State Department

Lawsuit to Challenge Government on October 2015 Visa Bulletin Fails

May 16 2016 - The lawsuit challenging the Visa Bulletin of October 2015 has actually been dismissed with prejudice. This decision of the court, unfortunately closes the chapter in the 'fiasco' of the October 2015 where the government was supposed to allow EB2 India up to July 2011 to file for adjustment of status or consular processing. As such the hopes of thousands of EB Indian applicants are now lost with the decision of Judge Martinez. This is what the court wrote in conclusion: ...The Court finds that the parties have thoroughly presented the…Read More Breaking News

The STEM OPT list of degree falling under Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics

May 16 2016 - The new STEM OPT of 24 months came out on May 10 2016 but it has completely redefined STEM OPT including the degrees which fall under STEM itself.  Here is a list of the STEM OPT requirements as per the government. The STEM Designated Degree Program list is a complete list of fields of study that DHS considers to be science, technology, engineering or mathematics (STEM) fields of study for purposes of the 24-month STEM optional practical training extension described at 8 CFR 214.2 (f). Under 8 CFR 214.2(f)(10)(ii)(C)(2), a STEM field of study is a field of…Read More Breaking News

What is happening with the UNNJ students?

May 15 2016 - It has been almost  one and a half months since UNNJ was officially shut down and many of the students are either still struggling in custody, or to change status or stuck abroad. At this point in time we can only keep looking at the options which have been proposed although it is very sad to know that the entire incident was very unfair.  After contacting numerous organizations to help, our attempt has unfortunately so far been in vain. Some of them have not even answered, while others are totally confused…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

Revised Guidance for SEVIS Workarounds and STEM OPT Transition 

May 5 2016 - "After consultation with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), the Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) is revising its guidance on the handling of 24-month extensions of optional practical training (OPT) to include special instructions for students whose: Post-completion OPT ends before May 23, 2016, and Eligibility is based on a prior science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM)degree USCIS and SEVP developed special filing instructions for a limited number of students who become eligible on May 10, 2016 for a STEM extension based on a prior degree or for…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

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

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

There are nearly 1.2 million international students with F (academic) or M (vocational) status studying in the United States

ICE releases quarterly international student data F, M students up 6.2 percent compared to March 2015; Number of certified schools down 3 percent ICE releases quarterly international student dataICE releases quarterly international student dataICE releases quarterly international student data WASHINGTON — There are nearly 1.2 million international students with F (academic) or M (vocational) status studying in the United States according to the latest "SEVIS by the Numbers," a quarterly report on international student trends prepared by the Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP), part of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland…Read 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

Calling on the Government to consider Judicial Economy on the Court Cases for UNNJ students.

Many of the UNNJ students have been issued an Notice of Intent to Appear (NTA) which obviously will put a burden not only on the students but also on the immigration court systems. According to an article from the organization American Immigration Council - Immigration Court Backlog Shows No Sign of Shrinking, the immigration courts are over-loaded with work and many of the cases which are being referred to the court are non-serious criminals cases.  Since the Department of Homeland Security (DHS),  is mostly not charging students of very serious charges, we call…Read More Breaking News

7 Things to know about the Immigration Court – UNNJ Updates.

Since many people are not familiar with how the immigration courts operate, we have tried to explain at least few things how the court works especially for those at UNNJ who might have to deal with the courts. 1. Department of Justice Immigration Courts are under the Department of Justice (DOJ) not the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). This means that if you have received a Notice to Appear, you are no longer really under the jurisdiction of the DHS although Immigration Customs Enforcement will still be conducting their investigations. The government will actually be…Read More Breaking News

Should UNNJ students contact their respective countries’ Embassies or Consulates?

April 20 2016 - We are 15 days in the UNNJ issues, and many people are getting desperate and do not know what other options are afforded to them. Some students have suggested that they should reach out to their respective countries' embassies or consulates for help. This video addresses this approach. Note that we are just giving a suggestion here, there is no guarantee that any country's government will actually help in this matter but since the students are still citizens of their own countries, they should be able to ask for…Read More Breaking News