The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia recently ruled in IT Serve Alliance v. L. Francis Cissna that the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) overstepped its authority in issuing its February 2018 memorandum heightening the evidentiary requirements for H1B petitions filed by...
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced today that, effective March 21, 2020, it will begin accepting all benefit forms and documents with reproduced signatures. Per the announcement, "[t]his means that a document may be scanned, faxed, photocopied, or similarly reproduced provided that the...
Due to the COVID-19 crisis, the U.S. Department of State (DOS) has suspended routine nonimmigrant and immigrant visa service at U.S. consulates in most countries around the globe. The DOS is unable to predict when normal service will resume. Applicants with urgent need to travel...
Last night, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that it is suspending in-person services at its field offices, asylum offices, and application support centers (ASCs), until at least April 1st. This action has been taken in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The USCIS...
The U.S. Department of State announced today that, effective Monday, March 16, 2020, all nonimmigrant and immigrant visa appointments at U.S. Mission India posts - which includes the U.S. Embassy in New Delhi, and all U.S. consulates in India - have been canceled. This measure...
Answer Health insurance obtained through the Affordable Care ACT (ACA), commonly referred to as Obamacare, is not considered a positive or negative factor for public charge purposes. (26.Feb.2020)Sheela Murthy and other senior attorneys provide guidance that clarifies the law. For information on our FREE online services,...
In most circumstances, anyone applying for a nonimmigrant visa must apply in person at a U.S. consulate or embassy and be interviewed by a consular officer. In the context of applying to renew a visa, however, the interview requirement may be waived under the visa...
President Trump has issued a proclamation that bars entry to the United States of most foreign nationals who were physically present in China, not including the special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macau, within the 14 days immediately prior to arrival in the United...
In this recording from 05 Feb 2020, Murthy Law Firm attorneys discuss matters related to various types of employment authorization for students in F-1 status, including CPT and OPT (both the initial 12-month OPT and the 24-month STEM extension), placement of F-1 student workers at...
Today, a federal district court judge issued a nationwide permanent injunction against the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) from enforcing the August 9, 2018, policy memorandum by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) that sought to greatly expand the situations in which nonimmigrants...
