In this blog post, we alert our readers to a new broadcast message issued by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Earlier this year, the U.S. Department of State (DOS) provided updated guidance explaining that Consular officers have the authority to issue F or M student visas for up to…
CBP No Longer Requires Proof of COVID-19 Vaccination for Air Passengers from Any Country starting today May 12, 2023 The United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP) now joins the State Department and Department of Homeland Security in announcing the end of the COVID-19 vaccination requirement for international travelers starting…
We have great news for H-1B visa registrants! Today, March 27, 2023, USCIS announced that it has received enough electronic registrations to reach the FY 2024 H-1B visa cap—just 10 days after the H-1B electronic registration period closed on March 17, 2023. USCIS randomly selected from among registrations that were properly…
The moment we have been waiting for has finally arrived. Yesterday, March 6, 2023, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced the expansion of premium processing services for certain F-1 students seeking Optional Practical Training (OPT) and F-1 students seeking science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) OPT extensions who have a pending Form…
Today, January 12, 2023, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that it is implementing the final phase of its expansion of premium processing for Form I-140, Immigrant Petition for Alien Workers, under the EB-1 and EB-2 immigrant classifications. Who does this phase apply to? This phase applies to new (initial)…
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…
We kick off the start of a brand-new week with some interesting revelations. On April 28, 2022, President Biden issued a letter proposing a new immigration measure that, if passed, could offer highly educated Russian nationals a pathway to permanent residency. What is it all about? The Russian invasion of…
We kick off the start of a brand-new week with the latest in the world of immigration. This week we are excited to announce new H-1B FY 2023 cap season updates — the lottery is now complete! H-1B Fiscal Year 2023 Season Updates As our readers will know, the mandatory…