The U.S. government is in a state of partial shutdown as of October 1, 2013 due to an inability to obtain congressional agreement on appropriations. As of October 1st, the Department of Labor iCert system is unavailable. This system is used for both PERM labor...
If the U.S. Congress cannot reach an agreement on a funding extension before midnight tonight, there will be what is commonly referred to as a government shutdown, effective October 1, 2013. In such a situation, government services are not completely eliminated. However, government operations are...
The U.S. Department of State (DOS) Diversity Visa (DV) "Green Card" Lottery registration period for fiscal year 2015 (FY15) runs from October 1, 2013 through November 2, 2013. The DV lottery program allots up to 50,000 immigrant visa numbers annually to applicants who meet certain...
The Murthy Law Firm regularly addresses common errors and problem areas related to immigration, to alert MurthyDotCom readers before mistakes are made. This article is for individuals who are the beneficiaries of a change of status (COS) from H-4 to H1B. The issue arises after...
The U.S. Department of State (DOS) Visa Bulletin for October 2013 is the first visa bulletin for fiscal year 2014 (FY14). Under this bulletin, the family-based, second preference "A" (FB2A) category retrogresses in October, while the employment- based (EB) categories are largely stagnant. Visa Bulletin Summary Family-Based,...
As predicted, the family-based, second preference "A" (FB2A) category for spouses and children of lawful permanent residents (LPRs, or "green card" holders), will retrogress in October. This category became current in August 2013 and remains current through September 30, 2013. The U.S. Department of State...
The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival's program (DACA) marked its one-year anniversary on August 15, 2013. Although the program has obviously not resolved many of the problems this nation faces regarding its population of undocumented foreign nationals, DACA has at least provided substantial benefits to...
The anxiously-awaited September 2013 U.S. Department of State (DOS) Visa Bulletin, which is the final visa bulletin for fiscal year 2013 (FY13), contains good news for the family-based, second preference "A" (FB2A) category and the employment-based, second preference (EB2) category for India. There are also...
It is fairly common for the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to transfer a designated type of case internally in order to achieve a better workload balance. However, while the USCIS may view such case transfers as routine, this sometimes causes concern among foreign...
As was widely reported in the media, the U.S. Department of State (DOS) temporarily closed twenty-two embassies and consulates in early August 2013, due to al-Qaida related security concerns. Nineteen posts were closed through August 10, 2013. Subsequently, nearly all of the embassies and consulates...
