By Leslie Dellon, Immigration Impact Surprising data recently revealed that consular officers denied applicants for employer-sponsored immigrant visas at a far higher rate than U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) officers denied green cards to employer-sponsored applicants. Data analyzed by the Cato Institute shows that since Fiscal Year 2008, USCIS denied about 8% of employer-sponsored […]
If you are a U.S. citizen who wants to bring your foreign fiancé(e) to the United States in order to get married, you will need to file a Form I-129F, Petition For Alien Fiancé(e). This is the first step to obtaining a K-1 nonimmigrant visa for your fiancé(e). The K-1 nonimmigrant visa is also known […]
Washington, DC., USA, January 3, 2017 Members of the 115th congress and their families mingle on the house floor while attending the joint session on the opening day of the current session. (Shutterstock) By Leslie Dellon, Immigration Impact For more than 8 months, noncitizens with approved immigrant petitions for investments in regional centers have been […]
By Leslie Dellon, Immigration Impact The Biden administration recently announced four actions intended to improve immigration “pathways” for noncitizens in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. However, these changes are constrained by the delays at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) and congressional limits on immigrant visa numbers. These actions include: Early Career STEM […]
The Muslim Women’s contingent at the 2019 Women’s March demonstrating against the Muslim Ban and for women’s rights. – Washington/USA – January 19, 2019 (Shutterstock) By Kate Goettel, The Immigrant’s Journal The State Department announced a new rule that will waive fees for visa applicants who were denied because of the Muslim and refugee ban. […]
By Priscilla Alvarez, CNN The Biden administration will make an additional 20,000 seasonal, guest-worker visas available for the winter season for the first time, the Department of Homeland Security announced Monday. DHS has previously upped the number of available visas for the summer season, which is among the busiest for bringing in workers, citing labor […]
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), in consultation with the Department of State (DOS), has announced the lists of countries whose nationals are eligible to participate in the H-2A and H-2B visa programs in the next year. The notice listing the eligible countries will be published in the Federal Register on Nov. 10, 2021. For the next […]
By Leslie Dellon, Immigration Impact Annual limits on immigrant visa numbers, combined with processing delays and wasted numbers, mean even longer waits for people to become U.S. permanent residents. In November, the “cut off” date for visa eligibility retrogressed (moved backward in time) for people born in India who are in the employment-based (EB) third […]
The Green Card or Resident Alien Card or Form I-551, is the permanent work and residence permit for foreign nationals who reside legally in the U.S. What are the basic requirements? Employment-based immigrant visas typically involve three main steps (the entire process can take several years): First, the employer files a Labor Certification application with […]
By Leslie Dellon, Immigration Impact A recent class action settlement is expected to result in U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) approving more market research analyst H-1B petitions. The lawsuit was filed by four U.S. employers whose H-1B petitions had been denied when USCIS determined that market research analysts were not a “specialty occupation” as required for […]