Beginning in mid-September, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is optimizing processing for first-time Canadian TN and L applicants seeking entry into the United States under NAFTA. CBP has designated ports of entry that will ensure a more efficient approach…
Yearly Archives: 2014
October 2014 Visa Bulletin Is Out: EB-2 India Retrogression Anticipated
The State Department released the October Visa Bulletin. EB-3 (excluding India and mainland China) advances by 6 months, while EB-3 mainland China advances by 5 months. The State Department also notes that: INDIA Employment-based Second Preference: Increased demand will require…
Special Ebola Outbreak-Related Immigration Relief Measures
USCIS offers special immigration relief to Nationals of Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, who are currently in the United States, in connection with the Ebola Outbreak. Immigration relief measures that may be available if requested include: • Change or extension…
UPDATE: DOS and CBP Issue Procedures to Facilitate Travel for Visa Applicants Affected by CCD Outages
Following the global systems-wide “crash” of the State Department’s (DOS) Consular Consolidated Database (CCD) (a system critical to visa issuance operations), there have been widespread delays in nonimmigrant visa issuance worldwide. As a result, in conjunction with the DOS, U.S.…
Update on the Passport and Visa System Technical Problems
The Department of State (DOS) Bureau of Consular Affairs has been experiencing technical problems with its passport/visa system since July 19th. This issue is worldwide and is not specific to any particular country, citizenship document, or visa category. This systems…
Top 10 Things Every F-1 Student Should Know
By Tien-Li Loke Walsh In 1993, I came to the United States on an Exchange Abroad Program (EAP) as an F-1 student from the University of Sydney, Australia. Originally from Malaysia and after ten years in Australia, I arrived in…
Posted in Blog
July 2014 Visa Bulletin Is Out: EB-2 India Takes the Spotlight
Today, the State Department released the July Visa Bulletin, which brings good news for EB-2 India. After 6 months of inactivity, cut-off dates for EB-2 India advanced by over 3.5 years, from November 15, 2004 to September 1, 2008. #immigrationupdates…
Visa Processing in Canada for Third Country Nationals (TCN) "Extremely Limited"
The Department of State (DOS) has advised that due to increasingly heavy demand by Canada-based visa applicants, the seven U.S. consulates/embassy in Canada are extremely limited in their ability to accept TCN cases during the peak demand period of June,…
June 2014 Visa Bulletin Is Out: Where do we begin??
The June 2014 visa bulletin brings some very bad news for both Family-Based (FB) and Employment-Based (EB) categories. If there’s an award for “The Worst Visa Bulletin,” the June 2014 visa bulletin could easily steal the top spot. (Sigh). The…
DS-260 Rollout for DV-2015 Diversity Visa Program
Beginning with DV-2015, all diversity visa (DV) applicants must submit the electronic DS-260 “Immigrant Visa and Alien Registration Application” accessible through the Consular Electronic Application Center (CEAC). The DS-260 will be ready for applicants to use on May 19. The Kentucky…
