April 14, 2020. Adhikari Law PLLC hosted a free webinar on the topic of COVID-19 Reliefs for Int’l Students, H-1B, L1 and other Work Visa, and Maintenance of Status and other legal updates. Video playback and presentation below Download Presentation slides Agendas for the webinar were the following: Guidance on Maintenance of Status OPT unemployment, Change[Read More]
USCIS News Alerts and Updates
COVID-19 Delays in Extension/Change of Status Filings
April 14, 2020. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) recognizes that there are immigration-related challenges as a direct result of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. It continues to carefully analyze these issues and to leverage our resources to effectively address these challenges within our existing authorities. DHS also continues to take action to protect the American[Read More]
USCIS Proposes to Increase Fees for various Applications
Nov. 8, 2019, Washington DC, Adhikari Law PLLC. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has posted a 314 pages public notice on Federal Register for public inspection about increase on fees (about 21%) for various types of immigration applications including H-1B ($100), L-1 ($355), TN ($245), changing Premium Processing limit to 15 Business Days in[Read More]
DHS published the Final Rule related to the public charge ground of inadmissibility citing Section 212(a)(4) of the Immigration and Nationality Act
Washington, DC. On August 14, 2019, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) published the Inadmissibility on Public Charge Grounds final rule that codifies regulations governing the application of the public charge inadmissibility ground under INA section 212(a)(4). On Oct. 10, 2018, DHS issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM), which published in the Federal Register for a 60-day comment period. DHS received and considered over 266,000 public comments before issuing this final rule. The final rule provides summaries and responses to all significant public comments. The final rule enables the federal[Read More]
News flash: USCIS updates Policy Memorandum which provides guidance to USCIS adjudicators regarding their discretion to deny an application, petition without first issuing a RFE or NOID
Washington, D.C. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) today posted a policy memorandum (PM) that provides guidance to USCIS adjudicators regarding their discretion to deny an application, petition, or request without first issuing a Request for Evidence (RFE) or Notice of Intent to Deny (NOID) when required initial evidence was not submitted or the evidence of record fails[Read More]
USCIS Updates Notice to Appear Policy Guidance to Support DHS Enforcement Priorities
Washington, DC. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services issued updated Guidance today that aligns its policy for issuing Form I-862, Notice to Appear, with the immigration enforcement priorities of the Department of Homeland Security. A Notice to Appear (NTA) is a document given to an alien (non-nationals) that instructs them to appear before an immigration judge on a[Read More]
DHS Proposes to Remove the International Entrepreneur Rule (IER) which availed a temporary work authorization and lawful stay for foreign-born entrepreneurs
WASHINGTON, DC – The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is proposing a rule to end a program that allowed certain foreign entrepreneurs to be considered for parole to temporarily come to the United States to develop and build start-up businesses here, known as the International Entrepreneur Rule (IER Final Rule). Earlier a court decision had vacated USCIS’ final rule to delay the[Read More]
USCIS to Begin Using More Secure Mail Delivery Service (signature confirmation)
April 27, 2018, Adhikari Law, WASHINGTON, D.C. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced today that the agency will begin phasing in use of the U.S. Postal Service’s (USPS) Signature Confirmation Restricted Delivery service to mail Green Cards and other secure documents beginning April 30, 2018. The first phase will affect documents that need to be[Read More]
Texas Service Center to Begin Processing Form I-129 for L Visas and Vermont Service Center will no longer process L visa petitions
February 12, 2018, Washington, D.C. The Texas Service Center (TSC) of USCIS will begin processing certain Form I-129, Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker petitions for L nonimmigrant classification, also known as L visas. The TSC will share this workload with the California Service Center to balance workloads and to provide flexibility as USCIS works towards[Read More]
Now the Premium Processing is Available for all types of H-1Bs
WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) resumed premium processing today for all H-1B visa extension of stay petitions. Premium processing is now available for all types of H-1B petitions. H-1B visas provide skilled workers for a wide range ofspecialty occupations, including information technology, engineering, and mathematics. When a petitioner requests the agency’s[Read More]