USCIS Updated Forms - Petition for U Nonimmigrant Status and Application for T Nonimmigrant Status
USCIS recently updated the following form(s):
Petition for U Nonimmigrant Status
12/06/2021 01:32 PM EST
USCIS recently updated the following form(s):
Petition for U Nonimmigrant Status
12/06/2021 01:32 PM EST
Release Date
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced clarifying guidance on how USCIS determines whether an O-1B beneficiary will be evaluated as a person of extraordinary ability in the arts or as a person of extraordinary achievement in the motion picture or television industry when a case has elements of both.
Discussion Topics, Jan 20, 2022 FAQs:
1. EB-1B for postdoctoral holder after a gap of several years in career 2. Date of birth and name corrections in birth certificate 3. COVID-19 delays in tourist/visitor extensions for B-2 holding parent and applying for their green card
1. My Son was born in February 2020 in the USA, where my wife is on an F1 visa working on OPT. Due to the Covid19 pandemic, I couldn't meet my son for two years. Kindly suggest to me the way forward to meet my son and wife. I also tried to travel on a tourist visa and F1 Visa. Unfortunately, I got both rejections. I'm an Indian taxpayer and an IT employee.
2. My brother is a US citizen, and he applied for our mother's green card. Everything is clear, all paperwork is done, but due to the pandemic, we are waiting for the interview date from March 2021. Do you have any information on how we get the date or how much time it will take?
3. My daughter is in Dallas, US, and under medical treatment. She is there with an IN40 visa. As a father, I want to be there during her medical urgency. How can I get a visa now to be with her in the US?
4. I am a US citizen currently in India. I am traveling back to the States in mid-February for two months and want to take my Indian-citizen senior citizen mother with me for that duration. Her last US tourist visa expired eight years ago. (She has an active Schengen visa on her passport) Is there a way she can get a short-term two-month visa to the US?
5. I stayed outside of the US for more than two years because of COVID-19. Am I eligible for naturalization? I came to the USA in August 2016.
*Please note that the queries have been put together and edited by the Economic Times to address similar questions at once and that the answers are clear and relevant to the audience.
1. My Son was born in February 2020 in the USA, where my wife is on an F1 visa working on OPT. Due to the Covid19 pandemic, I couldn't meet my son for two years. Kindly suggest to me the way forward to meet my son and wife. I also tried to travel on a tourist visa and F1 Visa. Unfortunately, I got both rejections. I'm an Indian taxpayer and an IT employee.
Note: For the NRI readers, The Economic Times has started an immigration helpdesk. A team of experts which includes Rajiv S. Khanna will address the most pressing issues. Please see the link below.
Release Date
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services today announced that the initial registration period for the fiscal year 2023 H-1B cap will open at noon Eastern on March 1 and run through noon Eastern on March 18, 2022. During this period, prospective petitioners and representatives will be able to complete and submit their registrations using the online H-1B registration system.
Discussion Topics, Thursday, March 31, 2022:
FAQ: Impact of criminal misdemeanor case on an F-1 or any status || Protecting immigration status: Traveling with advance parole, divorce proceedings and an entrepreneur on H-1B visa
Question: I have a visitor visa for the USA for multiple visits up to June-2023. Can I apply for an extension of the visa before the expiry date? Also, advise procedure for extensions and where I can get the application form, so I can keep all details ready.
Answer: I am not aware if there is a procedure to apply for a visitor visa extension before expiration. You can send an email to the consulate to confirm. There is, however, a restriction under the consular standard operating procedures on holding concurrently valid visas of the same type.
Discussion Topics, Thursday, April 14, 2022:
FAQ: GC-EAD applicant holding multiple jobs and starting own business
What happens when a student works without authorization because they have no choice as they need the money to support their school or because they did it unintentionally?
If you work without authorization on purpose, it is important to understand the implications. One is your violation of status which is much easier to fix and the other one is if you lie about it in any immigration proceeding. The first one, lets say you are close to getting an H-1B and you have three months or six months or even a year of working without authorization. In a worst case scenario you will have to go outside for H-1 visa stamping. You will not get your change of status. Make sure there is no history of misrepresenting your work status to the government. The moment you prevaricate or you lie about your situation to gain an immigration benefit you have committed a felony which is punishable by five years and also it is a permanent bar from entering the US. Make sure you understand that lying about work authorization or working without authorization is much worse than actually doing it.
But what happens when you do it inadvertently?
For ten days you work without authorization not realizing you don't have the authorization, then it is a very small violation. The government might ignore it and let it go. It is called de minimis. It simply means it is a minimal problem. Hence the point is if you have violated the law inadvertently and unknowingly by mistake you have several options. First of all disclose it when you file the H-1B and if you have fallen out of status talk with your DSO and act upon their advice. They might tell you to apply for reinstatement which should be readily given.
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Note: Unless the context shows otherwise, all answers here were provided by Rajiv and were compiled and reported by our editorial team from comments, blog and community calls on immigration.com. Where transcribed from audio/video, a verbatim transcript is provided. Therefore, it may not conform to the written grammatical or syntactical form.
I was born in the United Arab Emirates, but have Indian citizenship. I did my bachelors in the U.S and am currently pursuing my Masters here as well. I was wondering with the ongoing corona crisis, would it be realistic to apply for GC within 6 months of the job starting and hope I get it before my three years of OPT ends?
Potentially it is possible for you to go directly to Green Card from F-1 if you are not chargeable to India.
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Note: Unless the context shows otherwise, all answers here were provided by Rajiv and were compiled and reported by our editorial team from comments, blog and community calls on immigration.com. Where transcribed from audio/video, a verbatim transcript is provided. Therefore, it may not conform to the written grammatical or syntactical form.
Discussion Topics, Thursday, April 28, 2022:
I am an Indian national living in India now, working on H-1B from 2006-2011 for a small consulting company based in NY, US,. They have filed my EB2, I-140 and it got approved in 2009. I returned to India due to my personal situation in 2011. So I moved my case to Consular Processing in 2012. I got my date current during the last year 2021 and the Mumbai Embassy scheduled consular processing Interview was scheduled for last month. As soon as I received the interview call I found my sponsoring company in the US has their business. Hence, I have skipped my interview to avoid GC denial and retain the priority date.
1. They can both apply.
2. The answer is no you have to go through PERM I-140 again and you will keep the priority date from the old case.
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Note: Unless the context shows otherwise, all answers here were provided by Rajiv and were compiled and reported by our editorial team from comments, blog and community calls on immigration.com. Where transcribed from audio/video, a verbatim transcript is provided. Therefore, it may not conform to the written grammatical or syntactical form.
1. Currently, I am on STEM OPT, working with my DSO-approved employer. My uncle wants to start a company and asked me for my help. So, an I help him without being an employee of his company?
2. Is active professional volunteering to a family member's company a violation of the F-1 STEM OPT status? I hold a Professional Engineer's license. If I let him use my license for his company, will that be ok under my current immigration status?
3. Can I be a partner in the company and an employee of the company if my uncle hires me as an employee?
1.The volunteering issue is a complicated one. When you are volunteering for charitable affairs or religious matters, I don't think there is any problem. The moment it starts getting into the realm of commercial volunteering it could potentially become an issue. Under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) private companies cannot take free work.
2. I personally think it is not a violation of your status. As for using your license for his company that could become problematic because the implication is that you are working for that company now. Remember under STEM OPT you can work for multiple companies, but you have to get approval from school for that.
3.The answer is Yes. Under OPT as well as under H-1B. As long as you have a genuine employer, employee relationship.
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Note: Unless the context shows otherwise, all answers here were provided by Rajiv and were compiled and reported by our editorial team from comments, blog and community calls on immigration.com. Where transcribed from audio/video, a verbatim transcript is provided. Therefore, it may not conform to the written grammatical or syntactical form.