News and Legal Articles
Autorización automática de empleo basada en solicitudes pendientes para la renovación de EAD (New EAD Automatic Extension Rule (in Spanish))
En el 17 de enero de 2017, la agencia de los servicios de inmigración y ciudadanía de los Estados Unidos (USCIS) anunció una nueva política. Esta política permite la autorización automática de empleo para aquellos que tengan aplicaciones pendientes para la renovación del permiso de trabajo, o mejor conocido como “El Documento de Autorización… Read More »
New EB-2 National Interest Waiver Standards Announced
Matter of Dhanasar Clarifies EB-2 National Interest Waiver Standards In the last week of 2016, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced it will change the way that it decides EB-2 National Interest Waiver (“NIW”) cases. This decision is intended to make a waiver of the normal labor certification requirements—required for most employment-based immigrants—more broadly… Read More »
3 Tips to Make the Most of Your Immigration Consultation
Consultation with a U.S. Immigration Attorney The 30-60 minutes that a person spends interviewing their potential immigration attorney may turn out to be the most important conversation of their life. During the consultation, the Client must evaluate the attorney’s Expertise, Personality, and Responsiveness. If the consultation is properly utilized, the time spent will leave… Read More »
Provisional Waiver (I-601(A)) Will Now Include Family Members of U.S. Residents
Provisional Waiver Expansion Overview On July 29, 2016, USCIS announced the Federal Register publication of its final rule expanding the class of individuals eligible for a provisional unlawful presence waiver. The final rule will take effect August 29, 2016. As we previously wrote, the rule was first proposed approximately one year ago, and allows any… Read More »
Five Things to Know About the New Parole Entrepreneur Program
Proposed Rule Would Ease Foreign Entrepreneur Entry to the U.S. Under proposed regulations released by the Department of Homeland Security on August 26, 2016, Immigration officials would temporarily admit business owners into the U.S. whose start-up business will likely be successful in the U.S. and create jobs for U.S. workers. By using its relatively rarely… Read More »
India-Based U.S. Consulates Currently Experiencing Visa Appointment Backlogs
Visa Appointments in India As any Indian traveling back to India for “stamping” of an L-1, L-2, O-1, H-3, H-1B, or H-4 visa in their passport knows, the wait for obtaining a Consular appointment can affect their eligibility for the visa itself, not to mention their work and travel plans. In recent months, appointment… Read More »
Considering Applying for U.S. Naturalization? Here are 10 Common Myths and Misperceptions
The U.S. Citizenship Process Through Naturalization Becoming a U.S. citizen is both a tremendous benefit and great responsibility. U.S. citizens have the right to vote, to obtain government jobs, to petition other family members for immigration benefits, to reside abroad without losing the right to return, and to receive certain limited protections of the… Read More »
Success Stories! Asylum Granted After BIA MTR & Chinese Parent-Child Petition Saved After 14 Years
Asylum Application for Syrian Approved After 21 Years In 1995, a Syrian Christian woman, in the U.S. on a work visa at the time, filed for Asylum with the former INS. She feared returning to her home country due to a fear of persecution on account of her gender and religious beliefs. Her request… Read More »
STEM OPT Extension Changes Take Effect May 10, 2016
New STEM OPT Program Increases Validity to 36 Months The new and expanded STEM OPT Extension program, announced by USCIS on March 11, 2016, goes into effect on May 10, 2016. The program increases the length of time that STEM graduates can stay in the U.S., working lawfully under the Optional Practical Training (OPT) program. The… Read More »
On May 2, 2016, USCIS Announced Data Entry Completion for FY 2017 H-1B Petitions
How to Know if a Case was Chosen in the H-1B Lottery Yesterday, USCIS announced that all fiscal year 2017 Cap-subject H-1B petitions randomly selected in the computer-generated lottery have been “data entered”. This means that in the coming weeks, USCIS will begin returning all H-1B cap-subject petitions that were not randomly selected in… Read More »
