Nov 22 2011 / H-1B Cap Count

On November 22 2011 USCIS received a sufficient number of petitions to reach the statutory cap (65,000) for FY 2012. The advanced degree cap of 20.000 had been reached on October 19, 2011. Petitions subject to the FY2013 cap can be submitted from April 1, 2012 with a start date no earlier than October 1, 2012.

Nov 05 2011 / Green card lottery (DV-2013)

The registration period for the green card lottery (DV-2013) ended on November 5th. After May 1, 2012 entrants can check the results of their entry on the State Department website (http://www.dvlottery.state.gov).

Oct 17 2011 / Updated visa fees at US consulate

The US consulate in Amsterdam has changed the visa fees for different types of visa applications. The update is a result of a change in the euro/dollar exchange rate, and applies to all Euro countries. More information on the new fees on the website of the consulate.

Nov 23 2010 / New USCIS fees

USCIS's new fee schedule goes into effect Nov. 23, 2010. Applications or petitions postmarked or otherwise filed on or after this date must include the new fee, or they will be rejected. The new fee schedule increases application and petition fees by an average of about 10 percent but does not increase the naturalization application fee.

Nov 1 2010 / DS-160 Application form updated

The connectivity issues with the DS-160 have for a large part been resolved by a recent update to the DS-160 application form. The application will now be automatically saved with an unique Application ID. For more information see: https://ceac.state.gov/genniv/

Oct 7 2010 / USCIS implements Public Law 111-230

PL 111-230 requires the submission of an additional fee for certain H-1B, L1-A and L-1B petitions. The additional fee applies to H-1 or L-1 petitioners that employ 50 or more employees in the United States with more than 50 percent of their employees in the United States in H-1B, L-1A or L-1B nonimmigrant status. Please contact us for more information on this law.