As reported in a series of NewsFlashes posted on MurthyDotCom at the end of July 2014, the U.S. Department of State (DOS) began experiencing problems with one of its key computer systems, the Consular Consolidated Database (CCD). This has caused some ongoing delay in visa processing...
The process of applying for both nonimmigrant and immigrant visas at U.S. consular posts abroad may raise questions of exactly what information is checked and how that information is gathered during the screening process. A June 2014 Congressional Research Service report provides an overview of the...
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has continued to enhance the Study-in-the-States web portal. The Study-in-the-States WebSite was initiated in 2011 to assist international students and school officials. The most recent improvements include a mobile-ready version of the website. Study-in-the-States Initiative The Study-in-the-States Initiative was launched in...
The U.S. Embassy in New Delhi, India held Student Visa Day on June 19, 2014. A press release on the event notes that a record number of individuals have applied for student visas in India thus far in fiscal year (FY) 2014. In fact, the embassy...
Word comes directly from Murthy Law Firm attorneys attending the 2014 American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) Conference, in Boston, that the Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) is planning to implement a slew of system changes over the next few years. While most of the...
The U.S. Department of State (DOS) has confirmed that the U.S. consular posts in Canada have an extremely limited number of appointments available this summer for third-country nationals (TCNs) applying for nonimmigrant visas. To that end, the DOS is urging visa applicants, other than Canadian...
The U.S. government has brought federal criminal charges against a college president for abusing foreign students. The charges allege that the president of Cathedral Bible College, Mr. Reginald Miller, demanded the students work long hours for very little pay, threatening to revoke the F-1 status...
In light of the rising popularity of massive open online courses, or MOOCs, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) recently issued a press release to remind F-1 and M-1 students of some important rules pertaining to foreign students enrolling in online classes. Although F-1 and...
Many F-1 students on optional practical training (OPT) are the beneficiaries of H1B petitions filed against the fiscal year 2015 cap. Some of these F-1 students have learned, or will learn shortly, that they are among the lucky ones whose H1B petitions were selected in...
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that, as of January 2014, more than half a million employers are participating in the E-Verify program. E-Verify allows employers to verify online whether an individual is legally authorized to work in the United States. The increased...
