Search Results for: United States

March 8, 2018

Effective 22nd February 2018, the US Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) has issued a memorandum with new guidance on H-1B petitions for employees working at third-party worksites. What has changed? The guidance requires petitioners to demonstrate that, where a third-party worksite is involved, for the duration of the requested validity period: The beneficiary will be […]

March 5, 2018

VFS Global has announced via its website that its Premium Application Centres in the United States have temporarily suspended the Gold Premium Service until Tuesday 6th March 2018 due to unforeseen circumstances. The Gold Premium Service offers next business day processing of a UK visa application. VFS Global, the official partner for UK visa applicants […]

February 20, 2018

On 2nd April 2018, the US Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) will start to accept H-1B petitions from cap-subject employers for skilled foreign workers. Why is this Important? USCIS may only approve 65,000 new H-1B petitions per fiscal year (the “cap”) with an additional 20,000 available each fiscal year for individuals with advanced degrees from […]

December 7, 2017

On 5th December 2017, the US Supreme Court has allowed the Trump administration’s latest travel ban to take full effect while the case is pending litigation on the merits to determine whether all or part of the ban is unconstitutional and should be permanently enjoined. The State Department has announced that the travel ban will […]

December 5, 2017

The United States Department of State has announced that, effective 11th December 2017, the U.S. consulates in St. Petersburg, Yekaterinburg, and Vladivostok will begin to offer limited interviews for non-immigrant visas. The US embassy in Moscow also continues to offer limited interviews for immigrant, diversity and non-immigrant visas. However, the US missions will continue to operate with […]

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 […]