In this blog post, we give you an update on the status of the proposed rule increasing the filing fees for certain applications and petitions filed with the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). As you may remember, on January 4, 2023, USCIS published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking…
In this blog post we share very exciting news for H-1B and L visa holders working in the United States. The State Department is planning to resume the process of domestic visa revalidation in certain categories, like H-1B and L-1 visas, through the launch of a new pilot program that…
USCIS Updates Policy Manual Clarifying Physical Presence Requirement for Asylees and Refugees The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) recently updated its Policy Manual to clarify that BOTH asylees and refugees must have been physically present in the United States for one year at the time the Immigration Officer adjudicates…
It’s that time of the year again. The H-1B cap season for FY 2024 will soon be in full swing. USCIS has just announced that the H-1B initial registration period for the FY 2024 cap is scheduled to open at noon ET on March 1, 2023 and will remain open until noon ET…
Welcome back to Visalawyerblog! We hope you had a wonderful Christmas break with your families. In this blog post, we share a new update from the State Department regarding the continuation of its interview waiver policy for certain nonimmigrant visa types. In a new announcement, the Secretary of State has…
In this blog post, we bring you some unfortunate news. Recently, the U.S. Department of Education announced that it will no longer recognize the Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools (ACICS) as an accrediting agency. Sadly, this means that certain F-1 student visa applicants will be impacted by this…
Our readers will be happy to know that the Department of State has released a new update in the month of October on the status of worldwide consular visa operations. The COVID-19 pandemic caused a period of uncertainty and created tremendous backlogs at the Consular level. As most of you…
In this blog post, we share with you some new updates regarding the employment-based numerical limits for immigrant visas in fiscal year 2022. As a result of the global COVID-19 pandemic and the suspension of visa services at U.S. Consulates and Embassies worldwide, approximately 140,000 family-sponsored visa numbers went unused…
Welcome back to Visalawyerblog! In this post, we bring you the latest H-1B lottery news. Today, August 23, 2022, USCIS announced that the computer-generated H-1B lottery has been fully completed to select enough petitions to meet the H-1B regular cap and the U.S. advanced degree exemption for fiscal year 2023. With this…
We kickoff the start of a brand new week with some new developments in the world of immigration. USCIS Transfers Certain H-1B Petitions to the California Service Center On June 16, 2022, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced that certain H-1B petitions, including fiscal year (FY 2023) cap subject…