The Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) has revised the guidance for 24-month STEM OPT filings. This guidance reflects accommodations for delays during the transition to the new 24-month STEM OPT program. These changes are only applicable to students with optional practical training (OPT) expiration...
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has adopted a decision of the Administrative Appeals Office (AAO) addressing the requirements for medical specialists seeking a physician-specific national interest waiver (NIW). This solidifies a long-standing practice by the USCIS, which allows all physicians, both primary care...
Tomorrow, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will be publishing a proposed increase in filing fees in the Federal Register that would apply to nearly all case types. A pre-publication version of the proposal is available online. Table 9, which can be found beginning...
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) issued a news alert this afternoon, informing stakeholders that the data entry process has been completed for all cases selected in this year's H1B lottery. The USCIS will now begin returning all cap-subject petitions that were not selected....
Representatives from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) recently revealed to members of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) that USCIS adjudicators have been "… testing social media review in adjudications." They further indicated that the agency is reviewing social media as part of...
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced today that, on May 12, 2016, the agency will begin to adjudicate H1B cap cases filed requesting premium processing. This is consistent with the earlier statement by the USCIS, indicating that the 15-calendar-day processing period for these...
Last night, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced completion of the H1B cap lottery selection process. Receipt of more than 236,000 H1B petitions was reported, compared to fewer than 233,000 cap-subject petitions filed last year. The USCIS has not provided a breakdown of...
As of the time of this writing, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has not yet announced the completion of the H1B random lottery process for fiscal year 2017 (FY17). The Murthy Law Firm, however, has already started to receive electronic receipt notices for...
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced today that the H1B cap limit for fiscal year 2017 (FY17) has been reached. This applies to both the 65,000 regular H1B cap limit as well as the 20,000 advanced degree (masters) cap exemptions.As the H1B case...
On March 18, 2016, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) issued the finalized policy memorandum on determining whether a new job is the same or similar in the context of a job change pursuant to the American Competitiveness in the Twenty First Century Act (AC21)....
