We continue to successfully process Green Card applications in the National Interest Waiver category, especially self-petitions for designers and artists. These applications are usually approved in 4-6 months which makes them an attractive option. Most of the cases we file are for our O-1 clients. Recent approvals include Japanese stage manager and production coordinator, […]
USCIS Completes the H-1B Cap Random Selection Process for FY 2019
The Immigration Service announced today that it has randomly selected enough H-1B petitions to meet the congressionally mandated cap and the U.S. advanced degree exemption, also known as the master’s cap, for FY2019. They received 190,098 petitions during the filing period, including petitions filed for the advanced degree exemption (compared to the 199,000 H-1B petitions […]
February 2018 Updates
We would like to start by reminding clients that their work often appears online and consulates invariably Google your name when you apply for visas. Sometimes, they might see you have been working in the US without authorization, a particular problem for high-profile photographers, make-up artists, and others who receive credits online for their work. […]
December 2017 Updates
January 2018 We filed 108 O-1 cases in 2017. 100 have been approved and 8 are still in process. Most cases have been approved within three to four weeks using standard processing despite the fact that USCIS websites shows 90-120 days for O-1 cases. Due to cases being given stricter scrutiny, we recommend careful […]
September 2017 Updates
We continue to receive swift O-1 Approvals. As of September 14, 2017, we have received 78 O-1 approvals this year. Recent approvals include an O-1 for Korean product designer, Huira Koo, who received a BFA in Fine Arts from Parsons School of Design in New York and did a change of status from F (OPT) […]
August 2017 Updates
We have had 64 O-1 approvals through August 15 2017, mostly for artists and designers who work as independent contractors and use an agent-petitioner for filing purposes. Some of them have foreign employers as well. Many applicants were on student visas. Recent approvals include first- time three- year O-1 visas for the Filipino composer, Joshua […]
O-1 and H-1B Visas
We are continuing to get swift O-1 visa approvals from USCIS, about two to three weeks with standard processing at the Vermont Service Center. We have not experienced any negative effects since the new administration took over. We have also not experienced problems at the various U.S. consulates regarding visa issuance. We filed 76 O-1 […]
April 2017 update
Contrary to popular expectations, we continue to experience smooth processing for visas and Green Cards for all nationalities. We recently received an approval for an H-1B which no other lawyer wanted to take. The Italian-Iranian national had gotten an H-1B four years ago and was laid off about 6 weeks later. Thereafter, she just stayed […]
News for January 2017
We are continuing to receive good news for our O-1 visa clients. Recent approvals include an O-1 visa for a Brazilian photographer, as well as for Venezuelan wedding photographer, Diego Velazquez. (See Diego’s comments below.) Additional approvals were obtained for a Japanese music producer, a Chinese arts coordinator applying for her first O-1 visa; a […]
Immigration News Bites
USCIS Fees Increase U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has announced an increase in fees by about 20%. This is required for most immigration applications and petitions. The new fees will be effective on December 23, 2016. Visa Stamping Many people do a change of status in the US and then wonder if they really […]