On April 15, 2015, the federal district court in the Northern District of Florida issued an order effectively permitting the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) to continue issuing temporary labor certifications under the H-2B visa program through May 15, 2015. As a result, DOL will continue to process temporary labor certification applications under its 2008 H-2B regulations through May 15, 2015.
Radio show April 28, 2015:
Question1: My spouse is on H-1 visa and his former employer filed I-140 and then my spouse changed his employment to another employer and transferred his H-1, the I-140 has not been revoked by former employer. So my H-4 is with the former employer valid for three years, and current employer for my spouse has not filed H-1 for me. Is the H-4 from the former employer valid for file EAD or do I have to apply for H-4 again and what would be the documents that would I need to file H-4 EAD ?
Answer: Every time the H-1 holder changes job, the H-4 holder does not need to re -apply for H-4. Your H-4 is good. You don't have to have different H-4 for the employer. Of course, every time the H-1 holders change their job they have apply for new H-1 but as long as you never violated status and H-1 holder has never violated status that H-4 continued to be good from job to job to job, you are good.
Your second question was what document need to file H-4 EAD?
Answer is we don't know yet. When the instructions for the new form I- 765 come out along with the form I-765 they will tell you exactly what you need to submit . I suspect probably marriage certificate along with evidence of couple of last pay stubs of your husband's, copy of H-1 receipt and a copy of your H-4 receipt or approval or visa stamped. That typically they should be looking for. But I don't have any basis for saying, this is just my guess.
Question 2: I got my H-1B petition approved last year, it got extended as well. I have never used any of these visas to work in the U.S. though I have travelled few times to U.S. but on B-1 visa for meetings with the customers. So the question is when do I become exempt from the H-1 quota?
Answer : In your situation when you are outside the USA, you become exempt from the H-1 quota when you get your visa stamped. So I think USCIS interpretation of law is faulty and incorrect, because in my view as soon as H-1 is approved you should be exempt from the quota but USCIS has taken the position that unless you get the visa stamped from the consulate we will not consider you exempt if you are outside the USA. So it appears to me that you should be exempt from the quota.
Question 3. I just got my citizenship and now wants to apply for my younger sister, who is alone in India. I lost my parents few years back so she is all alone but she is above 18. Is there any way I as a brother and only relationship here in United States apply for her Green card in such a manner that she can be here in United States as soon as possible.
Answer: Siblings Green Card is like planting mango trees, in India we used to have saying that mango trees takes so long to bring fruit that one generation plants the tree and the second generation eats the mangoes. It's kind of that for sibling cases, it takes 13 years for the Green Card to come through and there is no way we can expedite that Green Card. However leaving the option of Green Card filing you could look at the things like sponsoring her for her student visa if she wants to study or if she is an professional or intent to be professional soon she can come on H-1 or L-1 visa, like other people do. f you have money you can gift her half a million or million dollar depending upon what kind of money you have that you can invest in her. So Investment visa could be an option but there is no way you can expedite sibling green Card.
FAQ: H-4 EAD filing while H-1 extension is pending; H-4 EAD. Converting from H-1 to H-4 EAD - good idea or not? H-4 EAD. Documents needed; name issues; processing times, etc.; H-4 EAD Expediting Possible?
Other Topics: Green card issues because of diseases; H-1 amendment with change of location; when is a degree considered to be completed;
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Processing Queue |
Request Date |
Status* |
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H-1B H-2B |
September - 2014 October - 2014 |
Current Current |
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PERM |
August - 2014 |
Current |
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Submission Date |
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Published by: The South China Morning Post -23 September, 2025
Quotes and Excerpts from Rajiv in the article:
“The imposition of a US$100,000 fee on H-1B visas represents an unprecedented shift in US immigration policy,” said Rajiv Khanna, a US lawyer providing immigration advisory services to global clients.
Release Date
10/20/2025
On September 19, 2025, the President issued a Proclamation, Restriction on Entry of Certain Nonimmigrant Workers, an important initial step to reform the H-1B nonimmigrant visa program. Under the Proclamation, new H-1B petitions filed at or after 12:01 a.m. eastern daylight time on September 21, 2025 must be accompanied by an additional $100,000 payment as a condition of eligibility.
Published by: The Times of India - October 21, 2025
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/us/uscis-exempts-f-1-to-h-1b-…
Quotes and Excerpts from Rajiv in the article:
Published by: Newsweek - October 30, 2025
Quotes and Excerpts from Rajiv in the article:
Rajiv S. Khanna, managing attorney at Immigration.com, said: “Status determinations are often complex and sometimes arbitrary. Months later, USCIS can find a status violation that was not anticipated, resulting in a $100,000 bill!”
Release Date
12/04/2025
Maximum validity periods of some Employment Authorization Documents will be reduced
WASHINGTON – U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services updated its Policy Manual to reduce the maximum validity period for Employment Authorization Documents (EAD) for certain categories of aliens. This update also incorporates changes to EAD validity periods made by recent legislation to ensure proper vetting and screening of aliens.
Last Updated: December 3, 2025
As of December 15, the Department will expand the requirement that an online presence review be conducted for all H-1B applicants and their dependents, in addition to the students and exchange visitors already subject to this review. To facilitate this vetting, all applicants for H-1B and their dependents (H-4), F, M, and J nonimmigrant visas are instructed to adjust the privacy settings on all of their social media profiles to “public.”
Published by: The Times of India - December 04, 2025
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/us/us-to-scan-social-media-of…
Quotes and Excerpts from Rajiv in the article:
Rajiv S. Khanna, managing attorney at Immigration.com expressed dismay that a country which professes to be a shining beacon of free speech does not appreciate it.
Release Date
12/22/2025
Under the leadership of Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem and USCIS Director Joseph Edlow, the agency has enhanced immigration screening and vetting protocols to protect communities and national security and has advanced immigration policies that put the national interest first.
Published by: The Indian Express - November 02 , 2025
https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/automatic-ead-extensions-us-work-impact-immigrants-indian-10341486/
Quotes and Excerpts from Rajiv in the article:
Published by MSN news - December 25, 2025
https://www.msn.com/en-in/news/world/us-visa-holders-face-new-uncertain…
Quotes and Excerpts from Rajiv in the article:
Published by: The Times of India - December 25, 2025
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/us/us-visa-holders-face-new-uncertainty-as-prudential-revocations-spike-anxiety-looms-large-across-indian-diaspora/articleshow/126175668.cms
Quotes and Excerpts from Rajiv in the article:
Published by: Salon - December 20, 2025
https://www.salon.com/2025/12/20/new-vetting-rules-slow-h-1b-visa-processing-leaving-workers-in-limbo/
Quotes and Excerpts from Rajiv in the article:
Published by: The Times of India - December 12, 2025
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/mass-visa-chaos-h-1b-families-stranded-in-india-for-months-after-us-consulates-cancel-interviews/articleshow/125910898.cms#
Quotes and Excerpts from Rajiv in the article:
Release Date
12/23/2025
WASHINGTON – The Department of Homeland Security is amending regulations governing the H-1B work visa selection process to prioritize the allocation of visas to higher-skilled and higher-paid aliens to better protect the wages, working conditions, and job opportunities for American workers. The new rule replaces the random lottery for selecting visa recipients with a process that gives greater weight to those with higher skills.
Published by: MSN news - December 12, 2025
Published by: CNBC TV 18 - April 12, 2025
https://www.cnbctv18.com/education/trump-administration-disbands-immigr…
Quotes and Excerpts from Rajiv in the article:
Published by: Financial Express - January 8, 2026
https://www.financialexpress.com/business/investing-abroad-my-h-1b-approved-but-stuck-in-a-34-month-queue-attorney-shares-legal-fixes-for-missing-form-i-824-4100306/
Quotes and Excerpts from Rajiv in the article:
Although precise dates and processes for this year are not yet clear, we recommend planning and initiating the H-1B lottery registration now to ensure it is ready to submit when registrations open in March 2026.