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News & EventsDepartment of Homeland Security Proposes Removing Obama-era International Entrepreneur Rule
The Department of Homeland Security holds the discretionary power to permit entry into the United States in humanitarian or public benefit cases. In the final months of the Obama administration in 2016, the Department of Homeland Security amended its regulations...
USCIS Implements Targeted Anti-Fraud Initiatives
On June 28, 2018, Citizenship and Immigration Services Ombudsman Julie Kirchner published her most recent annual report to Congress, revealing USCIS’ intensified anti-fraud initiatives as well as confirming processing delays for multiple applications. The Ombudsman’s...
USCIS Confirms Processing Delays for Many Application Types
 On June 28, 2018, Citizenship and Immigration Services Ombudsman Julie Kirchner published her most recent annual report to Congress, revealing USCIS’ intensified anti-fraud initiatives as well as confirming processing delays for multiple applications. The Ombudsman’s...
July 2018 Visa Bulletin Issued
The Department of State (DOS) has issued its July 2018 Visa Bulletin. Most notably, there continues to be no advancement for the priority dates for EB-1 for China and India and a significant retrogression for EB-3 China. EB-1-Worldwide:Â Â Â Â Priority dates are...
June 2018 Visa Bulletin Issued
The Department of State (DOS) has issued its June 2018 Visa Bulletin. Most notably, there was no advancement for the priority dates for EB-1 for China and India, EB-2 for China, and EB-3 for China, India, and the Philippines. EB-1-Worldwide:Â Â Â Â Priority dates are...
USCIS New Policy on Accrual of Unlawful Presence by Students and Exchange Visitors
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is changing how it calculates unlawful presence for F-1, J-1, and M-1 nonimmigrants and their dependents. These changes are designed to clarify how USCIS implements the unlawful presence grounds of inadmissibility. Â In...
MAY 2018 VISA BULLETIN ISSUED
The Department of State (DOS) has issued its May 2018 Visa Bulletin. Most notably, there was no advancement for the priority dates for EB-1 for China and India since a retrogression from the April 2018 Visa Bulletin. EB-1-Worldwide:Â Â Â Â Priority dates are...
H-1B Specialty Occupation Trend for FY 2019 and Suggestions for Employees and Recent Graduates
Ever since the new administration came to office, a higher level of scrutiny has been applied to H-1B visas by USCIS through increasingly frequent Request For Evidence (RFE) and close scrutiny over wage level 1 positions. On April 11, USCIS conducted two lotteries for...
Likelihood of FY2019 Lottery Selection
USCIS has reached the H-1B Cap for the Fiscal Year of 2019. This year, 190,098 H-1B petitions were filed – an approximate 4.5% decrease from last year’s 199,000 filings and still significantly fewer than the record 236,000 H-1B petitions that were filed in 2016. In...
APRIL 2018 VISA BULLETIN ISSUED
The Department of State (DOS) has issued its April 2018 Visa Bulletin. Most notably, there was a retrogression for the priority dates for EB-1 for China and India. There continues to be a steady advancement for the priority dates for EB-2 for China and India and for...