The U.S. Department of State (DOS) released the April 2015 Visa Bulletin today. As predicted, the employment-based, second preference (EB2) category for people born in India and China continues to move forward. EB2 India moves ahead by eight months, to a September 1, 2007 cutoff date....
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) has issued suggestions for those permanent residents ("green card" holders) who may need to request temporary evidence of status in the form of an I-551 stamp. The need for this stamp is frequently due to the lengthy processing...
As previously reported to MurthyDotCom readers, the U.S. Department of State (DOS) and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued a notice of request for information (RFI) in December 2014, seeking input from the public on ways to improve the nation's immigration system. Accordingly, the...
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has released the quarterly charts that detail the numbers of pending employment-based (EB) adjustment of status applications (I-485 form). These charts reflect the breakdown of pending I-485 cases by country of chargeability, EB category, and priority date month...
For fiscal year 2015, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) approved 10,000 U petitions, which is the maximum number of U visas available each year. The U visa is a category reserved for qualifying foreign nationals who are victims of certain types of crimes....
In response to questions from the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) during a January 21, 2015 teleconference, the USCIS Service Center Operations (SCOPS) Directorate has provided clarifications on some common immigration questions. More specifically, SCOPS addressed issues that may arise when applying to become a...
Each month, the U.S. Department of State (DOS) explains key visa bulletin developments and, when possible, provides predictions for future cutoff date movement. The source of this helpful information is Charles Oppenheim, the Chief of the Visa Control and Reporting Division at the DOS. The...
Snowstorms and other weather emergencies impede traffic and cause a variety of businesses to close or limit operations. And, just like private companies, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) must also contend with severe weather events from time to time that lead to office...
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) continues to work on improving the Case Status Online system, which, as the name implies, allows stakeholders to check the status of a case using the internet. The USCIS provided an update on the progress being made to this...
There are some small, yet pleasant surprises in the February 2015 Visa Bulletin, just released by the U.S. Department of State (DOS). Although the cutoff for employment-based, second preference (EB2) category for India was expected to remain stagnant until the summer, it is now being moved...
