Student Visa
New myE-Verify Website Provides Employees and Job Seekers Access to E-Verify Information
More than half a million U.S. employers use E-Verify to check that their new hires are authorized to work in the United States. The web-based system compares information from an employee’s Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification, to data from U.S. Department of Homeland Security and Social Security Administration records to confirm employment eligibility. USCIS has recently announced…
Read MoreNewsAlert! EB-2 India Retrogression Imminent
We have learnt from Mr. Charles Oppenheim, Chief of the Visa Control and Reporting Division for the Department of State (DOS), that retrogression of employment-based, second preference (EB-2) India would happen as early as November and given the current demand, the dates may possibly move to early 2005. This is largely due to the huge…
Read MoreStudy-in-the-States Portal Helps International Students
Foreign students studying in the US play several important roles. Students from abroad are important in research, particularly in science and engineering, where there continues to be a shortage of U.S. students. Another reason many research universities are seeking to expand their international research capacity is that foreign students can bridge together an international network,…
Read MoreBrookings Study provides valuable data on job vacancies in the STEM field
Knowledge and educational training in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics, also known as STEM, are vital to economic growth to our country. STEM is important, because it reaches every aspect of our daily lives, from computers and smartphones to science, nature, and animals, as well as roads, bridges and banks. According to the Brookings Institution,…
Read MoreUSCIS Issues Updated H-1B Policy Guidance for Registered Nurses
The USCIS has recently revisited the policy guidelines for nurses seeking H-1B status. Registered Nurses (RNs) generally do not qualify as a specialty occupation because a bachelor’s degree is not required for employment as a RN. Furthermore, although all RNs are required to have a nursing license by passing the National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX),…
Read MoreSEVP quarterly report on international students studying in US
The status of international students, exchange visitors and their dependents living in the US is tracked by the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS), a web-based system maintained by the Department of Homeland Security’s Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP). SEVP has released their quarterly report, also known as “SEVIS by the numbers,” which provides…
Read More“Cap Gap” Extension and Travel Regulations
Each October 1st, new H-1Bs become effective, but the application period for most employers begins six months earlier, April 1st. The period of time between April 1st and October 1st each year when many F-1 students experience a gap from the end of their OPT (Optional Practical Training) employment authorization to the start date of…
Read MoreDistrict Court’s Ruling on definition of H-1B “specialty occupation”
One of the key components of an H-1B filing is whether or not the job description stated by the H-1B petitioning employer qualifies as a “specialty occupation.” The Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) defines a “specialty occupation” as: an occupation that requires theoretical and practical application of a body of highly specialized knowledge, and attainment of a…
Read MoreHiring H-1B Employee Previously Counted towards ‘Cap’
As in previous years, all the new H-1B visas for the Fiscal Year (FY) 2015 were allocated on the first day leaving employers without any options but to wait for April 1st 2015 to file a new H-1B towards FY 2016. One of the options that many U.S. employers are exploring these days is to…
Read MoreNew Rules for F-1/M-1 students contemplating MOOCs
Massive open online courses (MOOCs) have become very popular amongst F-1 and M-1 students in recent years. Students generally want to take these virtual courses for convenience and low cost. Although many colleges and universities in the United States offer these popular MOOCs, foreign students need to be aware of the rules for using online…
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