The Department of State’s November 2014 Visa Bulletin was published recently and these are the highlights:
EB-2 India retrogressed to February 15, 2005 (from May 1, 2009 in October 2014). October’s visa bulletin warned the retrogression was likely. No forward movement is likely according to this month’s notes on visa availability in the coming months. EB-2 China progressed from November 15, 2009, to December 8, 2009, and this rate of movement is expected to continue.
The U.S. Department of Defense has announced a limited expansion of the Military Accessions Vital to National Interest (MANVI) program to include certain undocumented applicants who are Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients. The MAVNI program, established in 2008, permits the U.S. army to enlist certain noncitizen and non-permanent resident applicants.
Last week, on September 22, 2014, Nashville Mayor Karl Dean joined a growing number of American mayors who recognize that immigration is a benefit to our cities. The mayor opened a new Mayor’s Office of New Americans and announced initiatives around the city to support English as a Second Language classes at Nashville libraries and classes to help permanent residents study for the U.S. citizenship exam, which is part of the naturalization process.
The DV2016 Diversity Visa lottery (“green card lottery”) program will be open for fiscal year 2016 applications starting October 1, 2014, and ending November 3, 2014. The applications must be…read on
Starting May 5, 2014, the USCIS has required naturalization applicants to use its new Form N-400, Application for Naturalization. So the new form has been out long enough for us to get to know all its 21 pages and evaluate its new features:
The Department of State’s October 2014 visa bulletin was released today. This is the first visa bulletin of fiscal year 2015.
A recent policy memorandum by USCIS clarified the agency’s position on approving H-1B cases for nursing positions. This is not a radical departure but rather an evolution in the government’s views on when registered nurse (RN) positions would qualify for H-1B classification.
We all keep seeing on the news that Congress is considering changes to the immigration laws or that the President is considering administrative action given Congress’ inaction. No one is sure for now what the President will announce, but it looks like change is coming in some form. The people who might benefit from immigration reform, and their families and friends, would do well to plan ahead a little and identify legal helpers for when the time comes.
Thousands of foreign nationals who live and work in the United States will travel abroad on vacation, to visit their family and relatives, or for business during the summer. Many students will be coming to the United States to commence their studies at U.S. colleges and universities. Most of these individuals will apply for entry visas at U.S. consulates and need to be prepared for a rather complicated and sometimes challenging application process. Here are the top five steps you should take to make this process go smoothly and avoid some common pitfalls that could cause delays:
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced today the agency will offer somewhat greater flexibility to nationals of certain countries in West Africa dealing with an Ebola outbreak right now. The specific countries covered under this announcement are Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone.
