USCIS Expands New Policy for Nonimmigrants Changing Status to F-1
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) recently made it even more cumbersome to change status to F-1 full-time student status from within the United States. After implementing a revised...
View ArticleReports of Errors in USCIS “My Case Status” Online Tool
One of the most widely used features on the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) website is the My Case Status portal. As the name implies, this online tool allows a person to check the...
View ArticleUSCIS to Suspend Premium Processing for Fiscal Year 2019 H1B Cap Petitions
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) today announced that premium processing requests will not be accepted for cases filed pursuant to the fiscal year 2019 (FY19) H1B Cap. Any request...
View ArticleGovernment Faces Yet Another Possible Shutdown After March 23, 2018
Congress must pass a spending bill to extend government operations by midnight of March 23, 2018, or else another temporary shutdown of the federal government will go into effect. A government shutdown...
View ArticleU.S. Consulate in Mumbai to Process all Immediate Relative Cases in India
Effective April 1, 2018, interviews for all immediate-relative immigrant visas in India will be conducted at the U.S. Consulate in Mumbai. Anyone with an immediate-relative interview in India,...
View ArticleNewsFlash! President Trump Signs Bill Funding Federal Government Through...
This afternoon, President Trump signed a federal spending bill that keeps the government open through September 30, 2018. This bill also extends the employment-based, fifth preference (EB5) regional...
View ArticleContiguous Territory Rule Permits Reentry from Canada or Mexico
There is an important exception to the general requirement that nonimmigrant foreign nationals need to have valid visas, issued at the consulate abroad, in order to enter the United States. This...
View ArticleApril 2018 Visa Bulletin Check-In: Cause of Relatively Quick Priority Date...
Most months, the U.S. Department of State (DOS) Chief of the Visa Control and Reporting Division, Charles Oppenheim, provides visa bulletin explanations and predictions. For the April 2018 Visa...
View ArticleU.S. Supreme Court Says INA Does Not Grant Right to a Bond Hearing for...
The U.S. Supreme Court recently ruled in Jennings v. Rodriguez that noncitizens, including lawful permanent residents (i.e. “green card” holders), who are detained by immigration officials while their...
View ArticleSEVP Portal for Certain F-1 and M-1 Students
On March 23, 2018, the Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) launched the SEVP Portal. The new portal allows F-1 students on OPT and M-1 students participating in vocational training to update...
View ArticleCommon Employment Violations
Long-time followers of MurthyDotCom have likely read some of our articles on the increase in government scrutiny of the hiring and employment practices of U.S. employers. These articles focus on...
View ArticleNewsFlash! ACICS Regains Recognition as Accrediting Agency
On April 3, 2018, the U.S. Department of Education announced that the Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools (ACICS) is once again deemed a nationally recognized accrediting agency....
View ArticleNewsFlash! H1B Cap Reached for FY 2019
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced today that the H1B cap limit for fiscal year 2019 (FY19) has been reached. This applies to both the 65,000 regular H1B cap limit as well...
View ArticleSome Members of Congress Sign on to Letter in Support of H-4 EAD Program
Fifteen members of the U.S. Congress wrote a joint letter to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristjen Nielson in March 2018, urging her to reconsider the department’s plan to...
View ArticleUSCIS Launches Pilot Processing Time Website
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) recently launched a pilot website to test a redesign of its processing time website, which now displays the data for all forms in an easier-to-read...
View ArticleMay 2018 Visa Bulletin: EB3 India Advances by Several Months
Today, the U.S. Department of State (DOS) released the May 2018 Visa Bulletin. In it, the cutoff date for the employment-based, third preference (EB3) category for India moves forward by a few months....
View ArticleNewsFlash! H1B Cap Lottery Completed for FY 2019
Today, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that it has completed the randomized H1B cap lottery selection process. The USCIS reported that it received 190,098 petitions this...
View ArticleUSCIS Adopts Matter of S- Inc as Precedent Decision
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has adopted Matter of S- Inc. as a precedent decision, establishing new policy guidance for USCIS personnel. In this case, the AAO found that the...
View ArticleMurthyAudio: Government Comes a-Knockin’– Practical Tips
In this teleconference, recorded April 4, 2018, Murthy Law Firm attorneys provide practical tips and discuss best practices for when government agencies, such as ICE or FDNS, show up at your door to...
View ArticleUSCIS Changes Position on Third-Party Placement of STEM OPT Workers
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has updated its STEM OPT webpage to reflect an apparent change in the agency’s interpretation of the 2016 STEM optional practical training (OPT)...
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