Investments in U.S. companies have been stalled due to the nonavailability of visas to allow legitimate visitors to enter and pursue investment opportunities. More importantly, the State Department is failing thousands of American citizens whose families are unable to visit even in an emergency. Concerned citizens must write to their representatives in Congress and the [...]
Most H-1B nonimmigrants who have been in the U.S. for over 5 years run the risk of not being able to extend their H-1B Visa beyond the sixth year. This is due to inordinate delays at the Department of Labor (DOL), with backlogs continuing to grow month after month… we are urging clients to start [...]
USCIS has received a sufficient number of petitions needed to reach the congressionally mandated 65,000 H-1B visa regular cap and the 20,000 H-1B visa U.S. advanced degree exemption, known as the master’s cap, for fiscal year (FY) 2023. We have completed sending non-selection notifications to registrants’ online accounts. The status for registrations properly submitted for [...]
In May 2015, the USCIS issued draft guidance following a precedent decision in Matter or Simeio Solutions, LLC (26 I&N Dec. 542 (AAO 2015)) on when to file amended H-1B petitions. However, in 2020 following the IT Serve Alliance case, the USCIS entered into a settlement agreement where it agreed to set aside certain policies [...]
WASHINGTON—U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced a Temporary Final Rule (TFR) that increases the automatic extension period for employment authorization and Employment Authorization Documents (EADs), available to certain EAD renewal applicants, to up to 540 days. The increase, which will be effective immediately on May 4, 2022, will help avoid gaps in employment for noncitizens with pending [...]
As part of USCIS’ credit card payment pilot program, the USCIS service centers are now accepting credit card payments using Form G-1450, Authorization for Credit Card Transactions, for all forms. The goal of this pilot is to bring USCIS one step closer to accepting digital payments using a credit card at all service centers. This [...]
DHS is ending the COVID-19 Temporary Policy for List B Identity Documents. Beginning May 1, Employers will no longer be able to accept expired List B documents. DHS adopted the temporary policy in response to the difficulties many individuals experienced with renewing documents during the COVID-19 pandemic. Now that document-issuing authorities have reopened and/or provided [...]
The registration process for the H-1B FY2022 lottery begins shortly, and we have some tips and general guidelines for those looking to file this year. Our office is happy to assist you with these filings at no charge (except the $10 registration fee charged by USCIS). In this linked in immigration article, Attorney Kidambi offers [...]
In 2020 the USCIS implemented a new electronic H-1B CAP registration process. What was once a painstaking process of filing entire petitions with filing fee checks (not to mention legal expenses), has now been simplified. In this linked in immigration article, Attorney Kidambi highlights some of the ways of improving your chances of filing a [...]
In this blog post, AILA member Vaman Kidambi shares insights into the new USCIS mission statement and how it recognizes and honors our nation's diversity; he also highlights the important work of the American Immigration Council's Center for Inclusions and Belonging.