On December 21, 2023, the Department of State (DOS) published a Federal Register notice announcing details regarding the domestic visa renewal pilot program, which allows applicants to renew their H-1B visas without needing to return to their home country. The pilot program will resume on January 29, 2024, and will accept applications until April 1,...
Chris Prescott
On December 27, 2023, USCIS announced the filing fee for Form I-907, Request for Premium Processing. The increase is attributed to the need to adjust for inflation from June 2021 through June 2023. The revenue generated by the fee increase will help the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) continue to provide premium processing services, improve...
Employment-based green cards are subject to numerical limitations, leading to competition for available visas. Professionals in high-demand fields may face challenges due to visa quotas, impacting their ability to contribute to the U.S. workforce. Countries like India face extensive backlogs and the number of available visas has a profound impact on the advancement and/or retrogression...
Background: Pre-2009 Policy Before 2009, the death of a petitioner or principal applicant during the application process could lead to the denial of the petition, resulting in an individual not being able to complete the processing of their green card application. However, in 2009, Congress introduced a rule allowing individuals to obtain immigration benefits even...
Students In the dynamic landscape of immigration and employment, international students on F-1 visas in the United States often face uncertainties, particularly when transitioning to H-1B nonimmigrant status. What happens if a student, approved for a change to H-1B status, is laid off or terminated by their H-1B employer before officially obtaining the new status?...
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), through U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), announced on October 23, 2023, its plan to amend and modernize the H-1B specialty occupation worker program as an effort to “attract global talent, reduce undue burdens on employers, and prevent fraud and abuse in the immigration system” under the Biden...
The Patel Law Group retained its immigration practice to obtain approval for an L-1A petition for a multinational manager. The petitioning U.S. entity, an international company engaged in in the business of IT and ITES services, required the managerial expertise of the beneficiary in the United States to serve in the role of Senior Program...
At the beginning of the fiscal year, we typically observe some good movement in the dates listed in the visa bulletin allowing more and more applicants to file for their green card. This trend generally continues for the first three to four months of the fiscal year. Although the October visa bulletin saw some movement...