1. The visa numbers in the October 2015 Visa Bulletin allowing for I-485 filings suddenly changed on September 25, 2015. What happened?At this time, no one outside of the government knows for certain what happened. It appears that the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS)...
In an unusual and highly disappointing move, the U.S. Department of State (DOS) issued a revised October 2015 Visa Bulletin. The most significant change is that the dates for filing (DF) in the employment-based, second preference (EB2) category for India have been moved backward to...
The USCIS announced that, as of September 24, 2015, they must briefly suspend final action on pending employment-based (EB) form I-485 applications. The reason for this development is that the EB visa numbers for Fiscal Year 2015 (FY15) have been depleted. This is a very...
Because of a political fight at the federal level related to the annual budget, there is a possibility that the U.S. government will be forced to temporarily shut down, starting October 1, 2015. Such shutdowns are rare and there still is a chance that it...
Every month, the U.S. Department of State (DOS) provides an explanation of visa bulletin developments and discusses trends in the movement of priority dates and other issues of interest. This information comes directly from Charles Oppenheim, Chief of the Visa Control and Reporting Division. This...
For many years, the Murthy Law Firm has received inquiries for regarding filing cases in the employment-based, first preference (EB1) category. These requests clearly are motivated by retrogression (or the non-availability of visa numbers) for many in the employment-based, second (EB2) and third (EB3) preference...
The recent overhaul of the U.S. Department of State (DOS) visa bulletin system, which goes into effect on October 1, 2015, has generated enormous excitement. While the changes to the visa bulletin tend to primarily benefit those applying for permanent residency (green cards) through the...
The Board of Alien Labor Certification Appeals (BALCA) issued a decision on August 17, 2015 addressing whether an incorrect heading in an online advertisement was a valid reason for denying the PERM labor certification. In Matter of SDG Post Oak, BALCA held that an advertisement...
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has designated Yemen for temporary protected status (TPS) due to ongoing armed conflict in that country. Effective September 3, 2015, nationals of Yemen living in the United States may be eligible to apply for permission to remain in...
The U.S. Department of State (DOS) is introducing a major beneficial change to the visa bulletin system, as officially announced in the release of the October 2015 Visa Bulletin. As previously rumored, effective October 1st, the monthly visa bulletin now will include two separate cutoff date charts...
