Category: Uncategorized

On Sept. 1, 2016, USCIS announced the award of nearly $10 million in grants under two competitive funding opportunities to 46 organizations to help permanent residents prepare and apply for U.S. citizenship. The organizations are located in 21 states and will receive funding through September 2018. Since it began in 2009, the USCIS Citizenship and […]

The Department of State will celebrate passport awareness month in September with the launch of the #PicturePerfectPassport campaign to improve the quality of passport photos submitted by applicants.  Poor quality photos are the number one reason that passport applications are delayed during the application process. In 2015, more than 200,000 applications were delayed for inadequate […]

USCIS has proposed a new regulation allowing the agency to grant parole to certain foreign-born entrepreneurs who establish start-up businesses in the United States. This is not a new law, but rather a regulation which would implement one of President Obama’s proposals for encouraging innovation. USCIS expects 3,000 persons will qualify for parole annually under […]

On Aug. 25, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will celebrate the 100th anniversary of the National Park Service by welcoming 450 new U.S. citizens during 16 naturalization ceremonies at national parks across the country. These ceremonies represent the partnership between USCIS and the National Park Service (NPS) and the goal of holding at least […]

Raun Kaul, the managing director of L’Escape Vacations Inc., a destination wedding planning company based in Toronto, was interested in applying for an L-1 visa for a new office in the United States. He wasn’t sure of the immigration process and came to Berardi Immigration looking for guidance on how to go about setting up […]

Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) has announced that beginning around January 2017, it will approve both initial and repeat I-192 waivers for a five-year period. CBP is working to reduce the backlog at the Admissibility Review Office (ARO) and to increase overall efficiency. The ARO is the office responsible for adjudicating all nonimmigrant waivers. The […]

According to the Department of State’s August Visa Bulletin, cutoff dates for final issuance of an immigrant visa will be imposed for EB-1 India and China and for EB-2 worldwide, as projected last month. The cutoff dates for EB-1 India and China have been set at Jan. 1, 2010, while cutoff dates for EB-2 worldwide […]

Your passport must be valid for your entire requested period of stay as a nonimmigrant in the United States. It is important to keep your passport up to date in order to avoid any complications with your visa status. If your passport has expired but your visa is still valid, you can travel to the […]

Cindy Kovacs joined Berardi Immigration Law in 2011 as Director of Finance. She oversees all aspects of the accounting and financial areas of the firm which include payroll, compliance, ledger activity, expenses and receivables. Cindy’s extensive knowledge and experience assist her in monitoring expenses and revenue to ensure a solid financial foundation for the firm […]

You may be eligible for an L-1 visa for “intracompany transferees” if you are an executive, manager or worker with specialized knowledge who has worked abroad for a qualifying organization for at least one year within the three years preceding the filing of your L-1 petition. Key Requirements to Apply for an L-1 Visa: The […]