DOS Notice of New Visa Fees Effective from 9/12/2014

Important Notice - New Application Fees: Nonimmigrant and immigrant visa application fees for certain visa categories will change on September 12, 2014. All visa applicants must pay the fee amounts in effect on the day they pay, with the exception of Immigrant Visa application processing fees paid domestically to the National Visa Center (NVC), which will be effective as of the date of billing.

Fees that will decrease are not refundable. If you paid a visa fee before September 12, 2014 and that fee decreased, we cannot give you a refund.

New E-Verify Service Combats Fraud, Protects Identity, Educates Workers

WASHINGTON — U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Director León Rodríguez announced the launch of myE-Verify—a new website designed for employees.  myE-Verify is a one-stop shop for employees to create and maintain secure personal accounts and access new features for identity protection.  

USCIS Issues Alert for Employers on USCIS Disposal of Old Everify

On January 1, 2015, E-Verify must dispose of transaction records that are over ten years old - those dated on or before December 31, 2004. E-Verify employers have until December 31, 2014, to download case data from the new “Historic Records Report” if they want to retain transaction data that is more than ten years old.

Some Biometric Appointment Notices Issued in Error

Recently USCIS erroneously scheduled some customers for more than one Application Support Center (ASC) biometric appointment (Form I-797C). 

If you have already attended an ASC biometric appointment, and received a second appointment notice for the same application type, please call the National Customer Service Center at 1-800-375-5283 (TTY for hearing impaired: 1-800-767-1833) to confirm that you do not need to return to the ASC to have biometrics collected again. 

Traveling on a TN or L-1 Visa From Canada?

Question details

1. What are TN and L nonimmigrant classifications?<br>
2. How can Canadian citizens obtain TN and L-1 classifications? <br>
3. I am a first time TN and L-1 applicant – am I required to go to a designated port of entry?<br>
4. Which ports of entry are designated for optimized processing?

1. The TN nonimmigrant classification permits qualified Canadian and Mexican citizens to seek temporary entry into the United States to engage in business activities at a professional level. The L-1 nonimmigrant classification - Intracompany Transferee Executive or Manager – enables a U.S. employer to transfer an executive or manager from one of its affiliated foreign offices to one of its offices in the United States.  This classification also enables a foreign company that does not yet have an affiliated U.S. office to send an executive or manager to the U.S.

Sister Filed Petition

Question details

My sister filed petition for me last year maybe I-130. I am an Indian and my wife is Italian, I am in California nowadays since last week. Can we stay here permanently under I-485 or AOS whatever?

That category takes 13-14 years. During the time you are waiting for your priority date to be current, you cannot stay in the USA just because your green card is pending. You can, however, stay or come to the USA under a visa independent of the green card such as L-1, H-1. You can also apply for a green card in several categories simultaneously.

Volunteer work on H-4 visa

Question details

Hello Sir,
I am H4 visa holder and want to blog for hobby. If I get any money from blogging due to advertisements or page hits, I want to take all of that money and donate it to charitable organization. I want to know is this legal while in H4 status and if so I want to know the correct procedure to do what I have mentioned, so that I am still following the rules for the H4 visa.

See clip from video recording by Rajiv for the answer to this question regarding volunteer work on H-4 visa status.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&list=UUm4s1qwOS…

Writ of Mandamus for Govt. Delays

Question details

Hello Rajiv Ji,
Thanks for your time and responses (over the email). I have below questions.

1) I am an EB-2, with Priority date Jun-2008. Applied i-485 in Jan-2012. Cut-off date became current in July-2014. Through congressperson / infopass found that my application is in background checks.
1.a) I have given fingerprints 2.5 years ago and background checks are not cleared yet. so what are my options in expediting it?
1.b) My worry is the checks may not be cleared before next time dates become current, and I may be in the same situation again.
1.b) Can I use Writ of Mandamus? Does my case (485 pending for 2.5 years, current for 2.5 months, but background checks are not completed yet) have enough reasons to claim "unreasonable delay"?

2) I am using my EAD. My labor says "Senior Analyst" as my job title.
2.a) Can I accept a promotion with a director/managerial job title ?
2.b) or does it cause a problem / RFE in future? Duties are more or less similar and work on same software technology, but will have few direct reports and need to manage projects.

3) Can I switch to H1-B as a safe measure?
3.a) Does switching mean I am abandoning my GC?
3.b) Do I need to go out of the country for stamping or can I continue to work without going out?
3.b) what are the risks involved?

See the marked clip below from Rajiv's video recording for the answer to this question.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&list=UUm4s1qwOS…