Breaking News

This category is updated daily on interesting U.S. immigration news pertaining to family immigration, employment immigration and other immigration issues. The updates are meant to quickly keep our readers aware of the ever changing immigration laws and all the related aspects. For more information check our entire website on specific topics. Note that this blog does not cover all aspects of immigration news.

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Did you know that many F1 students get U visas?

Recently we have a surge of F1 visa students who are eligible to file for the U visas. Scenarios that we meet are usually someone who is at work (even unlawful work) or just visiting a store for example, are attacked at their place of work with a deadly weapon such as a gun or a knife. Although the students were not hurt physically, it mentally disturbed them and eventually they helped the law enforcement to arrest the perpetrators or in their investigation. Such cases are common because there are many cases of…Read More Breaking News

Alert from ICE to Student those I-515A Form

Alert: Student Visa Crackdown: Form I-551A non compliance Beginning April 1, 2016, the Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) will send “Intent to Terminate” notices to nonimmigrant students (F-1/M-1), exchange visitors (J-1) and dependents (F-2/M-2/J-2) who failed to comply with the Form I-515A, “Notice to Student or Exchange Visitor,” directive by the specified deadline. Recipients of the “Intent to Terminate” notices will have 14 days, as of the date the notice is sent, to respond to the Form I-515A. Failure to comply will result in the termination of the their SEVIS record. For…Read More Breaking News

H1B Cap News – FY 2017 Cap

March 28 2016 - Announcement from the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA), regarding H1B Cap for the Fiscal Year 2017. As confirmed by the message of AILA below, USCIS will accept H1B Cap cases for the first 5 business days which in this case will be falling on April 7th 2016. Note that this does not mean that you wait the last day to send your applications. We recommend mailing your cases earlier but not before April 1, 2016. See notice from AILA below: "USCIS confirmed to AILA that standard procedures will apply…Read More Breaking News

U visa processing Times 2016

U Visa: Data Set: Form I-918 Application for U Nonimmigrant Status U visa is the visa that is offered for those who are victims of certain crimes. However, the U visa has one limitation which is the cap to 10,000 per year and many people who have filed in the past 2 years have been stuck on this track. When the U visa first started really being processed around 2007 and 2008, it was taking only few months for the Employment Authorization Documents to be issued.  Later it was taking one year, recently…Read More Breaking News

Breaking News – K1 Visa Cases for Canadian nationals will only be processed in Montreal!

March 24 2015 - Today the State Department announced that all K1 visa for Canadian nationals will be processed only in Montreal. Other consulates will still process other kinds of visa except the K1 visas. We recommend our clients to take all the necessary documents and be ready in case they have to travel to Montreal, Canada to have their K1 visa interview. Below is part of the following "Starting April 1, 2016, the U.S. Consulate General in Vancouver will no longer process K-1 visas, also known as fiancé(e) visas. The U.S. Consulate…Read More Breaking News

Automatic Revalidation of I-94: For those who want Travel to Mexico, Canada and Adjacent islands

Applies H-1B / H-4, F1, OPT, and few other non-immigrant visa status individuals   Summer is coming and many are planning to travel for short vacations less than 30 days to Mexico, Canada or on short cruises. Usually a visa stamp on the passport is required to be able to travel abroad. However, there is an exception for H4, H1, F1 visas, OPT students and some other non-immigrant visa holders to travel without needing a visa stamp on their passport. This process is called the automatic revalidation (as per revalidation of I-94 status).…Read More Breaking News

Alert: Delays LCAs due to DOL I-Cert issues.

March 23 2016 - The American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) "has received reports from  members regarding intermittent iCERT outages and slowness, as well as delays at DOL in processing Labor Condition Application (LCA) FEIN verifications. AILA has alerted DOL to these concerns and will provide updates as they are received. In the meantime, some members have reported receiving an FEIN verification by the time the LCA is adjudicated, even where the system displays a warning to enter a "valid FEIN" when the LCA is submitted and no e-mail communication is received from DOL…Read More Breaking News

H1 Transfer converted from Consular Processing to Change/Extension of Status.

March 22 2016 - We are proud to announce that after a strategic approach, we have successfully reversed a partial denial on an H1B transfer to a change/extension of status. Facts: Client came to see us stating that his lawyer got him an H1B change of employment but unfortunately was unable to get him an extension of status because USCIS believed he fell out of status. While it is frequent to get such sort of approval, in this case because Client's lawyer mistakenly did not file the extension and his amendment in the…Read More Breaking News

Webinar on STEM OPT by SEVP on April 14 2016

SEVP to Host Webinar on the STEM OPT 24-Month Extension Final Rule On March 11, 2016, DHS published a final rule that will allow certain F-1 STEM students who have elected to pursue 12 months of optional practical training (OPT) in the United States to extend the OPT period by 24 months. The Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) will hold a webinar on April 14, 2016, to discuss the new rule. F-1 students and school officials are encouraged to participate. We encourage students and companies planning to hire STEM OPT students to…Read More Breaking News

Asylum through Climate Change – Global Immigration Due to Climate.

  • Posted on March 21, 2016
  • /Under Asylum
The video by attorney Shah Peerally tries to covers issues related to climate change migration, immigration and climate change, global warming effect and migration, migration from Syria, asylum based on climate change and a proposal that the law should be changed to accommodate Asylum seekers based on climate change. Climate change is a new driver of human migration that many people expect will dwarf all others in its impact. But some of the most commonly repeated predictions of the numbers of people who will be displaced by climate change are not informed by an understanding…Read More Breaking News

Visa Bulletin Predictions for May 2016

March 20 2016 - Since last months we have attempted to assess the visa bulletin and we have come up for some dates on the visa bulletin May 2016. We are hoping both EB2 and EB3 India will move although not to a great extent. Listen to the video and comment about your thoughts. The assessment is based on the I-485 inventory chart and also the previous visa bulletin. Nothing in this video guarantees that this will actually happen, however, it can somehow predict the changes we are expecting for May 2016 Visa…Read More Breaking News

What happens to Asylum from Cuba with the New Cuba-US relationship?

  • Posted on March 20, 2016
  • /Under Asylum
March 20 2016 - President Obama made a historic landing in Cuba today and Cuban-US relationship has not been so well for decades. In fact, a US President went to Cuba today after 88 years. This is great news for the people of Cuba and US businesses doing business in Cuba. However, the question is how the USCIS is now going to treat the pending or new asylum cases in the light of the recent events.Read More Breaking News

Great Victory on a K1 visa and Marriage Petition.

Congratulations to Shah Peerally and the Shah Peerally Law Group PC for our great VICTORY on a marriage petition based on a K1 and and I-130 petition. The case was argued both in court and USCIS office. Facts : A marriage case which was lost in interpretation. Client (Beneficiary) came to see us when she was placed in removal proceedings (aka deportation) because the Department of Homeland Security(DHS) was convinced that she entered in a sham marriage to obtain immigration benefits. Client came to the United States on a valid K1 fiancee visa…Read More Breaking News

Determining Whether a New Job is in “the Same or a Similar Occupational Classification” for Purposes of Section 204(j) Job Portability

Purpose This policy memorandum (PM) provides additional guidance to Immigration Services Officers (ISO) for determining, with respect to the job portability provisions in section 204(j) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), whether one job is in “the same or a similar occupational classification” as another job. Specifically, this memorandum instructs ISOs on how to use the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) codes and other evidence to determine if a new job is in the same or a similar occupational classification as the original job offer in an Immigrant…Read More Breaking News

From Student Visa directly to Permanent Residence.

The permanent residence directly from a non-dual intent visa such as an F1 is very possible although it comes with a lot of strings attached to it mainly the ability to lose the F1 student status. While there are possibilities, this video analysis the issues attached to filing a direct greencard while on a student visa.Read More Breaking News