This afternoon, the U.S. Department of State (DOS) released the July 2017 Visa Bulletin. In the final action (FA) chart, the employment-based, first preference (EB1) category remains unchanged from the previous month, with India and China stuck with cutoff dates of January 1, 2012. In...
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) issued a policy memorandum on May 23, 2017 that adopts the Administrative Appeals Office (AAO) decision in Matter of A-T- Inc. The adopted decision serves to instruct USCIS personnel that, for purposes of determining whether a person qualifies...
By law, there is an annual limit of 65,000 new H1Bs that may be approved each year, not including the 20,000 available under the advanced-degree exemption (i.e. master's cap) and those filed for cap-exempt employment. As the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) typically...
According to a report in the San Francisco Chronicle, the parole program for entrepreneurs, which was scheduled to go into effect in July 2017, is now being re-reviewed by the Office of Management and Budget. As explained in the MurthyDotCom NewsBrief, Final Rule to Create...
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Office of Inspector General (OIG) has released a report detailing how technological limitations have hampered U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) efforts to track those who overstay their nonimmigrant status in the United States (i.e. visa overstays). ICE...
The U.S. Department of State (DOS) published a notice in the Federal Register on May 4, 2017, requesting approval and public comments for proposed information to be gathered from visa applicants identified as requiring additional security-related scrutiny. The proposed questions both expand on information already...
This afternoon, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a lower court's decision to temporarily prevent enforcement of a travel ban created by an executive order signed by President Trump in March 2017. In upholding the injunction, the court was critical of the Trump Administration,...
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) released April 20, 2017 guidance on how international students, particularly those in English language study and STEM OPT extension programs, will be affected by the loss of accreditation of institutions previously recognized by the Accrediting Council for Independent...
The United States Supreme Court heard oral arguments, on April 26, 2017, in Maslenjak v. United States, a case regarding the denaturalization of a U.S. citizen due to false statements she made during the immigration process. The justices appeared skeptical of the government's position -...
Last night, Charles Oppenheim, Chief of the Visa Control and Reporting Division for the U.S. Department of State (DOS), was the featured speaker at the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) D.C. Chapter meeting. During his talk, he provided some updated predictions regarding the employment-based, third...
