The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has audited a significant percentage of PERM labor certification (LC or labor) cases since early 2012. The incidence of PERM audits became noticeably higher around February 2012. As explained here for the benefit of MurthyDotCom and MurthyBulletin readers, many...
For the past four weeks, starting on April 2, 2012, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has been accepting H1B petitions to be counted against the fiscal year 2013 (FY13) H1B Cap. As of the latest count at the time of this writing (through...
The U.S. Department of State (DOS) recently announced major changes to nonimmigrant and immigrant visa fees. These fees are charged to applicants who apply for visas (sometimes referred to as visa "stamping") at U.S. embassies and consulates abroad. These new fees became effective April 13,...
This article was written by the attorneys of the Murthy Law Firm for our corporate clients. If you are an employer or HR manager, interested in the services offered by our firm, contact our Corporate Services Manager.This set of A&As address many of the basic...
Businesses of all types must take measures at times to cut costs, restructure operations, and enhance efficiency. These questions and answers discuss the ways that corporate restructuring and downsizing can impact the employment of foreign nationals and sponsorship for permanent residence, commonly referred to as...
Immigration enforcement has been tied to national security concerns in this post 9-11 world, which has caused a shift in the immigration focus to an "enforcement first" mantra as our nation's immigration policy. The U.S. government is stepping up enforcement with increased workplace investigations and...
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is considering changes to the immigrant visa waiver process. These potential modifications are in response to recommendations for changes in processing Form I-601 applications made by the Citizenship and Immigration Services Ombudsman (CIS Ombudsman). While the changes are...
In 1996 Legacy INS (now the USCIS) issued a memorandum outlining the general policy guidelines on when a new or amended H1B petition must be filed.This memo was issued to allay confusion about deadlines for filing an amended petition. Although the memo attempts to clarify...
Parts 1 and 2 of this article examine some of the major immigration developments in 2011, and analyze the potential impact of those developments for 2012. We previously discussed the forward movement of the EB2 India and China cutoff dates in the visa bulletin. Here...
The U.S. Department of State (DOS) announced that the U.S. Consulate at Chennai, India stopped processing immigrant visa (IV) petitions as of January 1, 2012. The U.S. Embassy in New Delhi and U.S. Consulate in Mumbai are now the only locations in India conducting interviews...
