This afternoon, the U.S. Department of State (DOS) released the June 2024 Visa Bulletin. There is little-to-no forward movement in any of the employment-based categories from the previous month. Worse still, the DOS warns of retrogression coming in the near future. All cutoff dates listed...
Although the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) primarily operates inside the United States, the agency has field offices abroad that provide limited services. At one time, the USCIS had as many as 24 overseas offices, until the Trump Administration began shutting them down, as...
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) recently highlighted various key statistics related to the registrations submitted in this year's H1B lottery, arguing that the changes made to the program have succeeded in bringing greater integrity to the H1B program. As explained by the USCIS,...
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,...
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) strictly enforces the requirement to file the optional practical training (OPT) application within 30 days of the date the designated school official (DSO) enters the OPT recommendation into the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS) record, and...
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) recently announced that any foreign national filing an application for naturalization (form N-400) now may request an original or replacement Social Security number (SSN) or card without having to visit a Social Security Administration (SSA) office. Additionally, the...
Starting March 2024, the U.S. Embassy in India has consolidated B-1/B-2 interview waiver appointments in New Delhi, leading to limited appointment availability at U.S. consular posts in India. Applicants, however, still can submit applications at designated centers across India. This move aims to streamline the...
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,...
A student in F-1 status with initial optional practical training (OPT) authorization may meet the employment requirements by engaging in self-employment as an alternative option from the standard employment relationship. For a student interested in such an alternative or who is otherwise interested in starting...
