On April 24th, the Office participated in a stakeholder teleconference to discuss the extension of the Administrative Site Visit and Verification Program (ASVVP) to L1 visas. The ASVVP is a site-inspection program designed to complement the Department of Homeland Security’s existing anti-fraud efforts. In announcing this move, the USCIS highlighted the purpose behind the effort…“as [...]
As I sat watching Alexandr Dolgopolov take out the Australian Open Champion – Stanislas Wawrinka at the Miami (SONY) Open, I was impressed with what this remarkable Ukrainian had achieved, just two weeks after defeating Rafael Nadal at the Indian Wells Tennis Tournament. Dolgopolov recently put out a video with the help of fellow tennis [...]
In 2013, the California Service Center issued a Request for Evidence on almost every other Petition filed for L1B classification. This information is based on Statistics recently obtained in response to a FOIA request for FY2012 and 2013 from the USCIS. More startling is the fact that the rate of approval has dropped from [...]
Checklist of instructions for filing FY 2015 H1B petitions
Each year, around Easter Holiday weekend, The State of Ohio declares1 certain days as – “Saint Thyagaraja Days”, being dedicated to the enjoyment and nurturing of a uniquely South Asian - Indian tradition, the celebration of the classical music compositions of Saint Thyagaraja2. During this week-long period, the City of Cleveland is witness to an [...]
In a welcome gesture, on December 4th Speaker Boehner hired Senator McCain’s long time immigration advisor and Director of Immigration Policy of the Bipartisan Policy Center (BPC) – Rebbeca Tallent. In a press release on the Bipartisan Policy Center’s website, Jason Grumet, BPC’s president was very positive in summing up his view of Ms. Tallent’s [...]
Every year since 1976, Lake Superior State University (LSSU) has released a "List of Words Banished from the Queen's English for Misuse, Overuse and General Uselessness". Nominations are offered for words and phrases that are best left out of our vocabulary in the following year. The 2012 List is as follows: 1.Amazing 2.Baby Bump 3.Shared [...]
The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) analyzes trends in immigration and policy proposals that would affect immigration and states on its website that, Of the 40 million foreign-born people living in the United States in 2011, about 22 million were not citizens. About half of those non-citizens were authorized to be in the United States [...]
At the request of Senator Charles Grassley, the Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General2 examined the potential for fraud or abuse in the L-1 intracompany transferee program and concluded among other things: Although U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services regulations and headquarters memorandums provide guidance regarding the definition of specialized knowledge, they are insufficient to ensure [...]
On September 12th 2000, I traveled to The Hart Senate Office Building on Constitution Avenue and 2nd Street, NE in Washington DC to meet with and to urge Members of Congress to support among other things, H-1B legislation, restoration of Section 245(i), updating the registry date, NACARA parity, and IIRAIRA reform. I was part of [...]