It has been reported that this Wednesday, July 23, the State Department’s global database for issuing travel documents has crashed, resulting in major delays for potentially millions of people around the world waiting for U.S. passports and visas. Unspecified glitches in State Department’s Consular Consolidated Database have resulted in “significant…
Visa Lawyer Blog
San Antonio’s FBI Office Warns Against Fraudulent Schemes Targeting Families of Unaccompanied children
On July 19, 2014 the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s San Antonio Office issued a press release discussing fraudulent attempts made by con artists targeting the families of unaccompanied children—mostly from Central America—coming to the United States through the Rio Grande valley and Tucson border. According to the press release, these…
New USCIS Guidance – H-1B Visa for Nurses
By Ekaterina Powell, Esq. On July 11, 2014, USCIS released new guidance on adjudication of H-1B petitions for nursing occupations, which superseded the previous USCIS Memorandum of Johnny Williams, INS Office of Field Operations, Guidance on Adjudication of H-1B Petitions filed on Behalf of Nurses, HQISD 70/6.2.8-P (November 27, 2002).…
Staff Spotlight: Associate Attorney Nadia Galash, Esq.
It is a pleasure for our law office to introduce associate attorney Nadia Galash to our readers Bio: Nadia Galash has been a California licensed attorney since 2009 and has been practicing immigration law since 2011. Nadia Galash specializes in adjustment of status/permanent resident processing; citizenship; deportation and removal proceedings before…
Unaccompanied Children Revive Immigration Reform Debate
The rise in the number of unaccompanied children crossing into the United States illegally has dominated talks between lawmakers, pundits, political analysts, and humanitarian organizations, all of whom have a stake in bringing about comprehensive immigration reform. According to reports by the New York Times, since the month of October,…
Expedited Naturalization – U.S. Citizen Spouse Working Abroad
By Lupe Lopez Alan and Diana married in February 2014. They quickly filed for Diana’s green card and because they had been married less than two years at the time of the interview, Diana received conditional permanent residence. Everything was fine and there were no problems until Alan received a…
Conrad 30/J-1 Visa Waiver for Foreign Medical Doctors
By Yingfei Zhou, Esq. The Conrad 30/J-1 Visa Waiver program allows J-1 medical doctors to apply for a waiver of the 2-year residence requirement upon completion of the J-1 exchange visitor program. From October 1 through September 30 of each year, up to 30 waivers can be recommended by each state’s…
EB-2 India category advances 5 years ahead
Great news for Indian Nationals! The United States Department of State Bureau of Consular Affairs recently released the August Visa Bulletin which summarizes the availability of immigrant visas for the month of August for family-based and employment-based visa preferences. According to Section 201 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA)…
A Guide to Communicating with USCIS
Want to track the status of a pending case? Moving to a new address? Want to report a problem with your case? No problem! Our loyal fans and followers, who communicate with us through our various social networking sites and web page, often ask our law office how they can…
H-1B Request for Evidence Trends 2014
By Ekaterina Powell, Esq. Since the H-1B season kicked off on April 1, 2014, USCIS has started issuing Requests for Evidence (RFE). This article will address the RFE trends and practice tips. Below are 4 main points USCIS addresses in the RFEs: Specialty Occupation Sufficient Specialty Occupation Work Right to…