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Category: Live In The US

  • Global Entry Expanded to Citizens of India

    U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has announced the expansion of Global Entry eligibility to citizens of India, making it the 11th country overall with which CBP has a trusted traveler arrangement. Other participating countries include Argentina, Colombia, Germany, Mexico, the Netherlands, Panama, the Republic of Korea, Singapore, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and Canada. What […]
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  • Converting an E-2 Visa into a Green Card

    E-2 Visa Background The E-2 visa category is reserved for foreign investors. It enables a national of a treaty country to be admitted to the U.S. when investing a substantial amount of capital in a U.S. business. To qualify, the treaty investor must meet a few basic requirements: The investor must be a national of […]
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  • The PERM Process: Lawfully Rejecting U.S. Workers

    PERM Labor Certification Process The EB-2 (with the exception of National Interest Waivers) and EB-3 visa categories require a U.S. employer to obtain a labor certification. This is done through Program Electronic Review Management (PERM). Under PERM regulations, a petitioning employer must first conduct a series of recruitment activities to test the labor market. If […]
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  • USCIS has Resumed H-1B Premium Processing for Physicians Under the Conrad 30 Waiver Program

    Premium processing has been suspended for all H-1B petitions since April 3, 2017. USCIS suspended the program in an effort to reduce overall H-1B processing times. A high volume of premium processing requests over the past few years has put a strain on the department. It has been difficult for USCIS to process long-pending petitions […]
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  • New I-94 Website Feature Reminds Travelers of Departure Date

    A new feature on the I-94 website will now allow U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to remind travelers of their last possible departure date from the U.S. Currently, the new feature is available to eligible Visa Waiver Program travelers, but further updates to the I-94 website will incorporate additional nonimmigrant travelers. To check their […]
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  • Bipartisan Immigration Bill Reintroduced

    Congressmen Erik Paulsen (MN) and Mike Quigley (IL) have reintroduced a bill that would exempt certain foreign-born STEM graduates from the numerical caps on employment-based green cards and H-1B visas. The Stopping Trained in America Ph.D.’s from Leaving the Economy (STAPLE) Act would exclude STEM graduates who have earned an American Ph.D. from these statutory […]
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  • USCIS Policy Guidance Concerning H-1B Master’s Cap Exemption

    On May 23, 2017, United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) issued a policy memorandum concerning the H-1B Master’s Cap exemption. The memorandum designated the Administrative Appeals Office (AAO) decision in Matter of A-T-Inc. as an Adopted Decision. It establishes policy guidance that applies to and binds all USCIS employees. It states that “in order […]
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  • DHS Releases FY16 Entry/Exit Overstay Report

    The Department of Homeland Security has released the Entry/Exit Overstay Report for fiscal year 2016. The report provides data on departures and overstays by country, and it includes individuals who entered the U.S. as nonimmigrant visitors through an air or sea Port of Entry (POE) and were expected to depart in 2016. The in-scope population […]
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  • Information and Statistics on CBP Electronic Device Searches

    Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has released statistics on electronic device searches. In the first six months of 2017, CBP has searched the electronic devices of 14,993 individuals. This accounts for about 0.008 percent of the 189 million international travelers that have arrived in the United States. Compare this to 2015 when CBP searched the […]
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  • DOS Issues Public Notice Concerning Supplemental Questions for Visa Applicants

    In March, President Trump directed the Secretary of State, the Attorney General and the Secretary of Homeland Security to implement additional protocols and procedures focused on revamping the visa application process. The Department of State has responded, and a public notice was just released detailing a list of supplemental questions for visa applicants who have […]
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