employer can withdraw the job offer and thus the immigrant petition (I-140) anytime before or after approval. However, the regulations permit the immigrant petition I-140 withdrawn more than 180 days from the date of approval to continue to remain valid for the...
Answer An application to adjust status (I-485) can only be filed by an individual (not a company) present in the United States in valid status subsequent to a lawful admission with very few exceptions. If that is not the case, one can still "consular process" for...
The U.S. State Department (DOS) has implemented changes to electronic forms DS-160, Application for a Nonimmigrant Visa, and DS-260, Application for an Immigrant Visa, that go into effect immediately. These applications will now request information about the social media username or handle used by an...
