Brian S. Weiss Immigration Law Blog

Mr. Charles Oppenheim, Chief, Immigrant Visa and
Control Division, U.S. Department of State (DOS) has made the immigration community
aware that the cutoff date for the employment-based, second preference (EB2)
category for India and China is expected to advance to at least March 1, 2008
in the upcoming December 2011 Visa Bulletin. This is certainly welcome news to foreign
nationals from those... Read More

Back in 2002, former President Bush signed legislation to address the problem of minor children losing certain eligibilities for immigration benefits as a result of long processing delays by the immigration service. This legislation, known as the Child Status Protection Act (CSPA), was enacted to keep families united by locking a child’s age to an age under 21, thus preserving their status as a "child" under our immigration laws.

Prior to the enactment of the CSPA, a... Read More

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Janet Napolitano and USCIS Director Alejandro Mayorkas recently announced a series of policy initiatives designed to "fuel the nation's economy and stimulate investment" by attracting foreign entrepreneurs and highly skilled workers to America. The DHS is hoping these initiatives will make it easier for high-skill immigrants to start and grow companies and spur job growth here in the United States. Moreover, this... Read More

The U.S. government wants eligible immigrants to become naturalized U.S. citizens and they are willing to pay for it. The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is running its first ever paid advertising campaign to promote the benefits of  citizenship and to encourage immigrants to become more integrated into American society. The campaign will focus primarily on states with large immigrant populations including California, New York, Florida and Texas, and utilize... Read More

The Chief of the United States Department of State’s (DOS) Immigrant Visa Control and Reporting Division, Mr. Charlie Oppenheim, recently informed the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) that the number of applicants filing for adjustment of status or immigrant visas under the employment-based first preference (EB-1) has dramatically declined since October, 2010. As background, the EB-1 category is reserved for foreign nationals who wish to acquire green card status as... Read More

Alejandro Mayorkas, Director of the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), informed a group of State Attorney Generals in Washington that he wants to work with state governments to crack down on individuals or agencies who are illegally practicing immigration law in the United States. These non-immigration lawyers, some who are known as “notarios,” charge eager and uninformed foreign nationals exorbitant fees to perform various immigration services, such as... Read More

For many foreign nationals who wish to become green card holders in the U.S., the Diversity Visa (DV) program is the only avenue to obtain such status. Often referred to as the Green Card Lottery, DV applicants hope that their entry forms will be selected affording them an opportunity in most cases to apply for lawful permanent resident status. Although no money is received for being selected by the DV program, the... Read More

On January 27, 2011, the USCIS announced that they had received a sufficient number of H-1B petitions to reach the statutory cap for the 2011 fiscal year. The final receipt date for H-1B petitions filed for fiscal year 2011 was January 26, 2011 and the USCIS will apply a random computer-generated selection process to all cap-subject petitions received on Jan. 26, 2011 to determine which petitions will be accepted as part of the cap. The petitions not selected in this lottery will be... Read More

According to recent USCIS announcements, there are approximately 5,000 H-1B visa number left for this fiscal year. If you are considering filing an H-1B petition for employment by a foreign national that will begin prior to October 1, 2011 you should do so immediately.  

Considering that a significant number of university degrees were conferred in December, 2010 these remaining numbers will probably be used up shortly. Furthermore,... Read More

The United States Department of State (DOS) recently released their monthly visa bulletin for January, 2011. This visa bulletin is used by the United States Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS) and the DOS to indicate which foreign nationals are eligible to apply for a green card or immigrant visa based on their “place in line” with the immigration service. As indicated in this bulletin, the employment-based third preference category (EB-3), used by those classified... Read More