The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) recently conceded that major problems have been encountered in the transition to an electronic filing system. Turning away from the current vendor, the USCIS is considering multiple vendors to address delays and escalating costs. Thus, after a slow...
Fiscal year 2012 (FY12) was the busiest year on record for the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) audits of employers' employment eligibility verification (I-9 forms). Beyond just the number of investigations, fines and even arrests also grew dramatically during the past three fiscal years for...
Parts 1 & 2 of this MurthyDotCom NewsBrief examine some of the key immigration developments of 2012. Among the topics covered are how these developments could affect our readers in 2013 and recommendations for strategic planning on the U.S. immigration law front in 2013. The focus here...
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) recently announced the launch of the E-Verify Employers Search Tool. This tool, which is available free of charge on USCIS's E-Verify WebSite, is a user-friendly interface that allows individuals to search for and view profiles of employers currently...
At the Murthy Law Firm, we have been receiving inquiries about the possibility of employment authorization for H-4 dependents. These questions arise out of the appearance of a proposal that is pending review at the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). Following is an explanation...
It was recently announced that, beginning February 1, 2013, a $165 Immigrant Visa DHS Domestic Processing Fee (USCIS Immigrant Fee) will be collected by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). This fee only applies to green card applicants who are applying for immigrant visas...
Part 1 of this article provides MurthyDotCom readers with information and helpful suggestions regarding the importance of properly listing marital status on immigration and other filings. Here, in Part 2 of Marital / Familial Relationships and Immigration Benefits, common causes of status violations for dependants...
The U.S. Department of State (DOS) Visa Bulletin for January 2013 is now available. The cutoff date movement is consistent with earlier predictions. The cutoff date for the employment-based, second preference (EB2) category for India is unchanged. The January 2013 Visa Bulletin is summarized here...
It's a long-settled principle of American law that where there's a wrong, there's a remedy. When a government agency makes a mistake, or doesn't play by its own rules, mechanisms are available to set things right, like challenging the agency's action - or inaction -...
At the Murthy Law Firm, cases often come to our attention when a seemingly minor oversight or discrepancy causes enormous immigration problems for a spouse. Some of these difficulties may even render such a spouse ineligible for nonimmigrant status or for the green card. Below...
