RSS Feed
Twitter
USCIS has received approximately 17,400 regular cap (bachelor’s degree) H-1B petitions, and approximately 8,200 advanced degree petitions, as reported by USCIS on April 9, 2012.
Posts Tagged ‘Uscis’
H-1B Cap Update
April 12th, 2012 
Tushar Mathur 
Posted in Uncategorized 
Tags: 1b Cap, 1b Petitions, Bachelor Degree, Bachelor S Degree, H-1B, H-1B cap, Uscis 
Comments OffMay 2012 Visa Bulletin – Retrogression in EB-2 – Predictions Added
April 8th, 2012 Tushar Mathur The State Department has recently released the May 2012 Visa Bulletin. The following are the highlights:
- As predicted by the Department of State, the EB-2 India and China cutoff dates have retrogressed to August 15, 2007, as a result of large number of filings in recent months. No forward movement is expected for these two countries until the October 2012 Visa Bulletin. The USCIS will continue to accept and pre-adjudicate I-485 applications for applicants with current priority dates through the end of April.
- There are slow movements for EB-3 categories.
- FB-1 China, India and “All Other Countries” all move forward by one (1) month to May 1, 2005.
- FB-2A China, India, Philippines and “All Other Countries” all move forward by five (5) weeks to November 15, 2009
- FB-2B China, India and “All Other Countries” move forward by five (5) weeks to February 22, 2004.
For the first time, DOS also included specific predictions for the coming months as follows:
VISA AVAILABILITY IN THE COMING MONTHS
FAMILY-sponsored categories (monthly movements) Worldwide dates:
* F1: four to six weeks
* F2A: up to two and one half months
* F2B: three to six weeks
* F3: three to six weeks
* F4: three to five weeks
EMPLOYMENT-based categories (monthly)
EB-1: Current
EB-2:
* Worldwide: Potential need for cut-off date to be established
* China and India: Potentially “Unavailable”
EB-3:
* Worldwide: three to five weeks
* China: up to six weeks
* India: up to two weeks
* Mexico: three to five weeks
* Philippines: three to five weeks
EB-4: Current
EB-5: Current
Posted in Green Card Tags: August 15, Cutoff Dates, Department Of State, Department of State (DOS), Eb, Employment Visa, F3, F4, Fb, February 22, Forward Movement, India, May 1, November 15, Philippines, Priority Dates, Retrogression, Six Weeks, State Department, Uscis, Visa Availability, Visa Bulletin, visa retrogression Comments Off22,323 H-1B Cap Cases filed as of April 4, 2012
April 6th, 2012 Tushar Mathur USCIS advised in a recent service center stakeholder meeting that, as of April 4, 2012, 22,323 cap-subject H-1B petitions have been received, and approximately 25% of these cases are for U.S. advanced degrees. According to USCIS, the number of filings this year is about double the number of last year thus far.
DOS Confirms China-Mainland Born and India EB-2 Visa Retrogression as of March 23, 2012
April 5th, 2012 Tushar Mathur Charlie Oppenheim, Chief of Visa Control at the State Department, has confirmed that, effective March 23, 2012, no further EB-2 visas will be authorized for China-mainland born and India applicants with priority dates of August 15, 2007, or later. Visa applicants processing in April at consulates abroad will still receive visas, as those numbers were allocated before the cut-off date was established. Mr. Oppenheim understands that USCIS will continue to accept applications for adjustment of status for aliens with priority dates prior to the date established in the April 2012 Visa Bulletin.
Posted in Uncategorized Tags: Adjudicated, Adjustment Of Status, Aila Infonet, August 15, China Mainland, Consulates, Department of State (DOS), Eb, Employment Visa, Green Card, I 485, Immigrant Visa, India Visa, Oppenheim, Priority Dates, Uscis, Visa Applicants, Visa Bulletin, Visa Card, Visa Number, Visa Numbers, visa retrogression, Visas Comments OffGrant opportunity announced by US Citizenship and Integration Grant Program
April 2nd, 2012 Tushar Mathur On 20 March 2012, US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that $5 million in competitive grant funding would be available to promote immigrant civic integration and prepare permanent residents for citizenship. The grant will go towards funding various citizenship preparation programs in communities across the country.
Since its establishment in 2009, the US Citizenship and Integration Grant Program has issued a total of $18.3 million in grants to immigrant-serving organizations that have provided citizenship preparation services to more than 29,000 US permanent residents.
Eligible organisations have until 7 May 2012 to apply for grant funding.
Continue reading “Grant opportunity announced by US Citizenship and Integration Grant Program”
Posted in Uncategorized Tags: 3 Years, 5 Million, Award Recipients, Citizenship And Immigration, Citizenship And Immigration Services, Citizenship Preparation, Citizenship Services, Civic Integration, Eligibility Requirements, Global Visa Support, Grant Program, Grants, Naturalization Services, Permanent Resident, Permanent Residents, Qualifying Service, Us Armed Forces, Us Citizen, Us Citizenship, USA immigration, USA visas, Uscis, Visa Support Comments OffH-1B Cap-Gap Relief for FY2013
March 30th, 2012 Tushar Mathur (The USCIS released the following Q&As on H-1B Cap-Gap Relief for FY2013 on 03/29/2012.)
Extension of Post-Completion Optional Practical Training (OPT) and F-1 Status for Eligible Students under the H-1B Cap-Gap Regulations – Questions and Answers
Introduction
These Questions & Answers address the automatic extension of F-1 student status in the United States for certain students with pending or approved H-1B petitions (indicating a request for change of status from F-1 to H-1B) for an employment start date of October 1, 2012 under the Fiscal Year (FY) 2013 H-1B cap.
Questions & Answers
Q1. What is “Cap-Gap”?
A1.
Posted in Uncategorized Tags: 1b Cap, 1b Petition, 1b Petitions, 1b Status, Advance Parole, Amp, Automatic Extension, Beneficiary, Cap-Gap, EAD, Eligible Students, Employment Period, F-1, Fiscal Year, Gap, Gap Extension, H 1b Visa, H-1B cap, OPT, Optional Practical Training, Period Of Time, Q2, Questions And Answers, Status Request, Uscis, Visa, Work Authorization Comments OffNew hope for foreigners who are subject to the three/ten year bar
January 10th, 2012 Tushar Mathur A new proposal by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) brings new hope to foreigners who are subject to the three and ten year bars because of their unlawful presence in the United States. Rather than leaving the United States to apply for a waiver at an overseas consulate office, these foreigners would be allowed to have their waiver pre-adjudicated by the USCIS in the United States according to the proposal. If their waiver applications are approved, they would still be required to depart the U.S. to apply for immigrant visas to return to the United States.
The 3/10 Year Bar
Section 212(a)(9) of the Immigration and Nationality Act provides that any noncitizen who after having been unlawfully present in the United States for 180-364 days and then voluntarily departs the country before they are placed in removal proceedings is not allowed to return to the United States for three (3) years.
Continue reading “New hope for foreigners who are subject to the three/ten year bar”
Posted in Uncategorized Tags: Adjudicated, Asylum Applicants, Catch 22, Consular Processing, Department Of Homeland, Department Of Homeland Security, Dhs, Extreme Hardship, Family Unity, Foreigners, Immigrant Visa, Immigrant Visas, Immigration And Nationality, Immigration And Nationality Act, Immigration Policy, New Hope, Removal Proceedings, Resident Spouse, Section 212, Unauthorized immigrants, unlawful presence, Uscis, waiver, Waiver Applications Comments OffForm I-130 Filing Location Changes
December 26th, 2011 Tushar Mathur “WASHINGTON – U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will change the filing locations for Form I-130, Petition for Alien Relative. Effective Jan. 1, 2012, domestic petitioners will mail their stand-alone I-130 applications to either the Chicago Lockbox or the Phoenix Lockbox, depending on where they reside in the United States. The new filing locations will be updated with the corresponding addresses on Jan. 1 on the Form I-130 Direct Filing Locations page. This effort will balance workloads between the two locations and provide more efficient and effective processing of Form I-130.
Posted in Uncategorized Tags: Alien, Applications, Chicago Lockbox, Citizenship And Immigration, Citizenship And Immigration Services, filing address, Form I 130, Form I 130 Petition, Form I 485, I-130, Jurisdiction, Location Changes, Overseas Addresses, Permanent Residence, Petitioners, Phoenix, S Citizenship And Immigration Services, U S Citizenship And Immigration Services, Uscis Comments OffSponsors:
