2015 Old Blog

President Obama signed a Continuing Resolution that extended the EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program (also called regional center program) and funded the government through Dec. 11. The program, which was scheduled to expire Sept. 30, allocates green cards for investors in regional centers designated by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services based on proposals for promoting economic growth.

Note: The October Visa Bulletin was revised on Sept. 25 by the U.S. Department of State. As a result of this unforeseen change, some employment-based green card petitioners no longer have a "current" application filing date and can't file Form I-485 (Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status) in October. Review the "Dates for Filing of Employment-Based Visa Applications" table to view the changes, displayed in bold.

Due to the long wait times faced by many foreign nationals seeking legal permanent residency, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has revised its procedure for determining visa availability. Beginning in October, USCIS will start accepting Form I-485 (Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status) from foreign nationals with an approved I-140 (Immigrant Petition) application to apply for their green card sooner than previously allowed.

The U.S. Department of State's (DOS) September 2015 Visa Bulletin has been released. For updated family and employment-based green card processing times, view the following charts.

Recently, United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) reported that the denial rate for L-1B visas, for intracompany transfers with specialized knowledge, hit a record high of 35 percent in 2014. In direct response, on August 31, USCIS will implement a policy memorandum to guide its officers in adjudicating L-1B petitions.

On August 12, the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., ruled that the program granting 17-month extensions in F-1 Optional Practical Training for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) students was invalid, citing that the program failed to follow the proper enactment procedures.

The August 2015 Visa Bulletin is now live. For updated family- and employment-based green card processing times, view the charts below.

United States Immigration and Citizenship Services (USCIS) designates a special visa classification, the L-1, for “intracompany transferees,” i.e. individuals who work for a company outside the U.S. that is related to a U.S. company, so that those individuals can work for the related company in the United States.

If you’re a Canadian employer who regularly hires foreign talent, you’ve probably had to complete the Labour Market Opinion (LMO) in the past to ensure your recruitment of foreign workers doesn’t displace a Canadian citizen from the local workforce. However, the government has made changes to the market test to add more regulations and rigorous compliance aspects to the system and, as a result, renamed the process the Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA).

The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) receives thousands of family- and employment-based green card applications every year, which creates a backlog. As a result, the U.S. Department of State issues the monthly Visa Bulletin, allowing applicants to learn when their petition will be processed.