Search Results for: United States

November 22, 2017

On 21st November 2017, the United States Department of State issued an update on the situation for US nationals entering Turkey. The main points are as follows: US citizens (with no other nationality) will be issued sticker visas upon entry into Turkey only if they can show legal residency (residence permits) in another country other than the […]

November 8, 2017

On 6th November 2017, the United States mission to Turkey announced that it is resuming limited visa services in Turkey, based on assurances from the government of Turkey about the security of local US diplomatic staff. A reduced number of visa appointments is available at the US Embassy in Ankara or the Consulate General in […]

November 6, 2017

On 23rd October 2017, US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) cancelled policy guidelines, in effect since April 2004, regarding requests for the extension of certain non-immigrant visas (i.e. visa petitions filed using Form I-129). Previously, an adjudicator’s determination that a non-US citizen met the eligibility requirements for granting a non-immigrant visa was given deference in […]

October 10, 2017

On 8th October 2017, the United States announced the immediate suspension of all non-immigrant visa services at all US diplomatic facilities in Turkey. Hours later, Turkey retaliated by suspending all visa services for US citizens at its diplomatic and consular missions in the United States, and at Turkey’s borders, and blocked US nationals from using […]

October 6, 2017

On 3rd October 2017, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that it had resumed Premium Processing for all types of H-1B Petitions. Background USCIS suspended Premium Processing for all H-1B petitions starting 3rd April 2017, to reduce overall H-1B processing times. Previously, USCIS resumed Premium Processing for H-1B petitions filed on behalf of physicians […]

September 27, 2017

On 24th September 2017, just as the previous travel ban was due to expire, the US President issued a Proclamation indefinitely imposing various new restrictions on immigrant and non-immigrant entry for certain nationals of five of the countries affected by the previous travel ban (Iran, Libya, Somalia, Syria and Yemen) and three additional non-Muslim majority […]

September 22, 2017

On 18th September 2017, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that it had resumed Premium Processing for all H-1B Petitions subject to the Fiscal Year (FY) 2018 H-1B cap of 65,000 visas. USCIS has also resumed Premium Processing for the annual 20,000 additional H-1B petitions that are intended for individuals with a US master’s degree or […]

September 6, 2017

On 5th September 2017, the US Attorney General announced that the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program created by Executive Action in June 2012 will be terminated in six months. Background DACA currently provides protection from deportation and employment authorization for approximately 800,000 individuals brought to the United States as children who otherwise lack […]

September 5, 2017

The US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has announced that, effective 1st October 2017, it will eliminate the practice of waiving employment-based adjustment of status interviews, which has been standard practice for approximately two decades. In another departure from previous standard practice, USCIS has now started to deny Advance Parole applications when the applicant departs the United […]

August 23, 2017

The US Department of State has announced that, effective 23rd August 2017, US visa operations across Russia will be suspended until 1st September 2017, at which point all US non-immigrant visa applications will only be processed at the US Embassy in Moscow. Non-immigrant visa interviews at the US Consulates in St. Petersburg, Yekaterinburg and Vladivostok are suspended […]