The Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA), which is part of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), periodically publishes an updated list of agency rulemaking activity. This list provides some basic information on regulations being worked on by various government agencies. The agency...
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has issued a proposed regulation regarding inadmissibility on public charge grounds. A public charge is a person who is deemed likely to become financially dependent on public benefits.Generally speaking, a person applying for lawful permanent residence (commonly referred...
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) recently announced a new measure to help prevent fraud in the O-1 or O-2 petition process. If a labor union issues a negative O visa consultation (i.e. A consultation that objects to the issuance of an O-1 or...
The U.S. Department of State (DOS) has recently updated the Foreign Affairs Manual (FAM) to provide additional guidance to U.S. consular officers on the role they should play in confirming the validity of a petition being used to apply for a visa. The updated guidance...
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced today that, effective November 1, 2018, the medical examination and vaccination record (form I-693) required for most I-485 applicants will be valid for two years from the date it is signed by a civil surgeon. In addition,...
The dates for filing (DF) chart is to be used for all family- and employment-based categories in the November 2018 Visa Bulletin, per the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) update to its adjustment-of-status filing charts webpage. This is the second month in a row that...
The November 2018 Visa Bulletin has been released, but the cutoff dates in the final action (FA) chart for the vast majority of employment-based categories remain unchanged from the October 2018 Visa Bulletin. There is absolutely no change in the dates for filing (DF) chart...
In recent months, attorneys at the Murthy Law Firm have been hearing from a number of people who have had their applications for dependent visas (e.g., F-2, H-4) denied. The cases involve visa applications filed prior to the couple's completion of all of the marriage...
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is scheduled to publish a proposed rule on Wednesday, October 10, 2018, entitled Inadmissibility on Public Charge Grounds. This rule would greatly expand the categories of public benefits looked at to determine whether a foreign national may be...
According to recent reports, there has been an increase in U.S. passport application denials to individuals with birth certificates showing that they were born in the United States near the U.S. / Mexico border. Many of these individuals are then sent to detention centers and...
