Since the June 2013 Visa Bulletin, the third preference employment-based immigrant visa category (EB-3) for individuals born in China has a more recent cut-off date than the second preference employment-based category (EB-2). This has held true even as recently as the December 2013 Visa Bulletin, which indicates that the EB-3…
Today, the United States Supreme Court struck down the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), describing the federal law as an assault on fundamental human rights. In his opinion, Justice Kennedy said the law served “no legitimate purpose” to justify the effect of the law, and was a way to “disparage…
Some good News about the February Visa Bulletin. The employment-based, second preference (EB2) category cutoff date moves forward by a full year, to January 1, 2010 for India and China. This is actually very encouraging for many applicant out there. The decision to dramatically advance the cutoff dates is based…
On November 9, 2011, USCIS posted for comment the Draft Memorandum on EB-5 Adjudications Policy. The Memo provides clarifications on the current law and policies concerning adjudication of EB-5 petitions. American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) provided its comments and suggestions for the Final Memo. AILA pointed out the major issues…
Below is the story of several individuals who were able to come to America through asylum. These individuals have built families here, have jobs and contribute to America by doing their duty like any American citizen. Unfortunately, these individuals have not been able to gain permanent residency since coming to…
Many Israelis were defrauded by Mr. San Klein in the past decade, he is known to be the mastermind behind the R1 visa fraud scheme.He admitted orchestrating a multi-faceted fraud scheme that included filing false tax returns and making false claims to enable aliens to obtain religious worker visas and…
As many of you may know the DOL has suspended issuing prevailing wage determinations for several weeks now. Such determinations are essential to start any PERM case. On Wednesday, August 24, 2011, AILA received reports from members that PERM prevailing wage determinations are beginning to be received for requests submitted…
Recently, USCIS published new guidelines for the Employment Based Second Preference (EB-2) Immigrant Visa Category. In particular the new guidelines outline how Entrepreneurs can apply under the National Interest Waiver under this visa category. An Entrepreneur qualifies under this category in two ways, as a person holding an advanced degree,…
USCIS Director Alejandro Mayorkas discusses on the official USCIS blog, The Beacon, how current immigration policies will spur job growth and bolster the U.S. economy. The United States has a long, rich history of welcoming innovative entrepreneurs and skilled workers into our country. These men and women fuel our nation’s…
Yesterday, the House Judiciary Committee approved to go forward HR 704, the “Security and Fairness Enhancement for America Act of 2011.” With a name like that, you would think the bill was many hundreds of pages and proposed changes to the court system or at least dealt with the huge…