It has been reported that the Indian government is working on a revised visa application form to capture a foreign applicant’s criminal history including cases of child abuse, and so on.  The Minister of State for Home Affairs, Mr. Kiren Rijiju has been reported to have said that in the existing visa application forms, there […]

This year, per the USCIS’s report, the government received 3,36,000 H-1B petitions (both new petitions and extensions) and approved 1,97,129 as of June 30, 2017.  One of biggest users of the H-1Bs – technology outsourcing companies – are seeking lesser number of H-1B visas compared to the past few years, as is evident from the […]

President Trump endorsed a new bill – the ‘Reforming American Immigration for Strong Employment (Raise) Act’ – aimed at cutting back legal immigration by 50% over a decade. The Bill, sponsored by Republican Senators Tom Cotton and David Purdue,   introduces a points-based system for adjudicating green card applications.  The proposed legislation creates a “merit-based” immigration […]

The Indian government in March 2017, added a new visa category – the Intern Visa.  The Intern Visa is available to foreign nationals desiring to pursue internships with an educational institution, company or NGO in India.  Recently, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) published detailed guidelines and criteria in relation to the issuance of the […]

The Supreme Court of India, on August 22, 2017, struck down the Islamic practice of ‘triple talaq’ as being violative of the Indian Constitution, directing law makers to enact a new legislation.  The apex court has put a six month ban on this practice. The triple talaq practice allows Muslim men to divorce their wives simply by saying the […]

The US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has announced that effective October 1, 2017, applicants of employment based green cards will be required to attend an in-person interview during the I-485 (adjustment of status) stage of the green card process.  The adjustment of status application is the final stage of the green card (permanent residence) process where […]

On September 5, 2017, the Trump administration announced that it will end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program after six months – on March 5, 2018.  The six-month period is intended to give the Congress time to come up with legislation to provide a solution for the 800,000 foreigners living in America who […]

Top 100 Powerful Women in Law

The U.S. Department of State, in August 2017, made revisions to the Foreign Affairs Manual (FAM) pursuant to President Trump’s “Buy American Hire American” Executive Order (EO) of April 2017.    The FAM provides policy and procedure guidance to consular officers adjudicating U.S. visa applications worldwide.  These recent revisions to FAM pertain to certain non-immigrant […]

With the Deferred Action for Children Arrivals (DACA) program being wound down by March 2018, the U.S. Congress is under increased pressure to pass federal legislations to safeguard the interests of DACA recipients– the DREAMers – who could be subject to deportation upon expiration of their DACA benefits.  Under DACA, certain DREAMers who were brought […]