The U.S. Department of State (DOS) has issued instructions for entry in the fiscal year 2017 (FY17) diversity visa (DV) lottery. The DV lottery, often called the "green card" lottery, grants 50,000 visa numbers each year to qualified applicants. Registration for FY17 began on October...
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) charges a fee to individuals who obtain immigrant visas at U.S. consulates abroad. This fee covers processing costs, including the cost to produce the individual's permanent residence card ("green card"). In response to requests from stakeholders, the USCIS has...
As previously indicated, the Murthy Law Firm is generally recommending against filing adjustment-of-status applications (form I-485s) based on the cutoff dates listed in the original version of the October 2015 Visa Bulletin, which was released on September 9, 2015. This recommendation is based on a...
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced at the end of August 2015 that certain family-based immigration cases will be moved from the Vermont Service Center (VSC) to the California Service Center (CSC). Such internal case transfers are fairly routine, and typically are to balance...
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) issued a policy memorandum on April 15, 2015, on a technical matter under the Child Status Protection Act (CSPA). U.S. immigration law generally limits dependent or derivative status to children who are under twenty-one years of age. In the...
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) issued an explanation regarding signature waivers for permanent resident cards (i.e. green cards). This is in reference to situations in which a form I-551 (commonly, a "green card") bears the notation signature waived, rather than the green card...
It has been announced that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) intends to negotiate for an expansion of preclearance operations to ten additional overseas airports. Preclearance facilities, which are operated by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), are designed to improve U.S. security while simultaneously...
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) issued a policy memorandum on June 25, 2015, rescinding a 2013 hold on cases that were dependent upon the outcome of a U.S. Supreme Court case related to the Child Status Protection Act (CSPA). The June 2014 Supreme Court...
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is demanding the return of employment authorization documents (EADs) issued to certain foreign nationals enrolled in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. The EADs in question were inadvertently issued by the USCIS after February 16, 2015,...
On June 26, 2015, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that, pursuant to the individual liberties protected by the constitution of the United States, all U.S. states must permit same-sex marriages. Although this case did not directly deal with immigration law, it nevertheless serves to expand...
