Blogs

US Visa Stamping in Mexico

July 15, 2020

Visa Stamping

US Visa Renewal Stamping in Tijuana Mexico Process & Detailed Step by Step Process for F1, H1B, H4, L1A, L1B, L2, E3 visa holders Including US Visa Fee Payment Help in Mexico

u.s. visa stamping in tijuana mexico US Visa Renewal Stamping in Tijuana Mexico Process & Detailed Step by Step Process for F1, H1B, H4, L1A, L1B, L2, E3 visa holders Including US Visa Fee Payment Help in Mexico

March 29, 2020

H1B Visas

USCIS begins H1B Selection Process "H1B Lottery" FY 2021

We want to congratulate the H1B beneficiaries whose H1Bs are selected for processing under the H1B registration. USCIS has selected many H1B registrations and updated Employer/Attorney's online systems. Please note that they may not have received any email notifications, and they should log in to their online account at https://my.uscis.gov to view. Please view a sample Selection Notice, with the Service center location that should be used by the Employer/Attorney to send th

March 28, 2020

BREAKING NEWS: US Consulates Reschedule of Appointments

One of our Members have reported that the US Consulates are rescheduling Appointments to October 2020. If anyone has received a notification, please add under comments so that we can track the situation. Related Forum Post!

March 23, 2020

BREAKING NEWS: U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services today announced that, due to the ongoing COVID-19 National Emergency announced by President Trump on March 13, 2020, we will accept all benefit forms and documents with reproduced original signature

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services today announced that, due to the ongoing COVID-19 National Emergency announced by President Trump on March 13, 2020, we will accept all benefit forms and documents with reproduced original signatures, including the Form I-129, Petition for Nonimmigrant Worker, for submissions dated March 21, 2020, and beyond. USCIS already accepts various petitions, applications and other documents bearing an electronically reproduced original signature. This mean

March 20, 2020

BREAKING NEWS: USCIS Announces Temporary Suspension of Premium Processing for All I-129 and I-140 Petitions Due to the Coronavirus Pandemic

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services today announced the immediate and temporary suspension of premium processing service for all Form I-129 and I-140 petitions until further notice due to Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). Effective today, March 20, 2020, USCIS will not accept any new requests for premium processing. USCIS will process any petition with a previously accepted Form I-907, Request for Premium Processing Service, in accordance with the premium processing service criteri

March 20, 2020

BREAKING NEWS: Petition filed with White House to Extend the H1B 60-Day Grace Period.

A petition was filed on the WhiteHouse.Gov website requesting the government to temporarily extend the 60-Day H1B Visa Grace period to 180 Days. The Covid-19 situation is getting worse with massive lay-offs expected. The economic conditions may have a significant impact on H1B Workers. Under regulations, H1B workers have a 60-Day grace period of unemployment time during each authorized validity period to stay in the USA legally. They must find new work within 60 days; otherwise, they h

March 20, 2020

COVID-19/CORONA VIRUS IMPACTS ON H1B & F1 VISAS | Immigration Attorney Nandini Nair, Esq | Conference Call |

March 20, 2020

BREAKING NEWS: USCIS Temporary Office Closure

To protect our workforce and to help mitigate the spread of Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) in our communities, effective immediately, USCIS is suspending all routine face-to-face services with applicants at all of our offices, including all interviews and naturalization ceremonies. All USCIS field offices, asylum offices and Application Support Centers (ASCs) will not provide in-person services until at least April 1. This includes interviews, naturalization ceremonies and biometric collect

March 18, 2020

H1B Visas

H1B/F1 Immigration Conference Call (Covid-19)

Please join IMMIGRATION CONFERENCE CALL COVID-19/CORONA VIRUS IMPACTS ON H1B & F1 VISAS Date & Time: March 19, 2020 at 4:00 PM EST

March 17, 2020

Visa Stamping

H1B Visa Status on CEAC is Refused | 221g Administrative Processing | US Consulates |

If your CEAC changed from "Admin Processing" to "Refused", please do not worry and it does not mean that your visa is denied. I am writing this article to clarify the status on CEAC website. Many users are in a state of shock and panicky with such changes on the Status. The following is the update applicants have been getting on the CEAC website updating from Admin Processing to Refused. If you notice the following illustration, it clearly indicates that "Your case was refused

GC - PERM/I-140 /I-485 (EB1, EB2, EB3)

March 10, 2020

I-140 Withdrawals, H1B Extensions, H4-EAD and Retention of Priority Dates FAQs

The I-140 withdrawals by Employers have raised many concerns in the H1B Visa Community. Let's take a look at the regulations and a few scenarios. Before January 17, 2017, I-140 approval withdrawn by the Employer is obsolete and you can not use it for an H1B Extension, I-140 porting, and applying for an H-4 EAD under the AC21 regulations. Unless unless the visa numbers were available and an I-485 was filed and employed for 180 days after such I-485 filing.. The new rule comes as a boon that

March 5, 2020

NRI Articles

Taxation on Money Transferred from Foreign Countries to the USA

If you are moving to the USA and transferring monies from a foreign country, the money transferred from a foreign country to the USA may not be taxable. Bank transfers from your personal foreign bank account to your personal US bank account are not reported on a federal tax return. If it is more than $100,000 for any current year, one must report it to the IRS by filing Form 3520 and used to notify IRS with no taxes payable. On a side note, if the money is a gift, a gift tax in the USA may

March 4, 2020

H1B Visas

H1B Registration First Day Step-by-Step Process and Experience by an Employer on March 01, 2020

I am sure most of you are wondering how H1B registrations occurred on the first day USCIS opened its doors on March 01, 2020. I would like to share experience of an Employer with the online filing H1B registration system at https://my.uscis.gov on March 01, 2020. The Employer was able to complete the Registration for a few H1B beneficiaries successfully. If you have any experiences, questions or suggestions, please post under comments below. Please note: Screenshots adjusted for the brevi

March 2, 2020

Specialty Occupation RFE Solutions Amidst Changing H-1B Approval Trends

Over the past three H-1B cap-subject seasons, we have seen an unprecedented rise in specialty occupation RFEs calling jobs into question that had never run into trouble before. This trend is echoed across the entire H-1B visa program, with overall approval rates plummeting from over 80% in 2015 to around 60% for FY2019. USICS approval trends changing, however, is nothing new. Before the rise of the specialty occupation RFE, education issues were the big change. USCIS began issuing RFEs

August 26, 2019

How to Fight the H-1B Specialty Occupation RFE and Why it’s Important

Over the past two years, H-1B jobs that had previously been approved as specialty occupations – such as electrical engineer or computer programmer – are now receiving RFEs as responses to initial petitions instead of approval. This is because USCIS has raised its standards of proof without a new law or regulation, and without notice. While USCIS approval trends change from year to year – and there are never any guarantees with USCIS – this change was sudden, drastic, and is a threat to STE

August 19, 2019

H-1B Employer Data Hub Proves USCIS is Restricting H-1B Visas without Regulation

Over the past two years, lawyers, employers, and H-1B beneficiaries have suspected USCIS raised its standard of proof for H-1B visa approval without any new law, regulation, or notice to the public. This was evidenced anecdotally with jobs that had never before been called into question for meeting H-1B specialty occupation requirements suddenly being hit with an unprecedented rate of RFEs instead of approvals, like computer programmer and engineer. When USCIS released its H-1B Employer Da

August 14, 2019

Case Study: Specialty Occupation RFE for Engineer Successfully Answered

The numbers show that the same specialty occupations approved for H-1B visas just a few years ago are now being called into question. According to Forbes, in FY2017 only 3% of H-1B extension petitions were denied. These petitions are for beneficiaries whose H-1B visas were previously approved. Then, in FY2018, the denial rate more than doubled, jumping to 12%, and then to 18% in the first quarter of FY2019. All of the top 27 employers of H-1B beneficiaries experienced this spike in den

August 12, 2019

Case Study: How to Deal with a Double Nightmare H-1B RFE

When USCIS takes issue with one aspect of an H-1B petition, they rarely stop there. One common example is the Double Nightmare RFE, which is a specialty occupation RFE and a wage level RFE rolled into one. Complicated RFEs are answered by going back to the basic approval requirements. Getting wrapped up in the wording and specific demands of an RFE is a trap. Read it over with your team, then put it down and go back to the basics. For H-1B eligibility, a job must meet specialty occupa

August 3, 2019

Case Study: Overturned Specialty Occupation RFE for Computer Programmer

Keeping in pace with the past two years, specialty occupation RFEs are common this RFE season, and computer programmers have been hit especially hard yet again. Computer programmers – especially those making level one wages – are especially vulnerable to specialty occupation RFEs because entry level computer programmers can sometimes be hired with only a US associate’s degree. H-1B specialty occupation requirements state that an occupation must require a minimum of a US bachelor’s degree o

August 1, 2019

RFE Season is Rolling in with MORE Specialty Occupation RFEs

Every year, a higher percentage of H-1B beneficiaries selected in the lottery receive an RFE this time of year instead of outright visa approval. If you, or if your employee or client received an H-1B RFE this year, there is a high probability that is was a specialty occupation RFE. Last year, USCIS bombarded H-1B petitioners with RFEs questioning whether their job met the requirements for “specialty occupation.” H-1B visas are work visas for foreign employees working jobs that require a

July 25, 2019

Case Study: Indian Three-Year Degree H-1B RFE Overturned!

A recurring RFE we see every year with H-1B candidates is the education RFE for the Indian three-year bachelor’s degree. Candidates who do not submit credential evaluations that account for the missing fourth year of education with their initial petition get RFEs about it this time of year. Graduate schools commonly accept the Indian three-year bachelor’s degree as an acceptable prerequisite to their programs, and employers will hire employees to specialty occupations with this credential.