The cutoff date for EB2, India, is expected to advance in May 2011. This advancement will occur in the U.S. Department of State (DOS) Visa Bulletin for May 2011. The Visa Bulletin for May 2011 will be published in early to mid April 2011.On March...
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) recently announced its intention to establish a system requiring H1B-petitioning employers to register electronically prior to filing any cap-subject H1B petition. This proposal is open for a 60-day comment period, during which members of the public may voice...
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) issued an announcement on March 16, 2011 that they are reviewing the current policy regarding H1B cap exemptions for cases filed by nonprofit affiliates of institutions of higher education. This is an important topic for many MurthyDotCom and...
The Murthy Law Firm is pleased to report that we have recently been able to help a former Tri-Valley University (TVU) student successfully obtain a change-of-status approval from F-1 to H1B after the closure of TVU. The Murthy Law Firm used a nunc pro tunc...
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is undertaking a series of technological updates known as the Transformation Initiative. Transformation is essentially an effort by USCIS to move the application process from a paper-based system to an online, electronic system. These changes will be of...
The U.S. Consulate in Mumbai, India is experiencing a temporary reduction in capacity, as of March 3, 2011. The condition of the building has made it necessary to close several interview windows at the Consulate, thus limiting the volume of applicants who can be interviewed...
Update: Due to an agreement on government funding for a two-week period, there will not be an immediate government shutdown. The Continuing Resolution provides funding until March 18, 2011. A shutdown remains possible in the future if a longer term agreement is not reached.-----If the...
The U.S. Embassy and consulates in Mexico recently changed the nonimmigrant visa (NIV) application procedures. As of January 10, 2011, applicant service centers (ASCs) will perform some of the visa application processing. Nonimmigrant visa applicants will apply through the ASCs prior to the visa interview...
In Part 1 (14.Jan.2011) of this article, MurthyDotCom and MurthyBulletin readers were informed of problems with visa applications and an increase in denials at the U.S. consulates in India. Part 2 discusses some of the legal issues presented by the current wave of 221(g) refusals,...
[See also Part 2 of this article.]Historically, the U.S. consulates in India have had a reputation for closely scrutinizing visa applications. The standards at the consulates for H1B visas were quite strict, even prior to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services' (USCIS's) implementation of stricter...
