News Release from Jewell Stewart & Pratt PC – June 5, 2017 As noted in our prior post, the Department of State recently published a Notice of request for emergency approval by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for its new form, Form DS-5535, Supplemental...
As noted in our prior blog post, a Department of State cable sent by Secretary Tillerson on March 17, 2017 provided immediately effective guidance to all U.S. diplomatic and consular posts regarding the screening and vetting of visa applications.
On May 4, 2017, the Department of State published a Notice of request for emergency OMB approval and public comment on a new Form DS-5535, Supplemental Questions for Visa Applicants. This form would collect information from visa applicants who have been determined to warrant additional scrutiny in connection with terrorism or other national security-related visa ineligibility.
News Release from Jewell Stewart & Pratt – November 22, 2016 On November 18, 2016, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) published a Final Rule, 81 FR 82398, effective January 17, 2017, that amends certain regulations governing employment-based immigrants...
News Release from Jewell Stewart & Pratt PC The final rule “Retention of EB-1, EB-2 and EB-3 Immigrant Workers and Program Improvements Affecting High-Skilled Nonimmigrant Workers,” was published today in the Federal Register, and will take effect 60 days later...
The American Competitiveness in the Twenty-First Century Act of 2000 (AC21) addressed the problem of delays and backlogs in the employment-based immigrant visa process by permitting certain applicants for adjustment of status to change jobs or employers. (See our post on the subject here.) Employers of these individuals do not need to retest the labor market for the new position, or obtain new, approved petitions on their behalf, if the following criteria are satisfied:
We posted here about recent changes to the way the U.S. Department of State determines immigrant visa availability under the statutory system of preference categories and per-country quotas. The Department’s Visa Bulletin now provides two cut-off dates – one governing when an I-485 application to adjust status to permanent residence may be filed (‘Dates for Filing Applications’) and one governing when a pending I-485 may be approved.
News Release from Jewell & Associates, PC We previously posted here about unconfirmed reports of a possible change to the way the U.S. Department of State determines immigrant visa availability under the statutory system of preference categories and per-country...
News Release from Jewell & Associates, PC According to a news item posted online on September 3, 2015 by the National Law Review, there may soon be a change to the way the U.S. Department of State determines immigrant visa availability under the statutory system...
News Release from Jewell & Associates, PC On December 5, 2014, USCIS posted on its website a summary of the executive actions on immigration announced by President Obama on November 20, 2014. With respect to each of the major planned initiatives, the USCIS...
