The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has published a final rule increasing the fees for immigration benefits by a weighted average of 21%. The fee increase comes in the midst of some of the longest CIS adjudication times in recent memory, with simple H-1B extensions often taking 7 months […]
Visa Bulletin Advances Slightly; USCIS Continues to Allow Earlier Filing Dates
28 Oct
by Foster, on Immigration Updates
The U.S. Department of State recently published the Monthly Visa Bulletin for November 2016, reporting slight advancement to the “final action cutoff date” for applicants in most employment-based categories. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (CIS) has again announced that individuals may use the “Dates for Filing” of certain employment based […]
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has recently confirmed that employers may continue to use the current version of Form I-9 with a revision date of 03/08/2013 N until January 21, 2017, which will give employers a grace period before having to use the new Form I-9 that has […]
U.S. Consulates in India Report Visa Appointment Availability
12 Oct
by Foster, on Immigration Updates
The long visa appointment wait times reported over the summer have decreased significantly and U.S. Consulates in India are now reporting the following greatly reduced wait times: Post Visitor (B) or Student (F-1) Visa Wait Time (in days) Other Appointment (H-1B, L-1) Wait Time (in days) Chennai 5 5 Hyderabad […]