Blog
Is COVID-19 Pandemic Impacting Your Immigration Status?
It is incredible how much the world has changed in a week. As cities and states continue to issue a range of “shelter in place” orders and as public health concerns over COVID-19 continue to grow, immigration professionals are scrambling to shift their practices and...
New H-1B Season Brings New Electronic Registration Process for the Employers
With the H-1B season upon us, the employers filing for the first-time H-1B visa holders must now jump through more hoops to secure the cap-subject H-1B filings. With only 65,000 H-1B visas available annually and an additional 20,000 visas for the beneficiaries with...
New Regulations for the EB-5 Investor Visa Program
On July 23, 2019, USCIS announced the publishing of a final rule that would make several substantial changes to the EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program. Becoming effective on November 21 of this year, this announcement marks the first major revision to the program since...
The Importance of I-9 Audits in our Current Immigration Climate
Earlier this week, the New York Times published an in-depth report on ICE’s highly sophisticated tools for locating foreign nationals that it wants to deport, focusing on the Pacific Northwest coastline, and featuring Officer Miller and his partner, who our firm often...
Why is Your Immigration Case Delayed? This is the New Normal!
Applicants are waiting longer and longer for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to process and approve their applications and petitions. Whether they are applying for family-based benefits, employment-based benefits, naturalization, travel documents, or...
Proposal to Revoke H-4 Work Permits Getting Final Touches
The Trump administration is planning to end the Obama-era regulation allowing spouses of H1-B visa holders to work legally in the U.S. This move could have a devastating impact on more than 70,000 H-4 visa holders who have work permits. There is a clear economic...
Irina Batrakova Featured Guest On Slavic Public Center Radio Show!
Sigh of Relief for Foreign Nationals on an H-1B Status
Foreign nationals on an H-1B visa breathed a sigh of relief this week after USCIS announced that it will not be terminating status extensions, despite the rumors that the Trump administration was looking to end the policy. The shift would have impacted visa holders...
U.S. Orders Closure of Russian Consulate in San Francisco
U.S. ordered Russia to close its Consulate in San Francisco as well as two annexes in Washington and New York in two days, in a retaliatory response to Moscow's drastic reduction of U.S. diplomatic staff in their country. The State Department said the decision was...
USCIS To Expand Interview Requirement for Those Seeking Permanent Residence
News outlets are reporting that USCIS is developing a new policy that would expand the interview requirement for all employment-based adjustment of status (green card) applications and I-730 refugee/asylee petitions, effective October 1, 2017. It appears that this...