Question 1. How do I apply for a visa at the U.S. Consulate in Madras / Chennai, India?Because each consulate is unique and requires its own comprehensive list of documents, we strongly recommend that you first visit the webpage of the consular post you are...
The U.S. House of Representatives Homeland Security Subcommittee on Border and Maritime Security held a hearing in September 2011 to assess the status of current programs administered by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) aimed at combating and preventing terrorist activity. The testimony presented...
The USCIS Office of Transformation Coordination (OTC) recently provided an overview of the current status of the USCIS Transformation. Transformation is a large scale USCIS program to upgrade from paper-based operations to electronic systems. One important part of this series of changes is the phasing...
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has issued an interim policy memorandum that changes the timeframe for responding to various requests for evidence (RFEs). The interim memorandum became effective immediately for RFEs issued after July 7, 2011, the date of the memo. The purpose...
Director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) John Morton released a June 17, 2011, memorandum intended to provide additional guidance to ICE personnel on exercising prosecutorial discretion. In this context, favorable prosecutorial discretion refers to the government's ability to choose not to enforce certain...
The 2011 Annual Conference of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) was held in mid-June in San Diego, California. As in years past, several Murthy Law Firm attorneys attended the conference. This is one way we keep up to date with the latest developments in...
The U.S. Department of State (DOS) recently published a final rule giving U.S. consular officers, posted at U.S. embassies and consulates abroad, increased power to revoke previously-approved nonimmigrant (temporary) visa foils (known as "stamps"). The changed regulations also provide for authority to temporarily revoke approved...
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) published a Federal Register notice on April 28, 2011, that removes all designated countries from the National Security Entry-Exit Registration System (NSEERS), effective immediately. This decision was made due to the implementation of automated systems for the capture of...
Apparently, many people still use the term INS (for Immigration and Naturalization Service) when referring to the governmental entity responsible for immigration enforcement and benefits. As many of our readers are aware, the INS ceased to exist on March 1, 2003. The term is simply...
The U.S. government will not experience a shutdown at this time, thanks to a last-minute, temporary spending measure. This will provide funding to cover government operations for a few days, after which it is expected that an agreement will be reached for the rest of...
