General Nonimmigrant Visa

FY 2023 H-1B Cap Initial Registration Period Opens on March 1

Release Date 

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services today announced that the initial registration period for the fiscal year 2023 H-1B cap will open at noon Eastern on March 1 and run through noon Eastern on March 18, 2022. During this period, prospective petitioners and representatives will be able to complete and submit their registrations using the online H-1B registration system.

Are you eligible to become a naturalized US citizen?

Question details

1. My Son was born in February 2020 in the USA, where my wife is on an F1 visa working on OPT. Due to the Covid19 pandemic, I couldn't meet my son for two years. Kindly suggest to me the way forward to meet my son and wife. I also tried to travel on a tourist visa and F1 Visa. Unfortunately, I got both rejections. I'm an Indian taxpayer and an IT employee. 

2. My brother is a US citizen, and he applied for our mother's green card. Everything is clear, all paperwork is done, but due to the pandemic, we are waiting for the interview date from March 2021. Do you have any information on how we get the date or how much time it will take?

3. My daughter is in Dallas, US, and under medical treatment. She is there with an IN40 visa. As a father, I want to be there during her medical urgency. How can I get a visa now to be with her in the US?

4. I am a US citizen currently in India. I am traveling back to the States in mid-February for two months and want to take my Indian-citizen senior citizen mother with me for that duration. Her last US tourist visa expired eight years ago. (She has an active Schengen visa on her passport) Is there a way she can get a short-term two-month visa to the US?

5. I stayed outside of the US for more than two years because of COVID-19. Am I eligible for naturalization? I came to the USA in August 2016.

 

*Please note that the queries have been put together and edited by the Economic Times to address similar questions at once and that the answers are clear and relevant to the audience.

1. My Son was born in February 2020 in the USA, where my wife is on an F1 visa working on OPT. Due to the Covid19 pandemic, I couldn't meet my son for two years. Kindly suggest to me the way forward to meet my son and wife. I also tried to travel on a tourist visa and F1 Visa. Unfortunately, I got both rejections. I'm an Indian taxpayer and an IT employee. 

FAQ Transcript

Note: For the NRI readers, The Economic Times has started an immigration helpdesk. A team of experts which includes Rajiv S. Khanna will address the most pressing issues. Please see the link below.

https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/nri/migrate/nri-helpdesk-who-is-eligible-to-become-a-naturalized-us- citizen/articleshow/89116038.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst

Jan 20, 2022, Free US Immigration Community Conference Call with Rajiv (Every Other Thursday)

Immigration Law

Discussion Topics, Jan 20, 2022 FAQs:
1. EB-1B for postdoctoral holder after a gap of several years in career 2. Date of birth and name corrections in birth certificate 3. COVID-19 delays in tourist/visitor extensions for B-2 holding parent and applying for their green card

USCIS Provides Clarifying Guidance on O-1 Nonimmigrants in Arts vs. Motion Picture and Television

Release Date 

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced clarifying guidance on how USCIS determines whether an O-1B beneficiary will be evaluated as a person of extraordinary ability in the arts or as a person of extraordinary achievement in the motion picture or television industry when a case has elements of both.

Dec 23, 2021 Free US Immigration Community Conference Call with Rajiv (Every Other Thursday)

Discussion Topics: FAQ: L-1B or TN visa for intracompany transfer - advantages and disadvantages || STEM-designated MBA - is it easier to get an H-1B visa?|| Parent's EB-2 approved, EB-3 downgrade pending, - will aging-out child's EAD interfere if EB-2 advances, and the best way to maintain the status of a child turning 21|| Do we have to refile PERM or I-140 0r I-485 due to corporate restructuring/successor-in-interest

Options to remain in status: F-1 visa expired, H-1B approved for consular processing, but not stamped

Question details

My son got his H-1B approved on consular processing this year which also happens to be the first year on OPT. His F-1 Visa expired in June and he is unable to travel to India for lack of slots for H-1B stamping I wish to know the following:

  1. Is there a time limit for getting the approved H-1B visa stamped?, and
  2. If for some reason he is unable to travel next year as well can he extend his stem opt to remain in status?
Video URL
FAQ Transcript

1. No.

2. Yes, because remember he has deferred his H-1B change of status by requesting consular processing

 

Note: Where transcribed from audio/video, this is a verbatim transcript of the referenced audio/video media delivered as oral communication, and, therefore, may not conform to written grammatical or syntactical form.

STEM extension denied based on approved H-1B pending for withdrawal at a USCIS service center

Question details

I am in the initial OPT which expires on November 30, 2021. My STEM extension has been denied based on an approved H-1B which has been pending for withdrawal at the Texas Service Center for the last five months. My current employer’s attorney raised the Ombudsman request on Oct 25, 2021 and I’ve taken a U.S. state senator's help to submit an inquiry on October 19, 2021. I have received no response so far from USCIS orthe online forums.  It seems it will  take 30 days to get a response at least from the Ombudsman and the case inquiry but I’m running out of time.  My previous employer's attorney is not willing to join a call with a Tier -2 officer and they're not helpful at all. My current employer is re-applying for my STEM OPT extension on November 24, 2021 with all the evidence possible but it's already past 60 days. I can't get a new I-20 because my SEVIS record is closed and they're not sure I'll get a favorable discretionary decision because my H-1B is still approved.

I am hoping the USCIS officer would show some discretion but from past experience I am afraid they will not. I am not really sure what to do here. I might end with a financial loss.  Please guide me with your suggestions.

 

Video URL
FAQ Transcript

Note: Where transcribed from audio/video, this is a verbatim transcript of the referenced audio/video media delivered as oral communication, and, therefore, may not conform to written grammatical or syntactical form.

Correcting names on passports, visas, and other documents

Question details

This question is related to getting an FNU (First Name Unknown) removed from a green card and updated with the correct first name. In my wife's passport, the last name is empty and the first and last name is combined as Given Name. So in the green card, FNU is given as her first Name and full Name as last name. We are planning to update the Indian passport with a split name correction.

I understand that we need to file an I-90 for a name change. Since this is a split name correction, do we need to get the county court certification for name update, or is just presenting the updated passport with name correction (with first and last name mentioned) enough? Is any other documentation required? 

While the name correction is being processed  with USCIS will there be any issues traveling outside the country?

 

Video URL
FAQ Transcript

Note: Where transcribed from audio/video, this is a verbatim transcript of the referenced audio/video media delivered as oral communication, and, therefore, may not conform to written grammatical or syntactical form.

Travelled to India on H-1B status, stamping done through NIE, job contract ended: What are the chances to get back to the U.S.?

Question details

My friend had traveled to India in an emergency situation in April this year. Since the consulates were closed for so long, he could get his H-1 visa stamping done by an emergency appointment last month (through NIE) only. Now, his job contract ended here. What are his chances to come back to the U.S.? - Does he need to have a job with an offer letter before traveling back to the U.S. back?

Video URL
FAQ Transcript

 Unless you have a specific job in hand, the one that has been described in the H-1B you should not come back.

 

Note: Where transcribed from audio/video, this is a verbatim transcript of the referenced audio/video media delivered as oral communication, and, therefore, may not conform to written grammatical or syntactical form.