YOUR IMMIGRATION LAWYERS, MICHAEL PHULWANI, ESQ. AND DAVID NACHMAN, ESQ., PROVIDE U.S. IMMIGRATION LAW UPDATES ON TV ASIA & ITV: VLOG & USCIS NEWS UPDATES ON THE WEB & ON TV.
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David Nachman, Esq., Ludka Zimovcak, Esq. and Michael Phulwani, Esq., your Immigration and Nationality Lawyers, continue to bring employment and family-based immigration and nationality news and updates to your TV screen each week on TV Asia and iTV. Watch "YOUR IMMIGRATION LAWYERS" each week on iTV and TV Asia. Please contact us at [email protected] for additional U.S. immigration law information or about how to subscribe to iTV or TV Asia.
Who is watching you / BLS and Non immigrant visa
agencies that are watching us; what modes of communication are being monitored; balance between security and privacy; use of social media for monitoring; how social media affects immigration cases during interviews;
BLS and Non immigrant visa: problem with BLS processing; getting visas in advance instead of during emergencies; apply for OCI card for easy travel
filing on or by march 31; h-1b visas are maxing out within a few days; lottery done for H-1b's; filing of LCA's; full time and part time H-1B's including caps and exempt caps; combination of education and expeirence closely related; fees associated with H-1B processing.
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UPCOMING EVENT
HOT TOPICS IN FAMILY IMMIGRATION LAW PRACTICE
Where:
NJ Law Center,
New Brunswick, New Jersey
When:
January 30th, 2014 from 9:00 AM to 12:30 PM
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:: 201-670-0006 (X100)
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Dear Readers:
As some of the Nachman Phulwani Zimovcak (NPZ) Law Group immigration lawyers and attorneys pack their bags for another trip to India, we reflect on the 2014 year in immigration law. Of course, we would like to wish all of our loyal readers a safe, healthy and prosperous New Year.
We continue to speak about Comprehensive Immigration Reform (CIR) as being our New Year's Resolution. The immigration system in the U.S. continues to be broken. Family members have been separated from each other for many years. The skill-sets that are required by many of our clients are unavailable in the U.S. and there continue to be fewer and fewer are options the enable these critical skills to be imported from abroad. We can only hope that immigration reform will be the "big thing" in 2014.
From the beginning of 2013, it was clear that it was going to be a big year for immigration. The results of the 2012 Presidential Election were widely interpreted as a rebuke to Mitt Romney's enforcement-only "self-deportation" policy, and President Obama's huge victory among minority communities was seen as a mandate for reform. It seemed, at the beginning of the year, that comprehensive immigration reform in 2013 was inevitable. However, other issues just kept getting in the way.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) rings-in 2014 with new leadership. Following the confirmation in December of Jeh Johnson and Alejandro Mayorkas for Secretary and Deputy Secretary, respectively. Johnson and Mayorkas bring years of government service to their new jobs.
Mayorkas' tenure as Director of USCIS led to a far more open agency that treated the public as a partner, with innovations such as public comment on policy memos, expanded public engagement opportunities, an entrepreneur-in-residence program, and the delivery of a working program to process DACA applications within two months of President Obama's announcement of the program. These successes, coupled with Johnson's experience as the top Pentagon lawyer, promise a new direction for the DHS.
It continues to be our hope (and prayer) that the House of Representatives will put aside its internal politics and work to craft compromises that will serve as templates not only for immigration reform in the U.S. but also as guidance for ways to deal with other important political issues in the future. If you, your friends or your family have any questions with regard to CIR or U.S. or Canadian immigration law, please feel free to contact us at [email protected] or you can call us at 201-670-0006 (x107).
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IN EARLY 2014 OUR IMMIGRATION LAWYERS WILL TRAVEL TO INDIA TO VISIT FRIENDS, CLIENTS AND THE U.S. CONSULATES IN MUMBAI AND NEW DELHI AND PRESENT U.S. IMMIGRATION LAW UPDATES.
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Nachman Phulwani Zimovcak (NPZ) Law Group is pleased, once again, to announce that during the beginning of the New Year 2014, prominent U.S. Immigration Attorneys from the NPZ Law Group will travel to India and meet with clients and with U.S. Consulate Officials. They will visit the U.S. Consulate Offices in New Delhi and Mumbai. They will be visiting Mumbai, Jaipur, Ahmadabad and New Delhi. They will be in India between January 9th 2014 and January 25th 2014.
TO READ MORE, PLEASE CLICK HERE . . .
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AS THE NEW YEAR 2014 BEGINS, WE ASK . . . WILL THERE, AGAIN, BE AN H-1B VISA LOTTERY IN APRIL? PLANNING FOR THE H-1B VISA SEASON IS KEY TO BEING ABLE TO CONTINUE YOUR WORK AUTHORIZED STATUS IN THE U.S.
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It is that time of year again! We always hear the accountants moan and groan about the approaching April 15th deadline each year but, you have to listen a bit more closely and you will hear (and see) the U.S. business immigration lawyers and attorneys manifesting their distaste for the April 1st filing date for "cap" subject H-1B professional and specialty occupation workers.
Well, here we go again . . .
On April 1st, 2014 marks the first day when prospective H-1B petitioning employers and prospective H-1B employees will be able to apply to the U.S. Department of Labor ("DOL") for and Labor Condition Application ("LCA") and Petition to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services ("CIS") for H-1B visa petitions for employment in the fiscal 2014 - 2015 year ("FY 2014"). Our advice to our H-1B employer clients continues to be that they need to think about filing H-1B petitions on (or very close to) April 1st for new and existing employees who will be eligible for a first-time H-1B visa to begin their employment on or after October 1st, 2014.
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U.S. CONSULATE UPDATE: Consular Returns From U.S. Consular Offices Abroad to the Vermont Service Center.
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Have you had an issue with an Application at the U.S. Consulate abroad? Has your case been placed into a 221(g) Administrative Hold? Are you waiting and waiting and now and feeling like there is nothing that you can do? Well . . . we have some recent guidance that may be helpful to you.
The Vermont Service Center (VSC) provided updated information on handling of consular returns at the October 18th, 2013 Stakeholders Meeting. Specifically, VSC indicates that consular returns are currently backlogged at 6 months or longer; cases involving H-1B extensions receive more immediate attention.
VSC also confirmed that its current protocol is to "shelf" a case and take no further action on it if it is returned again to the VSC by the Department of State (DOS) after a VSC reaffirmation.
TO READ MORE, PLEASE CLICK HERE . . .
For more information about Consular Processing, Administrative Holds under 221(g) or Notices of Intent to Deny or Revoke (NOIDs) in India or throughout the world, please feel free to contact any of the immigration lawyers or attorneys at the Nachman Phulwani Zimovcak (NPZ) Law Group, P.C. by e-mail at [email protected] or by calling our offices at 201-670-0006 (x107).
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INDIA UPDATE: A RECENT IMMIGRANT VISA UPDATE FROM THE U.S. CONSULATE OFFICE IN MUMBAI.
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Recently, the U.S. Consulate Office in Mumbai provided a PRESS RELEASE for immigrant visa applicants. Effective December 23rd, 2013, all immigrant visa applicants must complete the DS-260 online immigrant visa application at https://ceac.state.gov/ceac and login to http://www.ustraveldocs.com/in to schedule an appointment at Visa Application Center (VAC) for biometric fingerprint and photograph collection prior to their Embassy or Consulate appointment. Failure to follow these new procedures will significantly delay visa processing for applicants.
FOR DETAILED INFORMATION, PLEASE CLICK HERE . . .
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VISASERVE'S IMMIGRATION LAWYERS AND ATTORNEYS WORK TO EASE THE STRESS OF HOLIDAY TRAVEL FOR CERTAIN FOREIGN NATIONALS:
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Tis the season to be jolly . . . but it is also the season when international travel can be a folly. Many foreign nationals will be traveling outside the U.S. during the holidays. This holiday travel usually extends from the end of December through the middle of January.
Of course, for some, holiday travel often seems to entail a visit to the friendly Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Officer. For others, holiday travel may entail a visit to the U.S. Consulate Office in a home or third-country.
The NPZ Law Group has posted many instructional videos on the internet which you can view on YOUTUBE about some of the nuances of international travel and seeking visas at U.S. Consular Offices. We commend these videos for those who will be traveling.
If you do not have time to view those videos, there are a few basic tips that will help to ease any potentially unpleasant international travel/return issues to the United States.
TO VIEW SOME BASIC TIPS ABOUT HOLIDAY TRAVEL, PLEASE CLICK HERE . . .
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LIFTING THE CONDITIONS: FILING THE I-751 AS A WAIVER APPLICATION.
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One way to Lift the Conditions on Residence is to "jointly file" the Petition to Lift Conditions, Form I-751. However, some people are divorced or separated and they cannot file the I-751 Petition "jointly". Thus, if they want to pursue the green card on their own they can do so by filing for a Waiver of the "joint filing" requirement.
If you have separated from your U.S. citizen spouse or he or she refuses to file Form I-751 with you then you will need to strategically plan to file a waiver of the "joint filing" requirement to lift the conditions on residency.
FOR DETAILED INFORMATION ON THE HELPFUL TIPS ON I-751 WAIVER FILING, PLEASE CLICK HERE . . .
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THE U.S. IS PLEASED TO WELCOME INDIA'S BOLLYWOOD REPUTED IIFA AWARDS IN 2014.
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In December, 2013, the International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) announced that fans of Indian Cinema could expect the 15th Annual IIFA celebrations to make its American premiere in Tampa Bay, Florida.
The institution has now announced the much awaited official dates for the mega-weekend that is all set to take place from the 24th - 26th of April, 2014.
TO READ MORE, PLEASE CLICK HERE . . .
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CANADIAN IMMIGRATION LAW UPDATES: NPZ
NEWS FROM NORTH OF THE BORDER.
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HAPPY NEW YEAR 2014 - WHAT TO EXPECT IN CANADIAN IMMIGRATION LAW THIS YEAR.
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HARPER Government in 2014 is expected to bring many changes in the field of Canadian Immigration. These changes would include such as extending the Permanent resident residing time frame for applying citizenship, granting citizenship for newborn babies only after fulfilling certain requirements, Conservative backbencher Devinder Shory's citizenship bill and many more changes. According to the article posted in National Post, Canadian Immigration minister Chris Alexander "There's only one way of truly understanding what it means to be Canadian, what it means to participate in Canadian life, and that is by living here."
TO READ MORE ON 2014 CANADIAN IMMIGRATION PROSPECTS, PLEASE CLICK HERE . . .
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IMMIGRATION STORY OF THE YEAR: MYSTERY OF AN UNIDENTIFIED MAN.
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A Canada Border Services Agency effort's of an unidentified man deportation was revealed in an article published in the National Post. The article exposes the usage of facilitator by the CBSA in solving many deportation cases which is against the CBSA policies.
CBSA was desperate to solve the case by any how but at the last ended in the failure to deport the unidentified man to any country.
TO READ MORE, PLEASE CLICK HERE . . .
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A NEW YEAR BRINGS A NEW CANADIAN IMMIGRATION LAW PROCEDURE: THE NEW LMO APPLICATION.
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Beginning December 31st 2013, all employers in Canada are required to complete an updated LMO [Labor Market Application Form]. The LMO system has been subject to continuous changes since 2013, and here is a new one: The new modified LMO Form will include modified questions and additional employer attestations regarding the employer's responsibilities. LMO forms are used by employers to apply for a Labour Market Opinion (LMO) to hire temporary foreign workers for high skilled occupations, once they have advertized and been able to establish a shortage or unavailability of Canadian or PR labour to fill the position.
We welcome your questions concerning LMO requirements or the changes to the LMO system. Contact us at [email protected] or [email protected].
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"IMMIGRATION NEWS AND VIEWS" - NPZ'S NEW PRACTICAL SERIES ON YOUTUBE ABOUT VARIOUS U.S. AND CANADIAN IMMIGRATION LAW ISSUES.
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CONSULAR HOLDS AND ADMINISTRATIVE PROCESSING - 221(g).
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The US Consulate officers encourage an extra copy of the RFE be submitted to USCIS so that same gets into PIMS at the KCC. More information about Consular Processing from the Nachman Phulwani Zimovcak Law Group, P.C. - Immigration and Nationality Law
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COMPREHENSIVE IMMIGRATION REFORM (CIR): PAROLE IN PLACE & MILITARY FAMILIES.
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S. 744 passed senate; stalled bill in the house; back-drop of President Obama to grant Prosecutorial Discretion; House does not want to provide a path to Citizenship because 11 million undocumented will vote for Democrats could be end of Republican Party; Now Speaker of House puts person in charge of immigration. who was with McCain! What does this all mean?
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UPCOMING NPZ LAW GROUP EVENTS (INDIA):
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Update on U.S. Immigration Law and Visas, Comprehensive Immigration Reform and U.S. Legislative and Administrative Updates.
When: Thursday, January 23rd, 2014
Time: 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM (Refreshments will be served)
Where: Lincoln Auditorium, Indo-American Society, Kitab Mahal, 5, D, Sukhadwala Marg. Fort, Mumbai 400001
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Questions that Exporters have about U.S. Immigration Law and Visas, U.S. Legislative and Administrative Updates, and Establishing Affiliate Organizations in the U.S.
When: Wednesday, January 22nd, 2014
Time: 10:30 AM to 1:30 PM
Where: Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) (Set-up by Ministry of Commerce, Gov't of India), Times Square, Unit No. 3A, B - Wing, 4th Floor, Andheri - Kurla Road, Andheri (E), Mumbai - 400 059 Maharashtra India
FOR DETAILED INFORMATION, PLEASE CLICK HERE . . .
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WISHING YOU AND YOUR FAMILY AND ALL OUR FRIENDS AND LOYAL READERS A VERY
HAPPY
2014 NEW YEAR
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