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USCIS to Publish Temporary Final Rule Proposing to Increase the Automatic Extension of EADs up to 540 days to Reduce Workforce Interruptions

We are pleased to announce that the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will soon publish a new temporary final rule in the federal register aimed at streamlining the processing of renewal applications for Employment Authorization Documents (also known as EADs) and increasing the automatic extension period of EADs. What…

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Immigration Roundup: New H-1B Cap Season Updates for FY 2025 and Beyond

In this blog post, we share with you some new updates for the H-1B cap season for fiscal year 2025 and beyond.  H-1B Cap Initial Registration Period FY 2025 USCIS has announced that the initial registration period for the FY 2025 H-1B cap season will open at noon Eastern time on March 6,…

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Your Guide to the February 2024 Visa Bulletin

The February 2024 Visa Bulletin was recently published by the Department of State. While the Dates for Filing Chart remains unchanged from the previous month, the Final Action Dates Chart shows some modest advancements in some of the employment-based preference categories, specifically EB-1 worldwide continues to be current, EB-2 Worldwide will…

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USCIS Updates Policy Guidance Clarifying “Ability to Pay” Requirement when EB-1, EB-2, and EB-3 Green Card Applicants Change Employers

On January 5, 2024, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) released updated policy guidance describing how the agency analyzes an employer’s ability to pay the offered wage to prospective employees with employment-based immigrant petitions requiring a job offer, filed with USCIS under the first, second, and third preference categories,…

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Visa Approvals Soar for Gifted STEM Workers in O-1 and EB-2 Categories

Newly released data from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has shown that thanks to policy guidance released in January 2022, more foreign nationals working in the STEM fields are receiving O-1A visas than ever before. In just the first year of issuing its revised guidance for example, issuance…

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New Year, Big Victories in Worldwide Visa Operations

The past year saw big victories for worldwide visa operations. The Department of State recently provided statistics summarizing its visa processing capacity in the year 2023. The recent data shows tremendous advancement in visa processing capacity at Consular posts globally and provides a strong outlook for visa processing in the…

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USCIS Announces Continued Flexibility for Responding to Agency Requests Through March 26, 2022

Welcome back to Visalawyerblog! In this post, we share with you an exciting new update from the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) that will provide relief to those who have received a Request for Evidence, Notice of Intent to Deny (NOID), or such similar request. USCIS RFE/NOID Flexibility…

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Department of State Releases Information Regarding Waiver of the In-Person Interview Requirement for Certain Nonimmigrant Visa Applicants

We have very exciting news for nonimmigrant visa applicants. Today, December 23rd, the Department of State announced that the agency has granted Consular officers the discretionary power to waive the in-person interview requirement for certain temporary employment nonimmigrant visa applicants, provided such applicants have a petition approved by USCIS.  This…

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COVID-19 Travel Bans: Exceptions and National Interest Designations for Critical Infrastructure Workers

We kick off the start of a brand-new week with some important information for immigrant and nonimmigrant visa applicants residing in regions currently affected by the four geographic Presidential Proclamations still in place, for non-citizens in the Schengen countries, the United Kingdom, China, Iran, Brazil, South Africa, and India. The…

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DOS Update: Entry of F-1, M-1, Certain Exchange Academics, Journalists, and Critical Infrastructure Workers, in the National Interest Despite COVID-19 Regional Presidential Proclamations

In today’s blog post, we are happy to bring our readers some very exciting news. On April 26, 2021, the Department of State formally announced a new National Interest Determination for certain categories of nonimmigrant visa applicants currently unable to enter the United States due to COVID-19 related Regional Presidential…

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