The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) recently announced the incorporation of the U.S. Department of Labor's (DOL) definition of "science or art" into its policy manual for Schedule A, Group II cases. The policy change goes into effect immediately. Background An employer sponsoring a foreign national...
The Murthy Law Firm regularly assists foreign nationals in filing self-sponsored immigrant petitions under the EB2 national interest waiver (NIW) category. In one such case, the immigrant petition (form I-140) was filed for a public safety technology researcher focused in the areas of machine learning,...
This afternoon, the U.S. Department of State (DOS) released the May 2024 Visa Bulletin. The employment-based categories show no forward movement from the previous month. All cutoff dates listed refer to those in the final action chart (i.e., Chart A), unless otherwise specified. Visa Bulletin Summary Employment-Based,...
The attorneys in our firm regularly track governmental policies and take action to improve the immigration process for our clients and the immigration community at large. To that end, the Murthy Law Firm recently submitted a letter to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS)...
On March 21, 2024, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) updated the USCIS Policy Manual clarifying certain criteria for expedite requests. The update also provides additional guidance on how to submit expedite requests to the USCIS and how they are processed. Overview of USCIS Policy...
On March 11, 2024, the U.S. Department of State (DOS) released the April 2024 Visa Bulletin. For India and China, EB3 remains ahead of EB2 on the final action date chart, which may lead to increased interest in transferring the underlying basis of a pending...
Today, the U.S. Department of State (DOS) released the April 2024 Visa Bulletin. This month's visa bulletin also provides some predictions for movement in the coming months. All cutoff dates listed refer to those in the final action chart (i.e., Chart A), unless otherwise specified. Visa...
A foreign national seeking to become a lawful permanent resident of the United States (i.e., a "green card holder") typically should be familiar with the concept of a priority date. For all employment-based (EB) preference categories, a foreign national's priority date is critical, as it...
In applying for a PERM labor certification, an employer first must request a prevailing wage determination from the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL). Although prevailing wage determinations typically are based on internal DOL data, there are times when an employer may be required or have...
The Murthy Law Firm periodically receives questions from those who do not know the categories of their pending employment-based permanent residence ("green card") cases. This is a useful piece of information, which determines timeframes and options for an individual or family. While generally available from...
