If a U.S. lawful permanent resident (LPR) stays outside the United States for over a year without a re-entry permit, then s/he is considered to have abandoned the status as LPR and needs a “Returning Resident (SB-1) visa” to return to the United States. LPRs need to primarily live and be domiciled in the United…

Presidential Proclamation (P.P.) 10014 which suspended entry of certain immigrant visa applicants was rescinded by President Biden on February 24, 2021. This means that there is no longer any restriction on issuance of immigrant visas. Accordingly, the U.S. Consulate in Mumbai and the Embassy in Delhi, which process all immigrant visas in India have started…

U.S. non-immigrant visa applicants in India are eligible to renew their visa using the drop-box facility if certain conditions are met. One of the conditions is that the applicant should not have a visa cancelled or revoked previously. If a valid visa was cancelled without prejudice with a stamp CWOP, then such applicants will not…

Several students in the United States who have experience from one of the following four companies – Integra, AZech, Wireclass and AndWill, face the imminent threat of a permanent ineligibility pursuant to fraud/ misrepresentation under the Immigration and Nationality Act, INA 212(a)(6)(c)(i).  Some U.S. visa applicants who obtained an experience letter from one of the…

The U.S. Embassy in India has tweeted that they will resume limited processing of all categories of U.S. visas from Feb 1, 2021. Following this we noticed that interview dates were available both in New Delhi and Mumbai.  It is important to remember that applicants who are subject to the Presidential Proclamation P.P. 10052 should…

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has released a notification requiring all Air Passengers entering the United States to carry a Negative COVID19 test. This test needs to be taken at a center approved or authorized by the relevant national authority and should have been taken with in the last 72 hours of…

We reported that the visa appointments we see in India for February and March 2021 are only placeholder appointments. These were created to facilitate an applicant to request an emergency appointment. We reported that unless the consular services resume regular operations, one should expect these appointments to be cancelled. We have noticed that this has already started…

The U.S. Department of State has on December 29, 2020 temporarily extended the eligibility for Interview Waivers to protect people during the Covid-19 pandemic. Originally, certain nonimmigrant visa applicants were eligible for interview waiver if the previous visa in the same category held by the applicant expired within the last 12 months. This was temporarily…

President Trump has extended the visa restrictions imposed by his Administration’s April 22, 2020 and the June 22, 2020, proclamation that prohibits the admission of certain nonimmigrants on H1B, L1 and certain non-immigration status. The restrictions have been extended until March 31, 2021. This means that H-1B or L1 visa applicants who were scheduled for…

The U.S. Department of State (DOS), in a recent notification has indicated that the validity of the Machine Readable Visa (MRV) fee has been extended until September 22, 2022. It may be noted that usually the MRV fee is valid for a duration of one year from the date of payment. Earlier, validity of the…