MurthyAudio: New H1B Regulations and New Prevailing Wages
The proposed new H1B Regulations regarding specialty occupation, employer-employee relationship, and increased vetting of employers who employ H1B workers are discussed in this podcast, recorded...
View ArticleUSCIS Revising Naturalization Civics Test
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has announced that several changes are being implemented to the U.S. civics and history test that naturalization applicants generally must pass...
View ArticleDecember 2020 Visa Bulletin
The U.S. Department of State (DOS) has released the December 2020 Visa Bulletin. Much of the movement is fairly modest, but the most dramatic change is significant retrogression for EB3 India in the...
View ArticleState Dept. Proposes Eliminating B-1 in Lieu of H1B Classification
The U.S. Department of State (DOS) has published a notice of proposed rulemaking that, if finalized, would eliminate the B-1 in lieu of H classification. This category is intended to permit foreign...
View ArticleCriminal Violations and Arrests in the Immigration Context
When individuals have a brush with criminal law, they are often afraid and, typically, very embarrassed. Such experiences generally are shared, if at all, only with those closest to the individual....
View ArticleNewsFlash! Federal Court Blocks Enforcement of New H1B Regulations
Today, a federal district court held that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) violated the Administrative Procedures Act in issuing regulations that...
View ArticleNewsFlash! Bill to End Employment-Based Per-Country Cap Inches Closer to...
Last night, the U.S. Senate passed the Fairness for High Skilled Immigrants Act, which would eliminate the per-country cap on employment-based green cards, and increase the per-country limit for...
View ArticleNewsFlash! Federal Court Orders DACA Program to be Fully Restored
This evening, a federal district court ordered the Trump Administration to fully reinstate the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. DACA is a program created by the Obama...
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Sheela Murthy as Keynote Speaker at TiE Global Summit
Sheela Murthy, recent past President of TiE DC, entrepreneur, lawyer, philanthropist, and globally-recognized leader, will be interviewed live as a keynote speaker for the TiE Global Summit (TGS) held...
View ArticleSerious Immigration Consequences for Drug Use Despite State Law Changes
Legalization or decriminalization of marijuana or other narcotics at the state level can mislead noncitizens into thinking using such drugs in accordance with state law is legal. Marijuana,...
View ArticleMurthyAudio: Hiring H1B Workers During the Pandemic – Status Issues, Denials,...
Strategies for employers to consider while hiring H1B workers during the COVID-19 pandemic are discussed by Murthy Law Firm (MLF) attorneys in this December 2020 podcast. Based on cases that MLF...
View ArticlePresident-Elect Biden to Nominate Mayorkas as Head of DHS
President-Elect Joseph R. Biden has announced that he will nominate Alejandro Mayorkas to serve as the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS). If he is confirmed by the Senate,...
View ArticleExecutive Agencies, Including USCIS, Closed on December 24th and 25th
President Trump has issued an executive order to close all executive departments and agencies, which includes the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), on December 24, 2020. These offices...
View ArticleReceipt Notice Delays for Cases Filed at USCIS Lockboxes
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) issued a statement this week, acknowledging delays in issuing receipt notices for cases filed at USCIS lockbox facilities. The USCIS attributes...
View ArticlePossible Government Shutdown After Midnight Tonight
Congress must pass a spending bill to extend government operations before 12:01 a.m. on Saturday, December 19, 2020, or else a temporary shutdown of the federal government will go into effect. This...
View ArticleGovernment Shutdown Averted
Over the weekend, Congress passed two stop-gap measures to keep the federal government funded through this evening. More importantly, a final bill is expected to be signed into law later today that...
View ArticleImportance of Monitoring the I-94 Expiration Date
For nonimmigrants temporarily in the United States, perhaps the most important date to track is the expiration date of one’s I-94 arrival / departure record. The I-94 record used to be issued in paper...
View ArticleUSCIS Extends Flexibility for Responding to Requests Until Jan 31, 2021
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has again extended the response time flexibility, initially announced on March 30, 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This flexibility applies to...
View ArticleLittle Movement in January 2021 Visa Bulletin
The U.S. Department of State (DOS) has released the January 2021 Visa Bulletin. Unfortunately, there is very little movement from the December 2020 Visa Bulletin. All cutoff dates listed refer to the...
View ArticleSpending Bill Also Extends Certain Immigration Programs
In recent years, each time an annual budget or continuing resolution has been passed into law, it has also been used to extend certain immigration programs that were scheduled to expire. The omnibus...
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