President Barack Obama and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced a major policy change on June 15, 2012, that could have far-reaching implications for some individuals who are present in the United States unlawfully. In short, the U.S. government will no longer seek...
Our Indian affiliate, Murthy Immigration Services, Pvt. Ltd. (MISPL) recently provided an update regarding the procedures for nonimmigrant visa applications for young children applying within India. This article summarizes information provided to readers of the MurthyIndiaBulletin, as it is also important to many MurthyDotCom readers...
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has announced its May 22, 2012 launch of the initial phase of USCIS ELIS (electronic immigration system) for filing requests for certain immigration benefits. This is part of the overhaul of the systems previously used by the USCIS...
The U.S. consulates and embassies are currently implementing a U.S. Department of State (DOS) pilot program announced in January 2012. This program allows individuals who meet certain conditions to avoid interviewing at U.S. consulates when seeking their visas. This Visa Interview Waiver Program (IWP) is...
Long-time readers of MurthyDotCom and the MurthyBulletin have read previously about nunc pro tunc (NPT) reinstatement of status. The most common example of an NPT filing involves reinstating an H-4 spouse who does not realize that an H-4 request for extension of status (EOS) requires...
In this post-9/11 age of high security and careful screening of foreign nationals seeking to enter the United States, it is important to remember that failure to attend to small details may cause big problems. When making travel plans, we caution MurthyDotCom readers to be...
The Murthy Law Firm is pleased to provide some guidance for foreign nationals about the importance of keeping certain immigration-related documents. This is particularly important for those intending to change and/or extend nonimmigrant status, as well as those filing the application for adjustment of status...
In most situations, individuals seeking adjustment of status to permanent residence must maintain a valid nonimmigrant status prior to filing the I-485. This success story from the Murthy Law Firm is a rather extreme example of the use of an exception to this general rule....
Many MurthyDotCom and MurthyBulletin readers have inquired as to whether the laws have changed to allow individuals in H-4 dependent status to obtain work authorization. At the time of this writing, there has been no favorable change to allow H-4 dependents to work. The renewed...
The U.S. Department of State (DOS) announced that the U.S. Consulate at Chennai, India stopped processing immigrant visa (IV) petitions as of January 1, 2012. The U.S. Embassy in New Delhi and U.S. Consulate in Mumbai are now the only locations in India conducting interviews...
