Immigration

Here we have the latest news within the immigration. Read breaking news on immigration updated and analysis at Shah Peerally Law Group

Civil Penalties Related to Failure to Comply with Voluntary Departure Does not extend to U-1 non-immigrant victims

USCIS in a Memo adopts the decision of the court in the Matter of L-S-M. While the failure to voluntary depart might still apply to some VAWA cases, the court has made clear it does not apply to U Visa Holders. 2016-0513_Matter_of_L-S-M-_Adopted_Decision_2016-03_ clarifies that the exception to the civil penalties for failure to comply with an order of voluntary departure, available for certain victims of domestic violence or related abuse, does not extend to U-1 non-immigrant victims of qualifying criminal activity. See sections 240B(d)(1)-(2) of the Immigration and Nationality Act. That said, the…Read More Breaking News

New USCIS Proposed Rule to increase fees on H1B and other visas by around 21%

  • Posted on May 15, 2016
  • /Under H1B
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) proposes to adjust certain immigration and naturalization benefit request fees charged by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). USCIS conducted a comprehensive fee review, after refining its cost accounting process, and determined that current fees do not recover the full costs of the services it provides. Adjustment to the fee schedule is necessary to fully recover costs for USCIS services and to maintain adequate service. DHS proposes to increase USCIS fees by a weighted average of 21 percent and add one new fee. In addition, DHS proposes…Read More Breaking News

California SB 674 mandates that agencies process certification of the U Visa

  • Posted on May 13, 2016
  • /Under U visas
Having taken effect January 1, 2016 a new California law, SB 674: Immigrant Victims of Crime Equity Act grants urgently needed help to immigrant crime victims and their families. The U Visa Certification Requirement Under Federal Law, noncitizen victims of certain crimes may be eligible for a pathway to a green card under a U visa. The U visa was created to assist law enforcement investigation and prosecution of crime by providing noncitizen victims of certain crimes who cooperate with law enforcement a pathway to a green card under a U visa. The…Read More Breaking News

Immigration Law Show – May 12 2016

May 12 2016 - The Shah Peerally Law Show today covered the main issue of STEM OPT with questions and answers from callers on the topic and other topics such as transfer of H1B with revoked I-140, AC 21 issues, H4 EAD and other interesting immigration questions.Read More Breaking News

Seven Things Consulting Companies should consider in hiring OPT students.

With the coming of the new rules on STEM Optional Practical Training (OPT), many students and employers are wondering whether they should actually hire students on OPT or not. This article covers some specific situations as they relate to employers especially consulting companies. The article includes but is not limited to their business model and whether they might encounter issues regarding hiring OPT work permit holders. Note that this article does not cover every single issues related to the OPT but it only tries to give a perspective on the OPT employment. First…Read More Breaking News

End Client letter Nightmare – H1B Consulting Companies Beware!

May 9 2016 - Today a company in the Silicon Valley was indicted for H1B Fraud, one of the issues which was mentioned in the complaint is that: According to the indictment, the defendants submitted to the government, or caused to be submitted, H-1B visa application materials stating that the foreign workers named in the applications would be placed at specific companies in the United States.  However, according to the indictment, those companies either did not exist or never intended to receive the foreign workers named in the defendants’ applications.  For example, the…Read More Breaking News

June 2016 Visa Bulletin – The Big Retrogression and the “Trump Effect”

May 9 2016 - The June 2016 Visa Bulletin is a 'horror' situation for many Indians who were hoping that there will be some movement forward on the June 2016 Visa Bulletin. Not only we did not see an EB India movement forward, we saw a colossal retrogression. Some people have qualified it as the "Trump Effect". Looking back at all the problems Indian students and Indian immigrant workers are facing, we can only concur that there is some sort of Trump Effect affecting the thousands of employment based categories. As you can…Read More Breaking News

How to Deal with Failure to Register for Selective Service on your Citizenship case.

Selective Service Registration​ is an important component of the Naturalization process. Failure to knowingly and willingly register for selective service will actually disqualify certain individuals from the good moral character principle of the US naturalization. Note that Selective Service does not mean you are registering for the US military, it only means that in times of conflict, you will be actually be available to defend the United States. As such it is important to know: a.) who needs to register; b) how to register and c) what happens if you did not register.​ Also…Read More Breaking News

Beware of Immigration Scammers!

May 2 2015 - It has been to our attention by many callers that they are receiving a call from someone claiming to be from immigration.  The voice is appearing with a caller ID of "911" telling people that if they don't pay $5000 or $10,000, they will be immediately deported.  Please note that all those callers are scammers trying to get money from poor immigrants knowing their fear. First of all the government does not call this way.  Second, there is a process before someone is deported. If you are victim of…Read More Breaking News

USCIS completed the H1B 2017 lottery today.

USCIS announced on May 2, 2016, that it has completed data entry of all fiscal year 2017 H-1B cap-subject petitions selected in our computer-generated random process. USCIS will now begin returning all H-1B cap-subject petitions that were not selected. Due to the high volume of filings, USCIS is unable to provide a definite time frame for returning these petitions. USCIS asks petitioners not to inquire about the status of submitted cap-subject petitions until they receive a receipt notice or an unselected petition is returned. USCIS will issue an announcement once all the unselected…Read More Breaking News

OPT Denials especially based on the 30 day Rule

Recently there has been a surge in OPT denials because of some of the reasons below: 1. OPT filed not meeting the 30 day rule 2. OPT denied because of CPT 3. OPT denied because of transfer of  SEVIS 4. OPT denied because DSO did not properly update SEVIS. 5. OPT denied because form I-765 not properly filed. The video below covers the issueRead More Breaking News

List of Civil Rights Organizations – UNNJ Updates

Since the situation of the UNNJ is getting quite complicated, many students have suggested that they should contact a civil rights organizations or similar organizations to help. Note that unless the organization agrees to help, you cannot force them to do so. However, if many students call them individually and ask them to help, it will have an impact .  Since most of these organizations will work in the interest of justice, we can only recommend to students to seek their help. Well-known organizations which usually handle immigration and civil rights issues are:…Read More Breaking News

Couple Indicted for $20 Million Visa Fraud Involving Indian Workers

Press Release from United States District Attorneys Office - Eastern District of Virginia. ALEXANDRIA, Va. – Raju Kosuri, 44, and Smriti Jharia, 45, of Ashburn, as well as four co-conspirators, were indicted by a federal grand jury yesterday on charges of conspiracy to defraud the United States and visa fraud, among other charges. According to the indictment, Kosuri, his spouse Jharia, and their co-conspirators have fraudulently applied for more than 800 illegal immigration benefits under the H-1B visa program.  Since 2008, and at much greater scale since 2011, Kosuri has built a staffing…Read More Breaking News