The October 2015 Visa Bulletin from the U.S. Department of State (DOS) reflects a newly revised system of dual cutoff dates. As of October, the visa bulletin contains a new, separate cutoff date chart for filing the application for adjustment (form I-485). The cutoff dates...
In a recent Board of Alien Labor Certification Appeals (BALCA) decision, BALCA agreed with the employer that a handwritten date noted on a printout of an advertisement for a job satisfies the employer's requirement for documenting dates of the ads on the company's website. As...
The U.S. Department of State (DOS) is reportedly working to implement a significant change to the monthly visa bulletin system, as part President Obama's push to streamline the U.S. immigrant visa system. According to an article published in The National Law Review, the DOS plans to begin...
Answer If your priority date is current, you can file the I-485 application and apply for advance parole travel authorization at the same time. (This, of course, is assuming that the job offer is still valid, etc.) You must wait for the AP to be approved...
Answer If you are referring to eligibility to file the I-485 application based on the priority dates on the visa bulletin, the USCIS goes by country of birth, not country of citizenship. (31.Aug.2015)In frequent sessions of our Chat, Sheela Murthy and other senior attorneys provide guidance...
Answer Yes, a company can start a GC for someone on F-1/OPT. This does not disrupt the F-1/OPT status. But, for people from India, it is normally going to be necessary to change into H1B or some other work authorized status at some point to bridge...
Answer The GC case is company-specific and job-specific. So, if the case is only at the I-140 stage, the case will end when the job and/or job offer ends. The H1B can be extended via a new employer based upon the I-140 / no visa number...
The U.S. Department of State (DOS), through Charles Oppenheim, Chief of the Visa Control and Reporting Division, provides a monthly explanation of the visa bulletin contents. The September 2015 Visa Bulletin contains some significant cutoff date movements, both forward and backward. Accordingly, Mr. Oppenheim has...
The U.S. Department of State (DOS) released the September 2015 Visa Bulletin, which is the final visa bulletin for fiscal year 2015. To the disappointment of many, the employment-based, second preference (EB2) category for India and China retrogresses to January 1, 2006. On a far more...
Answer The spouse is automatically eligible as a derivative in an employment-based GC case, without regard to the spouse's status. The spouse doesn't have to be "added" to the I-140 or I-485. It is an automatic eligibility, and the spouse just needs to file the...
