As an additional measure aimed at reducing visa application backlogs and freeing up available resources at U.S. Embassies and Consulates, the United States Department of State (“DOS”) will allow consular officers to waive in-person interviews for F, M, and J academic visas. The new DOS policy, which will run until
Starting Sept. 4, 2021, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) is extending the time that receipt notices can be used to show evidence of status from 18 months to 24 months for petitioners who properly filed Form I-751, Petition to Remove Conditions on Residence and Form I-829, Petition
To protect the health of U.S. citizens, permanent residents, and other people in the United States from communicable diseases, intending immigrants to the United States are required to be vaccinated against certain diseases to receive an immigrant visa. The diseases currently required to be vaccinated against are: Diphtheria Tetanus Pertussis
The United States Department of State (“DOS”) has announced updates to the tiered approach to remove backlogs and resume normal consular operations at embassies and consulates that have been severely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. According to DOS, Tier 1, which includes immediate relative intercountry adoption visas and age-out cases
The People’s Committee of Ho Chi Minh City has announced a full lockdown of the city until at least September 15th. As a result, the U.S. Consulate in Ho Chi Minh City is unable to process routine visa appointments and can only grant visa appointment requests in extraordinary circumstances such
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) has updated its Policy Manual to provide guidance on the type of “published material” that persons applying for an Employment Based First Preference Immigrant Visa category (“EB-1”) can present as evidence when applying for the visa category. Persons with “extraordinary ability in the
Immigrant visa applicants who have a criminal history often face significant obstacles in being able to immigrate to the United States. Immigrant visa applicants who have been found guilty of a “Crime Involving Moral Turpitude” (“CMIT”) are ineligible to immigrate to the United States and obtain a “green card”. Even
The EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act of 2022 (“Act”) was passed by Congress and signed by President Biden on March 15, 2022. Most of the provisions of the Act will become effective 60 days from enactment, which will be the middle of May 2022. The Act includes many changes to
The EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act of 2022 (“Act”) was passed by Congress and signed by President Biden on March 15, 2022. Most of the provisions of the Act will become effective 60 days from enactment, which will be the middle of May. The Act includes many changes to the
It is often misunderstood that those who enter the United States on a B-1/B-2 Visitor Visa and granted a 6 month stay are allowed to leave the United States, re-enter and be granted another 6 months upon re-arrival. While there may be reasons why this is acceptable, and many visitors
The doctrine of consular nonreviewability refers to visa decisions decided by consular officers at U.S. Embassies and Consulates cannot be appealed to courts within the United States. The doctrine applies very broadly to decisions made by consular officers whether they apply to foreign nationals who have been refused an immigrant
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