Clarity and Strength in Immigration Law

Visa Bulletin Predictions: November 2018 and Beyond!

October 24th, 2018
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Posted by Emily Sumner

Each month a representative from the American Immigration Lawyers Association meets with Charlie Oppenheim, the man behind the visa bulletin curtain, to get a sense of how the priority dates may advance (or not!) in the coming months. In October’s meeting, Charlie made the following observations and predictions: Family-based preference categories: All of the final […]

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Five Ways to Mess Up Your K-1 Fiancee Petition

October 24th, 2018
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Posted by Emily Sumner

By Nikita Hernandez, Paralegal at Sumner Immigration Law Way to Mess Up #1: Get married before or during the process The K-1 petition and visa process is for a fiancee. Once you get married, you need to file a completely different petition with different documentation, filing fees, etc. Even a cultural marriage ceremony in your […]

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H-1B Cap Gap Ends 9/30/18 – Beware Unauthorized Employment!

September 26th, 2018
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Posted by Emily Sumner

Attention all employees and employers who filed an H-1B petition under the H-1B cap in April! The H-1B cap gap provisions in the regulation allow an H-1B candidate to keep working even after their OPT has expired, assuming an H-1B petition requesting change of status was timely filed while their OPT was still valid. This […]

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Heads Up! You May Be Able to File Your I-485 As of 10/1/2018!

September 25th, 2018
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Posted by Emily Sumner

The question of when a person can submit the I-485 to apply for a green card is one of the trickier aspects of US immigration law to understand. Since October 2015, the Department of State  has published two charts for the family-based categories, and two charts for the employment-based categories. The first chart is called […]

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H-1B Premium Processing Is Suspended

August 28th, 2018
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Posted by Emily Sumner

Today, USCIS announced that they are extending the H-1B premium processing program for H-1B cap cases until at least 2/19/2019, and that they are extending the H-1B premium processing suspension for certain other types of H-1B petitions. What does this mean? Please refer to our handy chart below for insight on how much you should […]

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What to Expect When Placing a Service Request with USCIS

August 10th, 2018
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Posted by Emily Sumner

We carefully monitor the status of the cases that we have filed with USCIS for our clients. Occasionally, if a case is not proceeding as expected or we encounter another issue that needs to be addressed by USCIS, we may find it necessary to place a Service Request. USCIS allows the following reasons for Service […]

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NTA Policy On Hold — For Now

July 31st, 2018
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Posted by Emily Sumner

Earlier this month, we wrote about two new major policy changes with US immigration: 1) a policy memo was issued that directed USCIS to issue a Notice to Appear (NTA) when a petition or application was denied, leaving the beneficiary or applicant out of status, and 2) a memo allowing USCIS officers to flat out […]

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Double Down: New Dangers of Deportation Even for Legal Immigrants- Proceed with Great Caution

July 15th, 2018
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Posted by Emily Sumner

These are difficult times in the US immigration landscape, even for foreign nationals who are in the US legally. We often hear in the news about the separation of children whose parents are seeking asylum in the US, the de-naturalization task force, or processing backlogs. We hear less in the news about the new restrictionist, […]

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How Can You Avoid an H-1B RFE: Part 2 – Duration of Project and End Client Letters

July 11th, 2018
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Posted by Emily Sumner

Yesterday we wrote about some of the common themes in H-1B RFEs these days. Today we continue that discussion with a look at some issues that affect primarily (but not exclusively) IT professionals placed at third-party clients sites. Duration of the Project/Availability of Specialty Occupation Work Unless a person is running of time in H-1B […]

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How Can You Avoid an H-1B RFE? Part 1: Specialty Occupation RFEs

July 10th, 2018
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Posted by Emily Sumner

These are tough times for US immigration, and the challenges are not just limited to the border crisis. The current administration is building an invisible wall, brick by brick, to prevent even highly educated, skilled professionals from joining the US workforce, and remaining a vital part of our economy. So it would seem the short […]

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