As previously discussed on MurthyDotCom, the omnibus spending bill passed by Congress in December 2015 included provisions that increase an already hefty filing fee for H1B and L-1 petitions filed by companies that meet certain requirements. As of December 18, 2015 - the date the bill...
There are two strategies commonly used by those with pending adjustment-of-status (form I-485) applications to make job changes without disrupting their respective cases. One option is to argue that the move is to a same or similar job, thus qualifying for portability purposes under the...
On Friday, April 1, 2016, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will begin accepting H1B cap-subject case filings for fiscal year 2017 (FY17). April 1st may seem a long time from today, but employers and potential H1B workers would be wise to begin the...
This series of articles has been updated. Please find the updated version of Part 3....
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued a proposed rule, on December 30, 2015, entitled "Retention of EB1, EB2, and EB3 Immigrant Workers and Program Improvements Affecting High-Skilled Nonimmigrant Workers." Included in the proposed rule is the long-awaited provision for the ability to obtain an...
Please find the updated version of this MurthyDotCom NewsBrief here. ...
This morning, a proposed rule was published in the Federal Register that would provide a number of immigration benefits, including grace periods for certain nonimmigrant workers, improved job flexibility, and greater clarity on a number of existing immigration rules. Some of these benefits include:Once an...
As previously reported, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) issued a final guidance memorandum on July 21, 2015 that details the requirements for filing an amended H1B petition based on an H1B employee being moved to a different worksite location. This memo implements the decision...
The USCIS has improved their website with the addition of a virtual assistant named Emma. This is an effort to facilitate the public's ability to navigate the USCIS WebSite and gain access to general immigration information. Named after Emma Lazarus, author of the poem at...
The Office of Foreign Labor Certification (OFLC) has been considering the steps needed to improve the PERM labor certification (LC) process. These efforts are a response to President Obama's executive action seeking to improve the immigration process. The OFLC, which is part of the U.S....
