On February 25, 2016, the Citizenship and Immigration Services Ombudsman’s Office hosted a public teleconference on issues related to Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) benefits for certain nonimmigrant workers, including H and L nonimmigrants. Individuals whose employers timely file for extension of nonimmigrant status receive an automatic 240-day extension of work authorization while the petition […]
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Apr 21 2016
Department of State released the visa bulletin for May 2016. Below is a copy of the visa bulletin for the employment-based category and a summary of the changes. 1. Application Final Action Dates For Employment-Based Preference Cases Note: USCIS designated the below chart as applicable dates for I-485 adjustment of status applications within U.S. Employ- […]
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Apr 12 2016
USCIS announced today that it has received enough H-1B petitions to reach the statutory cap of 65,000 visas for fiscal year (FY) 2017. USCIS has also received more than the limit of 20,000 H-1B petitions filed under the advanced degree exemption, also known as the master’s cap. USCIS received over 236,000 H-1B petitions during the […]
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Apr 12 2016
从昨晚（4月11日）开始，宋和孟律师事务所陆续收到今年受名额限制的部分H1B的受理通知。这意味着今年的H1B抽签结果已经开始揭晓。今年移民局总共收到了236,000份H1B申请，比去年多了3000份，基本持平，并未出现大家所担心的大幅增长。 从截止到今天（4月12日）的情况来看，目前收到的通知都是硕[…]
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Apr 07 2016
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has reached the congressionally mandated H-1B cap for fiscal year (FY) 2017. USCIS has also received more than the limit of 20,000 H-1B petitions filed under the U.S. advanced degree exemption. USCIS will use a computer-generated process, also known as the lottery, to randomly select the petitions needed to […]
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Mar 18 2016
For Family-Sponsored Filings: You may use the Dates for Filing Visa Applications chart for April 2016. For Employment-Based Filings: You must use the Application Final Action Dates chart in the Department of State Visa Bulletin for April 2016.
Read MoreOn April 1, 2016, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will begin accepting H-1B petitions subject to the fiscal year (FY) 2017 cap. U.S. businesses use the H-1B program to employ foreign workers in occupations that require highly specialized knowledge in fields such as science, engineering and computer programming. USCIS expects to receive more than […]
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Mar 09 2016
今天（2016年3月9日），ICE（US Immigration and Customs Enforcement）宣布，本周五（3月11日）将在Federal Registrar上发布STEM OPT规定的终稿！新法案将于今年5月10号生效。这对于广大STEM专业的同学而言，无疑是一个重大的好消息。[…]
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Feb 10 2016
春节前夕的2月3日，美国移民局召开了公众听证会议，与大家沟通交流EB5案件审理的趋势并答疑。宋和孟律师事务所（Song & Meng, PC）的孟小洁律师参加了此次会议。 根据宋和孟律师事务所的观察，目前的EB5局势有几点需要特别注意的：1）案件审理时间变长的影响；2）大陆申请人排期变长的影[…]
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Jan 26 2016
1月23日，法院判决，允许国土安全部可以延期到5月10日公布STEM OPT的新规。这一宣判让好多为STEM OPT生死未卜而提心吊胆的同学和雇主们松了口气。宋和孟律师事务所也很高兴看到STEM OPT的进程正在有序进行中 。关于STEM OPT整个事件的前世今生，欢迎参考宋和孟律师事务所之前的博客[…]
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