OCI Cardholders Now No Longer Required to Carry Old Passports for Travel to India The Indian missions in the U.S. have issued a press release stating that the requirement of carrying both old and new passports, along with the OCI card, has been done away with. Going forward, an OCI cardholder, whose OCI card bears […]

H-1B Cap Lottery for FY 2022 Completed & the NIV Travel Ban Set to Lapse on March 31, 2021 USCIS Completes Cap Lottery  On March 30, 2021, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that it had completed the lottery and had selected H-1B registrations for FY 2022. We have anecdotally learnt that several petitioners […]

Immigration Related Updates from India  India Travel Update  As India is in the midst of a second and sweeping COVID-19 wave, scheduled international commercial passenger services remain closed. However, international scheduled flights are permitted on select routes on a case-by-case basis. India has established “air transport bubble” arrangements with certain countries (such as the U.S., […]

USCIS Extends Flexibility to Respond to Certain Notices as the Pandemic Continues The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) further extends flexibility regarding delays in responding to the following documents if the date of issue listed on the request, notice, or decision is between March 1, 2020, and June 30, 2021, inclusive. Requests for Evidence […]

DOL Delays the Wage Rule and DOS Expands Interview-Waiver Eligibility    Delay of the effective date and transition period of the Wage Rule  The Department of Labor (DOL) will propose a regulation to further delay the Wage Rule that will significantly increase wage levels for H-1B and certain other workers as well as PERM applicants. Under […]

Petitioners Can Now Challenge Certain USCIS’ Decisions Based on Rescinded Memos  The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced this week that it may reopen and/or reconsider adverse decisions regarding H-1B petitions that were based on three rescinded policy memos.  These three rescinded policy memos are: (i) Determining Employer-Employee Relationship for Adjudication of H-1B Petitions […]

Trump’s Public Charge Rule Invalidated  The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), through its guidance on March 10, 2021, confirmed that visa applicants no longer need to provide documentation required under the Department of Homeland Security’s 2019 Public Charge Rule (“DHS 2019 PCR”).  As a result, USCIS’ 1999 field guidance on public charge admissibility, which […]

Privileges Under India’s OCI Scheme Curtailed The Indian Government drastically curtails the privileges granted to Overseas Citizens of India (OCI) cardholders in India. This has come in the wake of several instances where OCI cardholders have approached the courts to exercise their privileges, especially with regard to admission into institutes of higher education, research and […]