The USCIS Service Center Operations (SCOPS) recently addressed a question regarding the ability to obtain eligibility for an additional six years of H1B time after spending one year abroad. The American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) requested clarification regarding brief trips to the U.S. during the...
The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) made a March 15, 2010 announcement of its intent to begin certifying U visa applications on behalf of victims of certain crimes. This is a major change in the processing of U visa applications. Prior to this change, U...
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) held a February 26, 2010 National Stakeholder meeting via teleconference on a number of important topics. The Murthy Law Firm submitted questions, in advance, in an effort to obtain clarification on key matters faced by our clients, as...
Many applicants for nonimmigrant visas are required to use a new U.S. Department of State (DOS) application form. The nonimmigrant visa electronic application (Form DS-160) is being phased in for use at consulates worldwide. It is currently required for visa applications at the consulates in...
The U.S. Department of State (DOS) has issued updated plans to expand web-based nonimmigrant visa applications. The DS-160 is a fully web-based form that will replace the current DS-156, 157, and 158 forms. The DS-160 is scheduled for worldwide implementation by April 30, 2010. This...
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced on November 9, 2009, the settlement of a class action lawsuit filed in 2007. The press release on this settlement regarding hundreds of delayed N-400 naturalization applications is available online (PDF 84KB). The Murthy Law Firm was...
President Barack Obama signed a law on October 28, 2009, extending three key immigration benefits programs. The FY10 Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Bill extends the Conrad 30, EB5 Investor, and Non-Minister Religious Worker programs until September 30, 2012. The same law also contains an...
President Obama signed a continuing resolution on October 1, 2009, temporarily extending funding for the Conrad 30 program for physicians, the non-minister immigrant religious worker category and EB5 immigrant investor pilot programs until October 31, 2009.Regular readers of MurthyDotCom may recall that these programs were...
October 1, 2009 marks the start of fiscal year 2010 (FY10). Thus, eligible diversity visa lottery winners for 2010 (DV-2010) can move forward with their permanent resident (or "green card") cases. The lottery program allocates 50,000 visa numbers for immigrant visas each year to certain...
The New York State Attorney General's Office announced the shutting down of three New York businesses that had been providing fraudulent immigration legal services. Details can be found in an August 20, 2009 press release. This is reported to MurthyDotCom and MurthyBulletin readers to raise...
