Search

DHS Reforms To Attract And Retain Highly Skilled Immigrants

Release Date: January 31, 2012

DEPARTMENT OF STATE

22 CFR Part 41

[Public Notice:]          

Visas: Issuance of Full Validity L Visas to Qualified Applicants

AGENCY:     State Department.

ACTION:       Final Rule.

Interpreting recent trends in I-94 nonimmigrant admissions has been complicated by more complete recording of entries into the United States. Beginning in 2005, at selected Southwest border crossings, the Department of Homeland Security installed new technology to record land admissions previously excluded from I-94 data systems; by 2010 this technology was installed at nearly all pedestrian crossings and vehicular lanes along the Southwest and Northern borders.

For temporary visitors to the United States (nonimmigrants), reciprocity tables, available from the drop-down menu above, show applicable visa issuance fees by country and by visa classification type, and the maximum period of visa validity and number of applications, or entries, that may be authorized.

The Department of State has updated the visa reciprocity tables. Please click here to get the updated information.

http://www.travel.state.gov/visa/fees/fees_3272.html

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) recently began transferring some extension of stay casework from the Vermont Service Center to the California Service Center to balance workloads. The affected casework includes the following form:

• I-129, Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker, filed by an employer to extend the stay of an alien to perform services as an H-1B specialty occupation worker.

How You Will Be Affected