Developments in the employment-based, second preference (EB2) category for India and China in late 2011 / early 2012 generated both excitement and disappointment for many EB2 candidates. The rapid forward movement of cutoff dates in the visa bulletin for EB2-eligible candidates from India and China...
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is continuing improvement efforts on the immigrant waiver application process. The USCIS published an April 2, 2012 notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) in the Federal Register, as a required step toward instituting such changes. Waiver for Unlawful Presence Changes proposed...
The U.S. Department of State (DOS) has released the May 2012 Visa Bulletin. As expected, based upon an earlier DOS announcement, the May Visa Bulletin has a retrogressed cutoff date of August 15, 2007. This was discussed in DOS Issues New EB2 Cutoff Projection (23.Mar.2012)....
The U.S. consulates and embassies are currently implementing a U.S. Department of State (DOS) pilot program announced in January 2012. This program allows individuals who meet certain conditions to avoid interviewing at U.S. consulates when seeking their visas. This Visa Interview Waiver Program (IWP) is...
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has changed the paper used for Form I-797C, Notice of Action, effective April 2, 2012. The Form I-797C is now printed on plain bond paper, rather than the special paper previously used. The purpose of this change is...
The USCIS issued a cap count for H1B filings as of April 9, 2012. According to USCIS, 25,600 cap-subject H1B cases have been filed thus far this cap season. Of these filings, 8,200 were filed against the advanced-degree exemption; 17,400 were filed against the regular...
The fiscal year 2013 (FY13) H1B cap-filing season began this week. April 2, 2012 was the first day for such filings at the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). Readers affected by this should regularly check MurthyDotCom and the MurthyBulletin as your reliable source of...
MurthyDotCom and MurthyBulletin readers were alerted on March 29, 2012 in our news item DOS Confirms Lack of Enough EB2 India / China Visa Numbers, that the U.S. Department of State (DOS) had internally retrogressed the EB2 India and China cutoff dates. The retrogression will...
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) published a notice in the Federal Register announcing the expansion of the Global Entry Program (GEP). This program facilitates entry to the United States for qualified, trusted travelers. Background on Global Entry Program Details regarding the permanent creation of the...
The Department of State (DOS) provided the Murthy Law Firm with confirmation today that, effective March 23, 2012, the EB2 cutoff date has been retrogressed internally to August 15, 2007. This means that the USCIS will not be able to approve further EB2 I-485 cases...
