Tag: Visa services

On March 1, 2019, USCIS reported that I-539 applications filed concurrently with a qualifying I-129 petition will no longer be eligible for premium processing. USCIS announced the change was necessary to accommodate wait time on the biometrics appointments necessary for the Form I-539 adjudication...

1. Please provide a brief summary of your role in the Visa Services process at BIL. My role is to meet the clients at their visa appointments at the London Embassy. I bring all the required paperwork the client will need for their interview and take the client to the front of the appointment queue. […]

A consular officer may recommend a waiver for most grounds of inadmissibility under INA § 212(a). Some grounds of inadmissibility, however, cannot be waived, including INA §§ 212(a)(3)(A)(i)(I), 212(a)(3)(A)(ii), 212(a)(3)(A)(iii), 212(a)(3)(C), 212(a)(3)(E)(i) and 212(a)(3)(E)(ii). Regardless, waivers are only available to applicants that otherwise qualify for the visa classification being sought, and, even then, there is […]

The Trump administration has just announced plans to start requiring a majority of visa applicants to turn over five years of social media history when applying for entry into the U.S.; countries participating in the Visa Waiver Program would be exempt from this new requirement. The move follows the President’s emphasis on “extreme vetting” and […]

The United States is currently building a new Embassy in the Nine Elms area of London. Back in 2008, U.S. officials began playing with the idea of renovating the current U.S. Embassy building on Grosvenor Square to accommodate the various needs and threats of the 21st century. As it stood, the Embassy was outdated. It […]

Yvonne Grist currently holds the position of Visa Services Coordinator with Berardi Immigration Law.  She originally joined the firm in 2010 as Administrative Assistant, and was quickly promoted to Office Administrator.  Her attention to detail and the individual needs of our clients made her an obvious choice to fill this quickly growing area of our […]

The 2015 Special Olympics World Summer Games will take place in Los Angeles, California, from July 25 through Aug. 2, 2015. This year, foreign participants have something new to look forward to: There will be no visa application fee or visa issuance fee required. In 2014, the State Department announced that the fees would be […]

With the recent attacks at the U.S. Consulates in Benghazi, Libya; Cairo, Egypt; Kabul, Afghanistan; and Sana’a, Yemen, we urge all domestic and foreign applicants with appointments at any Consulate to use caution and follow the Consulate’s specific guidelines.  Since security will be increased at all Consulates, not just those affected by the recent attacks, […]