On July 29th, 2023, the US Embassy updated that they are changing the appointment booking system from www.portal.ustraveldocs.com to www.usvisascheduling.com. This is a big change as the old system will not work anymore.

The State Department has provided guidance on navigating the new system.  We hope you find this useful.

For registering on the website:  User details – Self Asserted (b2clogin.com)

Can I use the same login credentials from U.S. Traveldocs on the new U.S. Visa Scheduling system?

No, a new account and profile will need to be registered on the new platform, also the login credentials used for U.S. Traveldocs will not be valid on U.S. Visa Scheduling. If you have created a profile and paid the visa fee on the old system, but have not yet scheduled the appointment, you will need to create a new account on U.S. Visa Scheduling to proceed with appointment scheduling.

Do I need to repay the visa fee when I create a new profile on U.S. Visa Scheduling?

No, if you paid the MRV fee already in the old system (prior to July 15, 2023 for consulates in India), you can enter the payment receipt number into the new system when creating your profile in order to associate the payment with your new account.

What if I am unable to see my previously scheduled appointment or MRV fee payment in the new profile?

DOS has been working on migrating all scheduled appointments and paid fees from U.S. Traveldocs to the new system, but is aware of reports that this is not always happening. If you scheduled an appointment or paid fees in the U.S. Traveldocs system, and do not see them in your new U.S. Visa Scheduling profile, you should contact the consulate’s support e-mail ID (for India, this is support-india@usvisascheduling.com) and request the migration of your appointment details to the new system. If this is not successful, then applicants can try the Navigator function on the embassy’s website.

The State Department has advised that applicants should not repay the visa fee if they have already done so in the old system, as the 2^nd fee will not be refunded. Instead, they should request use of the support e-mail or Navigator function as described above.

What type of payment can be used for MRV fees on the U.S. Visa Scheduling system?

For consulates in India, the new system accepts only Indian credit or debit cards for MRV fee payment, unlike the U.S. Traveldocs system. Payments in the new system must be made with an Indian card, although prior payments made with previously-accepted forms of payment may still be migrated to the new system, as described above.

What is the Petition Request Number? Is it different from the Receipt Number?

No, it is the same. The Indian booking system has separate fields for “Petition Request Number” and “Petition Receipt Number;” however, they are both referring to the receipt number, and the “Request Number” field appears to have been added in error. The State Department is working on removing the extra field, but until it has done so, applicants can enter the same receipt number in both fields.

What do I list as the time for the petition start and end dates?

The addition of hour and minute fields to the petition start and end dates also appears to be a programming error, and will be removed. In the meantime, applicants can enter 12:01am for the start date time, and 11:59pm for the end date time.

Will I still receive a notification when my passport is ready for pickup?

Yes, similar to the previous system, applicants should receive an e-mail and text notification from the application support center when their passport with the issued visa is ready to be collected. For applicants at consulates in India, passports may also be tracked online here.

Stakeholders are outraged by the most recent development with the so-called streamlining of the allocation of immigrant visas that are published monthly in the Department of State’s (DOS) Visa Bulletin.

Unless otherwise indicated on the USCIS website at www.uscis.gov/visabulletininfo,
individuals seeking to file applications for adjustment of status with USCIS in the Department of Homeland Security must use the “Application Final Action Dates” charts in the Visa Bulletin for determining when they can file such applications. When USCIS determines that there are more immigrant visas available for the fiscal year than there are known applicants for such visas, USCIS will state on its website that applicants may instead use the “Dates for Filing Visa Applications” charts in the Bulletin.  The USCIS website statement is supposed to be posted within one week of the Visa Bulletin publish date.

Applicants for adjustment of status may refer to USCIS for additional information by visiting www.uscis.gov/visabulletininfo.  USCIS has indicated on their website (above link) that that you may use the Dates for Filing Visa Applications chart for the corrected October 2015 and November 2015 Visa Bulletins.

Something has absolutely got to change here.  This has reached a level of complete and utter absurdity.

Refer here for November filing date information.

For background information on this issue, refer here

If you Previously had an H-1B for Less than 6 Years

Pursuant to § 212(g)7) of the The Act, if you had an H-1B in the past and were in the USA for less than 6 years, you may be eligible to recoup the time that is remaining on the 6-year maximum period of stay to accept employment with a new employer – without being counted against the cap.  An example of this would be someone who works for 3 years in H-1B classification and decides to go back to school on an F-1 student visa.  This individual would be eligible to apply for an H-1B for the remaining 3 years at any time of the year.

If you are abroad for at least one year, you have the choice to either apply for a “new” cap H-1B  for a full 6-year period, or take advantage of the remainder option if you previously had an H-1B.

H-1B 7^th Year Extensions – How This Works

If you are the beneficiary of a labor certification or an I-140 petition that was filed 1 year prior to your 6^th year in H-1B status, pursuant to §106 of AC21, you are permitted to file for a 7^th year extension.  You are also permitted, according to §104(c) of AC21, to apply for a 3-year extension of your H-1B when you have an approved I-140 petition and are unable to move forward with filing your permanent residency case due to employment-based immigrant visa country limits (referred to as retrogression).

If you are in the US and out of status due to a layoff, or are abroad, you are entitled to a 7^th year extension of your H-1B if your labor certification or I-140 petition was filed before your 6^th year in H-1B status with either the sponsoring employer, or with a new employer.  You will more than likely be required to consular process your case in these scenarios.

It is recommended that you seek the advice of a skilled immigration professional with the above cases as they are complex in nature.

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Infosys is India’s second largest software exporter, and has about 30,000 workers in the U.S. (160,000 worldwide) with $6B in sales.

After years of investigation, it was found that Infosys “knowingly and unlawfully” brought Indian workers into the United States on B-1 business visitor visas( since 2008), to circumvent  the higher costs and delays of a longer-term employment-related visa, such as the H-1B visa that the workers should have had.  It was found that Infosys systematically submitted misleading information to US immigration authorities and consular officials to obtain the B-1 visas that do not permit employment, unfairly gaining a competitive edge and undercutting American workers qualified for the jobs

Press release states: “Infosys failed to maintain I-9 records for many of its foreign nationals in the United States in 2010 and 2011 as required by law, including a widespread failure to update and re-verify the employment authorization status of a large percentage of its foreign national employees…more than 80 percent of Infosys’s I-9 forms for 2010 and 2011 contained substantive violations.”

The largest fine of its kind, was paid out as follows: $5 million to Homeland Security Investigations, $5 million to the Department of State, and $24 million to the DOJ.

How can employers protect themselves?

The five federal agencies charged with workplace enforcement are not only going after businesses that are known to employ undocumented workers, but they are also making examples out of industry leaders across the country creating headline news. It goes without saying, that this is now a topic that should be on HR executives’ action list.  Turning a blind eye can be exceedingly costly and cause great damage to a company’s reputation.

For more on this Story:  CBS Reports   NY Times

For more on our services and solutions

This new process allows certain immediate relatives of US citizens who are physically present in the USA and are seeking permanent residence, to apply for and receive provisional unlawful presence waivers BEFORE departing the US for consular processing of their immigrant visa applications abroad.

The benefit of this is that it will reduce the time that U.S. citizens are separated from their immediate relatives while those family members go through the consular process overseas to obtain an immigrant visa. Immediate relatives of U.S. citizens who would need a waiver of unlawful presence in order to obtain an immigrant visa could file a new Form I-601A, Application for Provisional Unlawful Presence Waiver, before leaving the United States to obtain an immigrant visa at a U.S. Embassy or Consulate abroad. All individuals eligible for this streamlined process are still required to depart the United States and must meet all legal requirements for issuance of an immigrant visa and admission to the United States.

An individual may seek a provisional unlawful presence waiver if he or she:

• Is physically present in the United States;
• Is at least 17 years of age;
• Is the beneficiary of an approved immigrant visa petition (I-130) classifying him or her as an immediate relative of a U.S. citizen;
• Is actively pursuing the immigrant visa process and has already paid the Department of State immigrant visa processing fee;
• Is not subject to any other grounds of inadmissibility other than unlawful presence; and
• Can demonstrate that the refusal of admission would result in extreme hardship to a U.S. citizen spouse or parent.

An immediate relative would not be eligible for the proposed process if he or she:

• Has an application already pending with USCIS for adjustment of status to lawful permanent resident;
• Is subject to a final order of removal or reinstatement of a prior removal order;
• May be found inadmissible at the time of the consular interview for reasons other than unlawful presence; or
• Has already been scheduled for an immigrant visa interview at a U.S. Embassy or Consulate abroad.

Allowing immediate relatives of U.S. citizens to receive provisional waivers in the United States before departure for their immigrant visa interview at a U.S. Embassy or Consulate means that:

• Immigrant visa processing times will improve because of greater capacity in the United States and fewer case transfers between USCIS and the Department of State;
• Immigrant visas will be issued without unnecessary delay (if the individual is otherwise eligible); and
• The period of separation and hardship many U.S. citizens would face due to prolonged separation from their family members will be minimized.

For additional information,we link to the I-601A Questions and Answers document.

Should you wish to become a client of our office, please contact us.

Mexico City, June 29, 2012 (as reported on ILW.com)  – Following President Obama’s efforts to promote travel and tourism as important contributions to job creation and economic growth, the U.S. Embassy is pleased to announce that beginning July 1, 2012, an expanded visa renewal program  will allow many more Mexican citizens and residents to renew their nonimmigrant visas without a follow-up interview at the Embassy or a U.S. Consulate.

Currently, most visas that have been expired for 12 months or less may be renewed after the applicant’s appointment at the Applicant Service Center (ASC), in other words, without a second appointment/interview at the U.S. Embassy or Consulate. Under the new program, you can apply for a renewal of your visa if your current visa has expired within 48 months or less of your renewal application.

This expanded interview waiver program will make the visa process even more convenient and improve visa processing times, strengthening ties through travel and trade between the United States and Mexico. Tens of thousands of Mexican travelers should benefit from this expanded program, saving time and money, and allowing more convenient travel to the United States for business and tourism.

Additional details and qualification requirements for the new interview waiver program can be found on the websites of the U.S. Embassy and each U.S Consulate in Mexico, as indicated above. Contact our office should you have any questions regarding the new procedure at info@immigrationcompliancegroup.com or call 562 612.3996.

It has been reported to the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) by a senior Department of State official that immigrant visas for EB-2 India and mainland China were exhausted for this fiscal year as of April 11th. USCIS will continue to accept EB-2 India/China adjustment of status applications based on the priority date cut-offs in both the April and May 2012 Visa Bulletins, but the cases will be on hold until the start of the new 2013 fiscal year as of 10/1/2012 when quotas open up again.  We link to the Visa Bulletins for April and May.

According to the Visa Bulletins, EB-2 India /China applicants with priority dates earlier than May 1, 2010 can continue to file adjustment of status applications with USCIS through April 30, 2012. Those with priority dates earlier than August 15, 2007 can continue to file through May 31, 2012.

Our March 2011 news is now available.  You can access our Immigration News here and our I-9 Compliance Newsletter here.  Should you wish to discuss your immigration case with us, we can be contacted at info@immigrationsolution.net or by phone at 562 612.3996.

We have a volume of free information on our websites that includes newsletters, news flashes, podcasts, blog, and articles.  Please feel free to sign up on our website:  www.immigrationsolution.net to receive our information through email or iTUNES.

In a November 18th Press Release the Ambassador announced a more convenient visa application processes, effective immediately, and that the  U.S. Embassy in New Delhi and Consulates General in Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata and Hyderabad will now accept visa applications from across India at all visa facilities, regardless of the applicant’s home address or city of residence. This is part of
Mission India’s ongoing effort to facilitate legitimate travel to the United States.

Following the opening of Consulate General Hyderabad in 2008, the U.S. Mission has looked for ways to best capture
the dynamism of India’s growth across the nation.  As a result, they have  redesigned the consular districts, as follows:

Embassy Delhi: Bihar, Delhi, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bhutan;

Consulate Mumbai: Goa, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Diu and Daman, and Dadra and Nagar Haveli;

Consulate Hyderabad: Andhra Pradesh, Orissa;

Consulate Chennai: Karnataka, Kerala, Puducherry, Lakshadweep, Tamil Nadu, Andaman and Nicobar Islands;

Consulate Kolkata: Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland,
Sikkim, Tripura, West Bengal

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In today’s business climate, being prepared on the day of your interview at the US Consulate is critically important. We always recommend that you do an interview prep with an attorney on the eve prior to your in-person interview at the US consulate and that the DS-160 form has been properly reviewed and submitted. You might wish to consider the below points:

1) Be completely familiar with the information and documentation in the Petition that was approved by USCIS.
2) Be able to articulate what your US employer does in the USA
3) Make sure that the US employer is credible and has made you a bona fide job offer
4) Be able to articulate the title and job duties associated with your position
5) Be able to establish a clear link between your prior experience and future job duties
6) Must be able to answer basic questions about your profession and display a level of fundamental knowledge concerning your occupation
7) Remember, you are coming to the USA on a ‘temporary’ basis, with the intention of returning to your home country at the conclusion of your employment in the USA

Overall, focus on direct and specific answers to the questions – think, short & simple. Make eye contact with the officer and be pleasant and professional. Have your papers organized for yourself and each family member in a professional looking manner, so that if you are asked to present a specific document, you’re not scrambling to find it. Professional business attire is recommended.

Should you like to consult with our office or become a client, please contact us.

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