Congress Greatly Expands Premium Processing For Immigration Applications
The Continuing Appropriations Act, 2021, and Other Extensions Act gives the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) access to premium processing funds to pay for operational expenses. The Act authorizes premium processing services to employment-based nonimmigrant petitions and associated…
Trump administration rescinds foreign students rule
In response to several lawsuits, the Trump administration backs down from its proposed policy to invalidate student visas for those attending online only courses dues to the COVID-19 pandemic. Here is the article about this recent development written by John…
February 2019 Visa Bulletin
The Department of State has posted the visa bulletin for February 2019. EB-1 Priority Workers final action date is now December 1, 2017 for all nationals, except those born in India and China who now have a cutoff date of…
Immigration Policy Alert: USCIS Announces New Medical Exam Validity Period for Green Card Applicants Starting November 1, 2018
Generally, all applicants for adjustment of status to permanent residence (I-485 green card) must submit a Form I-693 medical examination report, which is completed by USCIS approved physicians (“civil surgeon”) in the United States. On October 16, 2018, the USCIS announced…
November 2018 Visa Bulletin for Employment Based Green Cards
The Department of State has posted the visa bulletin for November 2018. EB-1 Priority Workers final action date is still April 1, 2017 for all nationals, except those born in India and China who now have a cutoff date of…
It’s Family Reunification, not Chain Migration
In a recent statement, the government belittled our family reunification immigration laws, adopting the pejorative term “chain migration.” It further claimed family immigration “has depressed wages and job opportunities for comparably skilled American workers.” Aside from offering no valid proof of this…
April 2018 Visa Bulletin Green Card Update
The Department of State has posted the Visa Bulletin for April 2018. EB-1 Priority Workers final action date is current for all nationals, except those born in India and China who now have a cutoff date of January 1, 2012. EB-2 and…
EAD applicants can now apply for work permit and social security number on the same form
USCIS announcement on October 2, 2017: WASHINGTON – Based on a new information-sharing partnership between U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) and the Social Security Administration (SSA), foreign nationals in certain categories or classifications can now apply for work authorization and…
Trump’s New Travel Ban
On September 24, 2017, the Trump administration imposed new travel restrictions on foreign nationals seeking to enter the United States from eight countries: Chad, Iran, Libya, North Korea, Somalia, Syria, Venezuela, and Yemen. Starting October 18, 2017, the travel ban applies…
USCIS Moves Cases Between Offices to Balance Workload
A recent email from USCIS: From January 5 through March 28, USCIS began sending some cases between service centers in order to balance workloads. We have updated our Workload Transfer Updates page with this information: Some Forms I-765, Application for…
