The U.S. Department of State (DOS) July 2015 Visa Bulletin brings disappointing news on a number of fronts. The cutoff dates in the employment-based, second preference (EB2) category for India and the employment-based, third preference (EB3) category for China do not move forward at all....
The Murthy Law Firm filed an amicus curiae (friend of the court) brief with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Administrative Appeals Office (AAO), urging for a long-needed change in interpretation and policy. The issue centers on recognition of rights of immigrant petition (form...
Murthy Law Firm attorneys provide an overview of common issues related to upgrading from EB3 to EB2. They discuss educational equivalency issues, priority date retention and the use of exceptional ability to qualify for an EB2 upgrade. This June 3, 2015 teleconference is from our...
This morning, the U.S. Department of State (DOS) released the July 2015 Visa Bulletin. The employment-based, second preference (EB2) category for people born in India sees no movement, leaving the cutoff date at October 1, 2008. EB2 China, on the other hand, moves ahead by four...
As discussed in Part 1 of this article, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) finally published answers to frequently asked questions (FAQs) on May 20, 2015, explaining the new regulation that allows certain H-4 spouses to apply for employment authorization documents (EADs). In this second...
Foreign nationals with long-pending adjustment of status applications (form I-485) should anticipate being issued requests for evidence (RFEs) as the visa bulletin cutoff date approaches the priority dates of their respective cases. These RFEs typically request submission of updated I-485 eligibility documentation, including new medical...
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has asked Congress to make changes to the employment-based, fifth preference (EB5) immigrant investor program. The goal of this request, which was made by DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson, is to better protect against fraud and to address various...
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) are in the initial stages of proposing important regulatory changes affecting employment-based (EB) immigration. The spring 2015 DHS regulatory agenda includes rulemaking that, if implemented, would make certain beneficiaries of...
Many immigration strategies in employment-based cases rely upon the ability to retain the priority date between permanent resident (or, "green card") case filings for the same individual. It is widely used in what is commonly known as upgrading between categories, as well as during changes...
Charles Oppenheim, Chief of the Visa Control and Reporting Division for the U.S. Department of State (DOS), offers analysis of visa bulletin trends and predictions for the June 2015 Visa Bulletin, as he does each month. This latest information includes the disappointing possibility that the...
