H-1B Work Visa
July 2014 Visa Bulletin: Forward Movement for EB-2 India
U.S. Department of State (DOS) has released the July 2014 Visa Bulletin which is the tenth Visa Bulletin for the Fiscal Year (FY) 2014. Under the Employment Based (EB) category, cutoff dates for EB-2 India has moved significantly to September 1, 2008. Based on the April 21, 2014 meeting between Mr. Charlie Oppenheim of…
Read MoreNewsAlert! U.S. Consulates in Canada Temporarily Suspend TCN Visa Processing for Summer
A Third-Country Nationals (TCN) is an individual who is not a citizen of the home or host countries. In the immigration context it is used to refer to individuals who are applying for visas in countries that are not their country of citizenship. Though U.S. Department of State (DOS) recommends applicants to apply for a…
Read MoreValidity of Medical Exams
In general, all applicants filing Form I-485 Adjustment of Status (AOS) must submit Form I-693, the standard form to report results of a medical examination to US Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS). This form, signed by a designated civil surgeon, determines admissibility to the United States and ensures that the foreign applicant is not inadmissible…
Read MoreFinal FY15 H-1B Cap Update
Last week our office received our first batch of H-1B packages that were not selected in the lottery for fiscal year 2015 (FY15). As of now all the returned packages received by our office has been from California Service though we anticipate that we will soon start receiving returned packages from the Vermont Service Center…
Read MoreDOJ and DOE push for enforcement of educational equality
Often, immigrants with school-aged children and questionable legal status may be fearful of enrolling their children in public school, as they lack awareness of the mandated law concerning the basic right of all children residing in the US the opportunity to attend elementary and secondary level public schools, regardless of their immigration status. Federal, state,…
Read MoreDHS Details Proposed Rules for H-4 Employment Authorization
On May 6th, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), via a press release, announced the publication of two proposed rules, including a rule to extend employment authorization to certain H-4 spouses. Under the existing rules, spouses of H-1B workers are not employment authorized and the DHS proposes to amend its regulations to extend employment authorization…
Read MoreArrival/Departure History Now Available on I-94 Webpage
Foreign visitors entering the United States are issued Form I-94 by Customs and Border Protection (CBP) denoting Arrival/Departure Record. In the past, the I-94 was issued in paper format but since April 30, 2013 I-94s became accessible electronically online at https://i94.cbp.dhs.gov/I94/request.html On May 1, 2014 CBP announced further improvements to the system and the new webpage…
Read MoreData Entry for all Fiscal Year 2015 H-1B Petitions Completed
U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS) has announced that data entry of all Fiscal Year 2015 H-1B cap petitions has been completed. USCIS will now begin returning all H-1B petitions that were not selected in the lottery. As the data entry was completed on May 2nd, we expect few additional receipts to show up next…
Read MoreUSCIS Issuing RFE for Expiring Medical Exams
It has come to our attention that the U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS) has begun issuing request for additional evidence (RFE) for updated medical exams. As many of our readers know, medical examination report (I-693) is a required document for application for adjustment of status (AOS). The endorsement of a civil surgeon on Form…
Read MoreFY15 H-1B Cap Update
As we previously reported, fiscal year 2015 (FY15) H-1B Cap was reached on April 7th for both regular cap and advanced degree (master’s) cap. Subsequently, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) completed the lottery process on April 10th. We at Sharma Law Offices received our first electronic receipts on April 11th for cases filed using…
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