Mark A Ivener, A Law Corporation

Category: Visas


State Dept. Transitions to Online Immigrant Visa Application

The Department of State is transitioning to an online immigrant visa application, effective September 3, 2013. The new online forms replace the paper DS-230 and DS-3032. Only Diversity Visa and Cuban Family Reunification Parole applicants will continue to use the paper forms. Immigrant visa applicants will now apply online using Form DS-260 (Application for Immigrant… Read More

India Second Preference Visa Cut-Off Date Advances; Significant New India Demand Expected in Coming Months

The India second preference cut-off date has advanced by more than three years, to January 1, 2008. In July, it stood at September 1, 2004. The Department of State’s Visa Bulletin for August 2013 notes that the advance is in an effort to fully use the numbers available under the overall employment second preference annual… Read More

DOL Releases New Version of Application for Prevailing Wage Determination

The Department of Labor (DOL) has released a new version of Form 9131, Application for Prevailing Wage Determination (PDF). The revised version of Form 9141 was implemented on the iCERT Portal on June 18, 2013. The DOL made minor changes “to clarify information needed for more efficient application processing.” Requests submitted before June 18 using… Read More

Employment-Based Third Preference Visa Numbers Advance Significantly

The employment-based third preference category cut-off date for most countries advanced significantly for the second month in a row, as reflected in the June 2013 Visa Bulletin.  The Department of State’s Visa Office said this recent rate of movement is not expected to continue in the future. Rapid forward movement of cut-off dates is often… Read More

SSA Adds Admission Stamp in Unexpired Foreign Passport To List of Primary Evidence of Identity, Updates Policy on New Types of Nonimmigrant Evidence

The Social Security Administration has updated its Program Operations Manual System (POMS), effective April 30, 2013, adding “admission stamp in unexpired foreign passport” to its list of acceptable primary evidence of identity. The updated SSA information, “List of Documents in Priority of Acceptability for Use as Evidence of Identity,” says that this is considered a… Read More