DOS reports that the infusion of FY 2017 visa numbers will make EB-4 India and EB-4 Mexico current in October. The final action date for EB-4 El Salvador / Guatemala / Honduras should move to a date sometime in the summer of 2015, and possibly beyond. Given the high applicant demand in this category...

The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (“CIS”) recently promulgated a revised Form I-129S, NONIMMIGRANT PETITION BASED ON BLANKET L PETITION. CIS announced that this document must be used exclusively in applications filed with after August 29th and the U.S. Department of State (“DOS”) has confirmed that applicants for Blanket L-1 petition classification at...

Recently, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a decision in the U.S. v. Texas case that addresses the DACA II and DAPA benefits sought by the Obama Administration. The following information will assist layman to understand the ripple effects of that decision:

Q: How did the Supreme Court rule in U.S. v. Texas?

A: On June 23rd,...

On July 29, 2016, DHS published a final rule expanding the availability of the provisional unlawful presence waiver to individuals who would be statutorily eligible for an unlawful presence waiver under INA §212(a)(9)(B)(v). The rule also makes additional changes to the current provisional waiver process. The following provides background information on the unlawful presence...

By: Michael Phulwani, Esq., David H. Nachman, Esq. and Ludka Zimovcak, Esq.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) began its Administrative Site Visit and Verification Program (ASVVP) in 2009. Under the program, site visits are conducted by the Fraud Detection and National Security directorate (FDNS) of USCIS. FDNS conducts site visits for religious worker petitions,...

By: Michael Phulwani, Esq., David H. Nachman, Esq., and Ludka Zimovcak, Esq.


When a USCIS Service Center denies an employment-based visa petition, is it prudent to recommend to a petitioning employer to appeal to the AAO? Not if you have the option of filing a new petition. But there are many situations where refiling may...

Release Date: July 29, 2016

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced a final rule expanding the existing provisional waiver process to allow certain individuals who are family members of U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents (LPRs), and who are statutorily eligible for immigrant visas, to more easily navigate the immigration process. The provisional...

The unveiling of the August Visa Bulletin leads us to contemplate possible Final Action Date movement for September, the final month of the fiscal year. The August Visa Bulletin helps us to consider predictions for September and prospects for recovery in key retrogressed preference categories in Fiscal Year (FY) 2017.

EB-4 and Certain Religious...

On July 1, 2016, the U.S Department of Labor issued an interim final rules to adjust the amounts of civil penalties assessed or enforced in its regulations. The Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act of 1990 as amended by the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act Improvements Act of 2015 (Inflation Adjustment Act) requires...

By: David Nachman, Esq., Michael Phulwani, Esq. and Ludka Zimovcak, Esq.

Some time back, the Nachman Phulwani Zimovcak (NPZ) Law Group, P.C. reported that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Citizenship and Immigration Services ("USCIS"), sought to step-up its efforts to find fraud in the H-1B program. This was done by conducting investigations...