Alien Registration Requirement
On Jan. 20, 2025, President Trump issued the Protecting the American People Against Invasion executive order which directed the Department of Homeland Security to ensure that aliens comply with their duty to register with the government under section 262 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) (8 U.S.C. 1302), and ensure that failure to comply is treated as […]
2019 DV Lottery Program to Restart October 18, 2017 !
The State Department issued a news release that the 2019 DV Lottery Program will begin again on October 18, 2018. All earlier entries have been deleted and all applicants will have to submit new applications again: See announcement here: https://www.dvlottery.state.gov/ (as of October 16, 2017): Due to a technical issue, the DV-2019 entry period that […]
Revised Form I-765 with Option to Apply for SSN
For foreigner’s applying for temporary employment authorization in the United States, obtaining a social security number was previously a separate step, requiring a separate application to be filed with the Social Security Administration. As of October 2, 2017, the revised version of form I-765, Applicati0n for Employment Authorization now includes a section, allowing the applicants […]
Immigration Services When Faced With Unforeseen Circumstances, Including Hurricanes
In the aftermath of hurricane Irma, US Citizenship and Immigration Services just released the following public service advisory. While we share this advisory to inform potentially affected individuals in the US, please carefully consider the effect of making contact or requesting any relief from USCIS in light of your individual situation. If in doubt, please […]
USCIS has released Redesigned Green Cards and Employment Authorization Documents
Following its announcement on April 19, 2017 USCIS started printing newly designed Green Cards and Employment Authorization Documents [EAD] on May 1, 2017. The new front and back of the Green Card looks like this: The new design of the EAD looks like this: [See more information and description of the design at https://www.uscis.gov/greencard and […]
H-1B visa cap reached for FY 2018
Today U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has announced that it has reached the congressionally mandated 65,000 visa H-1B cap for fiscal year 2018. USCIS has also received a sufficient number of H-1B petitions to meet the 20,000 visa U.S. advanced degree exemption, also known as the master’s cap. The agency will reject and return filing […]
President Trump’s Executive Action – A Recommendation to All Employers to Audit their I-9 forms
As the President issued a number of Executive Orders, one of the Executive Orders entitled “Enhancing Public Safety in the Interior of the United States” dated January 25, 2017 states in part as follows: >>Sec. 6. Civil Fines and Penalties. As soon as practicable, and by no later than one year after the date of […]
Visa Fees Increased on December 23, 2016
Right in time for the holidays, immigration fees increased by a weighted average of 21% Examples include: Form New fee I-90 – application to replace permanent resident card $455 I-129 Petition for Nonimmigrant Worker $460 I-129F Petition for Alian Fiance(s) $535 I-130 Petition for Alien Relative $535 I-131 Application for Travel Document $575 I-140 Immigrant […]
2018 Diversity Visa Lottery Runs Until November 7, 2016
Online registration for the DV-2018 Program began on Tuesday, October 4, 2016 at 12:00 noon, Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) (GMT-4), and concludes on Monday, November 7, 2016 at 12:00 noon, Eastern Standard Time (EST) (GMT-4); please find current instructions here: https://travel.state.gov/content/visas/en/immigrate/diversity-visa/instructions.html This link takes you to the only official webpage by the U.S. Department of […]
BALCA does not allow Employer’s Recruitment Report to Contain Minor Discrepancies
In its decision In the Matter of Robert Bosch LLC, Case Number 2012-PER-01739, (8/25/2016), the Board of Alien Labor Certification Appeals (BALCA) affirmed a denial of an Application for Permanent Employment Certification when the employer’s recruitment report listed a total of 62 applications for the position received, when in fact there had only been 61. The […]
