The U.S. Department of State (DOS) released the December 2014 Visa Bulletin today. The only significant movement of cutoff dates for family-based cases is for Mexicans in the second preference "A" (FB2A) category, which is for spouses and (unmarried, minor) children of lawful permanent residents. FB2A...
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has announced plans for a Haitian Family Reunification Program (HFRP), which will allow some Haitian nationals who are the beneficiaries of family-based petitions to enter the United States while the cases are still pending. The program is expected to...
The U.S. Department of State (DOS) provides official insights into the visa bulletin on a monthly basis. This information comes directly from Charles Oppenheim, Chief of the Visa Control and Reporting Division, to members of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA). These predictions are in...
For some time, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) has been taking steps to reduce the processing times for "stand alone" I-130 petitions filed on behalf of immediate relatives - that is, family-based cases filed for the parent, spouse, or (unmarried, minor) child of...
The U.S. Department of State (DOS) announced major changes to immigrant and nonimmigrant visa fees charged to applicants for visa "stamps" at U.S. embassies and consulates. The new fee structure took effect on September 12, 2014, and the DOS has provided instructions for those with pending...
The U.S. Department of State (DOS) released the September 2014 Visa Bulletin. The employment-based, second preference (EB2) category for Indian nationals continues to move forward, but is expected to retrogress in the coming months. Cutoff dates for the family-based, second preference "A" category advance across the...
This morning, the U.S. Department of State (DOS) released the September 2014 Visa Bulletin. Effective September 1st, the employment-based, second preference (EB2) India category will advance to May 1, 2009. The family-based, second preference "A" (FB2A) category, for spouses and (unmarried, minor) children of lawful permanent...
The American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) has announced that it will now begin to issue a report each month intended to provide reliable predictions and analysis regarding the movement of cutoff dates in the visa bulletin. These reports will be based on discussions with Charles...
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Office of Immigration Statistics, recently reported that over 990,000 foreign nationals were granted U.S. permanent residence ("green card" status) in fiscal year (FY) 2013. These individuals, their respective countries of origin, and avenues to permanent resident status provide...
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has provided instructions regarding the process for renewing enrollment in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. DACA provides temporary immigration relief to eligible undocumented foreign nationals who entered the United States as children. Beneficiaries of the program...
