February 27, 2021
You are going about your usual duties at work when you get a call that a government agent wants to speak with you about your H-1B visa. As you descend in the elevator to the lobby, your imagination goes wild. As you meet the agent, he identifies himself as an FDNS inspector and wants to […]
February 22, 2021
H-1B visas authorize highly educated non-citizen professionals to work for U.S. employers in specialty occupations. Current law limits the number of new H-1B visas issued each fiscal year. The H-1B quota for this fiscal year is 65,000 for those who hold at least a bachelor’s degree or its equivalent. In addition, 20,000 H-1B visas are […]
February 14, 2021
Alejandro Mayorkas has become the first Latino and immigrant to lead the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) The DHS is one of the largest government departments and administers the majority of immigration rules and regulations through agencies such as United States Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS), United States Immigration & Customs Enforcement […]
January 28, 2021
H-1B Cap Registration: Employers can register for H-1B visas from March 9 through March 25, 2021, for the fiscal year (FY) 2022 (October 1, 2021 to September 30, 2022). During this timeframe, H-1B cap-subject employers, including those eligible for the advanced degree exemption, seeking to file a FY 2022 H-1B cap petition will be required […]
January 28, 2021
The Biden administration is making many changes to immigration policy. One big change is the elimination of the “zero tolerance” policy of the Trump administration. An NPR article by Jaclyn Diaz does a good job summarizing this change. In short, under the zero tolerance policy, “adults who entered the U.S. from the southern border were […]
January 27, 2021
Just before it ended, the Trump administration issued two last-minute H-1B visa rules that substantially changed the H-1B visa program. H-1B cap registration – under a final rule issued Jan. 8 , only the highest-paid applicants for new H-1B visa would be selected. Currently, foreign workers are randomly selected through the annual H-1B visa lottery. […]
January 22, 2021
Join Badmus & Associates at the Plano Multicultural Outreach Roundtable-MCOR annual Citizenship Workshop on Saturday, February 13, 2021 from 12 p.m. to 2 p.m. Learn about the citizenship process, hear from the US Citizenship & Immigration Service, and meet with immigration attorneys. Attorney Ann Massey Badmus will explain the background screening process for citizen applications. […]
January 22, 2021
Although originally touted as a 90-day restriction on immigration, the Trump travel ban has kept apart thousands of immigrant families from 13 countries for nearly four long years. Now that the Biden administration has reversed much of this ban, the State Department will develop plans to reconsider thousands of visa denials that were issued under […]
January 14, 2021
The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) requires a biometrics appointment as part of the process for many types of immigration applications. Here’s what to expect at your biometrics appointment: Appointment Notice You will receive a notice (Form I-797C, Notice of Action) a few weeks before your appointment. This notice will include the date, […]
January 08, 2021
Many applications are filed at USCIS “lockbox” locations such as I-140, I-485, I-130, I-765 and other applications. Typically, receipts for these applications are issued within two weeks. But these are not typical times. On January 8, 2021, USCIS issued an update that receipt notices for applications filed at a lockbox are significantly delayed. According to […]