Latest Blog Posts

USCIS announced that it has completed the 3rd Random Lottery Selection for H1B 2022 season. First Lottery Selection – March 30, 2021 Second Lottery Selection – July 29, 2021 Third Lottery Selection – Nov 19, 2021 Here’s the actual USCIS Press Release about the 3rd H1B lottery. I’m sure everyone wants to know how many … Read more

Are you looking to get your Receipt number for a petition sent to USCIS? You can use Emma Chat from USCIS to bring your receipt number. If you want to check if you have been assigned a receipt no please follow these steps Go to the USCIS website and chat with Emma (robot) Type “live … Read more

In March 2021 American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA), Wasden Banias, and other Attorney’s filed a lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to fix the lengthy processing time for H-4 EAD and L-2 EAD. Now, the lawsuit is settled. According to the Lawsuit, in the future (after USCIS implements): L-2 Visa holders are not required … Read more

Following H1B stamping experience was shared by Shahrukh from F1 Visa Facebook Group. Here’s my first Time H1B stamping experience in US Consulate in Toronto, Canada (Indian Passport holder with Canada Visitor Visa). First of all, you do not need two separate appointments in Canada for biometric and interviews. Your biometric and interview happen at … Read more

If someone on H-4 Visa have filed for extension of stay or change of status, USCIS requies biometrics via Application Support Center. Due to delays with COVID-19 pandemic, USCIS is suspending bimetrics effective May 17, 2021. Here’s the official news from USCIS: Effective May 17, 2021, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services will temporarily suspend the … Read more

Looks like USCIS completed the H1B Visa Lottery on March 26, 2021 and sent the notification on March 27, 2021. Did you apply for H1B Visa 2022 lottery? Check with your Attorney or Employer and see if they received the notifications. If the same trend were to hold from the last year, you should be … Read more

Did your H1B petitions get selected in the H1B Visa lottery in the past and later H1B Visa application was denied during processing? USCIS announced today (March 12, 2021) that they may reconsider such denied petitions if the denials were due to three rescinded policy memos. What are those three memo’s? Determining Employer-Employee Relationship for … Read more

USCIS announces three major benefits (they call it flexibilities) due to delay in issuance of receipt notices for form I-765 form. USCIS will approve OPT for request duration from the date or approval Applicants who received EAD for less than 12 months validity can request a corrected EAD Applicants can refile rejected OPT applications before … Read more

H1B Visa 2021 = Registration Opened on March 1, 2020 and Season starts from Oct 1, 2020. You probably know USCIS conducted a 2nd round of H1B Visa Lottery Selection. Here’s the number of H1B visa petitions selected in the Lottery in Round 1 and Round 2. Round 1 – 106,100 Round 2 – 18,315 … Read more

I would like to share my recent H1B and H4 Dropbox stamping experience: I travelled to India from Chicago ORD to Vijayawada,IN. February 6th was my flight to Delhi and arrived Delhi Sunday 7th 10PM IST February 8th 10am was my Dropbox appointment at Delhi embassy After completing the Dropbox appointment, I came back to … Read more

USCIS announced H1B Lottery Registration Dates. The dates are delayed by 9 days when compared to last year’s registration dates. H1B Visa Registration Dates: Opens – March 9, 12 PM EST Closes: March 25, 12 PM EST Results: By March 31, 2021 Note – Last year, the H1B Visa Registration windows was open between March … Read more

I have written a lot about this issue – Missing Surname in the Indian Passport and the impact of FNU on your Visa. Vasalath wrote the following guide as a post in the Facebook group. I have cleaned it up to be published as a blog post. Is your surname field on Indian Passport Blank? … Read more

H1B Visa applicants have been waiting to know if USCIS will implement Wage Based H-1B Visa Lottery for FY2022 (Application window opens on March 2021). USCIS confirmed today that Wage Based H-1B Selection is delayed until Dec 31, 2021. The background Jan 7, 2021 – USCIS announced New-Wage Level based cap allocation. Jan 20, 2021 … Read more

Follow this post about H1B Visa Interview Experiences in February 2021. H1B Interview Experience: US Consulate Mumbai H1B Visa approved: June 16, 2020 Received notice: I-797A (COS) Appointment: Booked on Sept 30, 2020 Interview Date: March 1, 2021 Travel: Left USA on Nov 2, 2020 (that is why I am exempted from PP 10052) Appointment … Read more

You may remember how this rule increased the Wage Level by close to 40% overnight for H1B and PERM process? Intermediate Rule went into effect on Oct 8th, 2020. Later Federal Judge blocked this rule on Dec 1, 2020. The same rule was published into Federal Register on Jan 14, 2021, with an effective date … Read more

Looks like a lot of folks (in comparison) to 2020 are attending H1B Visa interviews who are who are exempt from Presidential Proclamation. 1. First Time H1B Stamping Experience Got Approval: 24th February 2020 Booked appointments: 31st December around 3:00 pm. OFC Appointment: 25th January Interview appointment: 29th January I traveled to India from the … Read more

Hey Everyone,Here’s is my F1 Visa Experience that was approved on Jan 2021 in US Consulate Hyderabad, India. F1 Interview: First Attempt – Hyderabad FIRST ATTEMPT- Hyderabad 30-Dec-2020 @ 9:45 am Status: Refused (214b) CO (American) Male around 28-30yrs! He takes long interview (20-25mts) for all the applicants facing him, he will be calmly and … Read more

Following H1B and H4 Visa interview experience was shared by Bala. I was eligible for Emergency appointments (EA) through the urgent business need category. I applied for EA on Dec 27th and got approval by Jan 5th. Got a deadline to book by Jan 8th. Biometrics: Jan 27 Interview: Jan 28 Location: Chennai H1B and … Read more

You can find multiple Indian Passport Renewal Experience via VFS. Indian Passport Renewal Atlanta – Normal Processing I recently renewed Indian Passport through VFG Passport Renewal at Indian Consulate General – Atlanta under the Normal category. Here’s my timeline: Jan 18: Mailed the documents to VFS Jan 19 VFS received the documents Jan 20: Received … Read more

Following H1B Visa interview was shared by Premchand. VAC Location: Chennai Consulate, Nungambakam. Date & Time: 24/01/2021 at 1PM Consular Location: Delhi consulate, Chanakya Puri. Date & Time: 27/01/2021 at 11AM My Quick Background: MS in US, May 2017 Passed out. I started working in August 2017 under OPT. Filed H1-B Lottery in March 2018 … Read more