On April 17th, USCIS announced that premium processing for H-1B petitions, subject to the fiscal cap year of 2015, would begin on April 28, including petitions qualifying for the advanced degree exemption. Additionally, USCIS guarantees a processing time of 15 calendar days for such petitions.
Beginning September of 2012, USCIS began granting what is known as deferred action to children who arrived to the United States before reaching the age of 16, having met other various requirements. Eligible deferred action applicants received an employment authorization good for a period of up to two years from…
On April 07, 2014, in a much awaited public announcement, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced that it had already reached the statutory cap of H-1B petitions allotted for the 2015 fiscal year. According to the announcement, on the first five days USCIS began to count H-1B petitions, it was…
It is that time of year where companies and individuals are preparing to send their cases to US Immigration to apply for an H-1B visa. Last year the entire cap was filled in the first week of filing, meaning many people were left out and could not get an H-1b…
It has long been a concern for L-1A clients of whether their visas will be extended after the first year on the visa when establishing a New Office branch in the U.S. We have advised our clients and all of our prospective New Office L-1A clients that they must meet…
Over the past couple of years, the immigration service center has increased the number of requests for evidence (RFE) they issue on most non-immigrant worker visas. Recently, our office got approved a request for evidence on an L-1B, intracompany transferee specialized knowledge. The L-1B, intracompany, transferee specialized knowledge visa is…
A recent liaison meeting with the Customs and Border Protection unit in San Diego provided some clarification on some recent issues with nonimmigrant visas. Below are some questions and answers on some of the nonimmigrant visa issues that were raised at the meeting. B-2 Admissions – Length of Aggregate Admission…
A recent decision by the Immigration Administrative Appeals Office overturned an L-1 denial on the grounds that the Immigration Service Director erred in denying the case on the grounds that there was not a qualifying relationship between the parent company and the U.S. subsidiary. The main concern the Director had…
Labor shortages have been a significant challenge to U.S. agriculture for as long as I can remember. On rice farms in Texas to corn fields in Nebraska, it seems as though farmers are always running short of farmhands when it comes time to harvest. But now, unlike the simpler days…
This is a great update from the CPB Liaison Practice group. A nonimmigrant alien who has previously presented a visa for admission to the United States may sometimes be readmitted (a) in the same nonimmigrant classification as shown on an expired visa or (b) in a different nonimmigrant classification than…