Mark A Ivener, A Law Corporation

Category: DOS


State Dept.’s NVC Is Now Handling All Domestic Visa Inquiries

The Department of State’s Visa Office has established one point of contact for all domestic inquiries regarding nonimmigrant and immigrant visa cases. The National Visa Center (NVC) has begun handling all domestic email and telephone inquiries from the public on nonimmigrant and immigrant visa cases as of January 12, 2015. See original notice.

State Dept. Releases Instructions on Applying for DV-2016 Program

On September 24, 2014, the Department of State (DOS) released instructions on how to apply for the diversity visa (DV) 2016 program. Entries for the DV-2016 DV program must be submitted electronically at http://www.dvlottery.state.gov by noon EST (GMT-5), Monday, November 3, 2014. The agency warned: “Do not wait until the last week of the registration… Read More

China EB-5 Category Unavailable Through September; Current in October

The Department of State’s Visa Office announced that the China employment-based fifth (EB-5) category became unavailable on August 23, 2014, and will remain unavailable for the remainder of fiscal year 2014. The category will again become current on October 1, 2014. The Department noted that all China EB-5 applicants who have been scheduled for an… Read More

DOS Announces Major Developments in Availability of China EB-5 Visa Numbers

At an immigration law conference sponsored by the American Immigration Lawyers Association on August 23, 2014, Charles Oppenheim of the U.S. Department of State (DOS) announced that effective immediately, the employment-based fifth preference category (EB-5) is “unavailable” for investors born in China. Visa numbers will become available again when the new federal fiscal year starts… Read More

DOS Changes Fees for Visa and Citizenship Services

Effective September 6, 2014, the Department of State is amending the Schedule of Fees for Consular Services for certain nonimmigrant visa application processing fees, certain immigrant visa application processing and special visa services fees, and certain citizenship services fees.  Included are two categories of petition-based nonimmigrant visas and the tiered application processing fees for immigrant… Read More