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)....
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued a proposed rule in December 2015, entitled Retention of EB1, EB2, and EB3 Immigrant Workers and Program Improvements Affecting High-Skilled Nonimmigrant Workers. As indicated in our January 8, 2016 NewsBrief, I-140 EAD Proposal is Limited and Restrictive,...
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) published a final rule that became effective on February 16, 2016, which provides a few revisions to several nonimmigrant visa categories and one immigrant visa category. More specifically, the revisions impact the H1B1 (specialty occupation professionals who are citizens...
Many inquiries regarding the projected timeline for fiscal year (FY) 2017 H1B cap case milestones continue to reach the Murthy Law Firm. While most applicants are aware that they can begin filing H1B cap-subject cases on the first business day in April each year, there...
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has acknowledged noticeable delays in processing H1B petitions. The American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) raised concerns over these delays in a call with USCIS Service Center Operations (SCOPS) on February 3, 2016. A prime cause of the delays...
For the seventh year in a row, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has approved 10,000 U visa petitions, the maximum allowed by law per year under this category. The U visa is reserved for victims of certain types of crime who cooperate with...
For many years, the Murthy Law Firm has addressed questions regarding the interpretation of a "same or similar" occupational classification for job portability in the permanent resident (green card) process. This is a key concept in the American Competitiveness in the 21st Century Act (AC21),...
As previously discussed on MurthyDotCom, the omnibus spending bill passed by Congress in December 2015 included provisions that increase an already hefty filing fee for H1B and L-1 petitions filed by companies that meet certain requirements. As of December 18, 2015 - the date the bill...
