L-1 and H-1B visa extensions delayed at USCIS:

US Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) centers are struggling to processL-1 visa (both L-1A and L-1B visas) petition extensions and H-1B visa extension applications, resulting in severe delays. In this situation it may be advisable to pay the additional Government fee of US$1225 and use premium processing. An 'overwhelming backlog' is said to be the cause, however, USCIS has not publicly disclosed why delays have occurred and have not yet provided any explanation for the backlog.

Big UK visa fee increases from 18 March 2016

UK Immigration has announced that fees across most UK visa categories will be increased from March 18, 2016. The move is likely to affect thousands of applicants, including Indians, who are the largest group of skilled workers to be granted Tier 2 visas to live and work in Britain both in 2015 and in the past.

ne bit of good news is that the fee for companies applying for a Tier 2 sponsorship licence - which enables them to employ Tier 2 visa holders – remains unchanged at £536 for smaller businesses and £1,476 for larger businesses. Other changes, first announced on 11 January 2016 this year, represent a 2% rise across most visa fees including short-term visitor visas, plus most UK work visas such as the Tier 2 visa and study visa applications such as the Tier 4 visa.

'Increases will cut UK taxpayer contributions towards the country's border, immigration and citizenship system,' the Home Office said. By 2019-2020, UK Immigration hopes that the system is 'self-funded' by those who use it.

An excerpt from a Home Office statement reads: "These changes ensure that the Home Office can achieve a self-funding system, while continuing to provide a competitive level of service, and a fees structure that remains attractive to businesses, migrants and visitors."

Office of National Statistics on Tier 2 Visas

According to figures recently published by the Office of National Statistics [ONS], Indian nationals, as in previous years, are the largest group of skilled workers to be issued with Tier 2 visas to live and work in the UK in 2015.

Indians secured a high proportion of the 92,062 Tier 2 visas that were issued to skilled migrants last year. The ONS report stated: "Indian nationals accounted for 57% of total skilled work visas granted (52,360 of 92,062), with USA nationals the next largest nationality group (10,130 or 11%)."

Most migrants who secure a Tier 2 visa tend to apply for settlement (also known as permanent residence) after five years in the UK, but they will now be expected to pay around 25% more for a settlement application – properly knowns as Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR) application – with the fee set to rise from £1,500 to £1,875.

Key changes to UK Visa Fees

The key changes that will come into effect on 18 March 2016 will mainly affect visas which many would say benefit the UK. Those visas offered to workers such as Tier 4 visas and students such as Tier 2 visas for instance will see fees rise by 2%. A 2% increase will also be applied to UK visit visas to 'help maintain the UK's status as one of the world's top tourist destinations,' according to the Home Office.

Settlement, residence and nationality applicants will be hit by fee increases of up to 25% because the Home Office says, somewhat bizarrely, that these visa related schemes are 'the most beneficial to successful applicants.'

Optional premium services offered by the Home Office, including super-premium service and priority visa services overseas, will see fees increased by up to 33%, while family and spouse visas will soar to £1,195 and the fee for 'Adult Dependant Relatives' will jump to £2,676.

A naturalisation application which follows ILR, leading to UK citizenship, will rise to £1,236, up from the current £1,005, while a new £25 surcharge will also be applied for invalid applications. Currently, any fees paid for an invalid application are refunded.

Woman Charged With H1B Visa Fraud In US

In all cases, the accused demanded and took illegal payments from victims in exchange for purportedly filing H-1B visa applications on their behalf, federal prosecutors alleged.

NEW YORK:  A woman in the US has been arrested on charges of H-1B visa fraud for luring foreigners seeking work in the US with nonexistent jobs and charging them unnecessary visa fee.

Raina Massey, the head of Newark-based Care Worldwide (CWW), is facing charges of wire fraud, visa fraud and identity theft after she allegedly conducted a multifaceted immigration scheme from February 2012 to March 2015, federal authorities said.

She was arrested yesterday.
According to federal prosecutors, from February 2012 through March 2015, Ms Massey and others executed the fraud scheme through her company, which purported to be a clinical research company, but was actually a shell company that did little to no legitimate work of any kind.

Ms Massey and others sought out and advertised for qualified foreign professionals, purportedly to work for CWW in clinical research positions as beneficiaries of H-1B visas.

These beneficiaries became victims of the scheme because the advertised positions did not actually exist.

For one set of victims, Ms Massey engaged in "benching", a form of fraud in which she and others falsely represented that the beneficiaries would have speciality technical jobs waiting for them upon their arrival at CWW.

After taking illegal payments from these beneficiaries, Ms Massey and others then completed applications for H-1B visas for these beneficiaries. However, when the beneficiaries arrived in the United States, Ms Massey and others employed them in menial tasks, such as handing out fliers on street corners.

For a second set of victims, Ms Massey and others, after illegally taking payments from the victims, never actually applied for H-1B visas. She and others provided these victims with false and fraudulent Form I-797Cs, which contained receipt numbers from other, previously filed, H-1B visa applications.

For a third set of victims, Ms Massey and others, after illegally taking payments from the victims based on fraudulent representations regarding H-1B visas, never provided any documentation whatsoever to the victims.

In all cases, Ms Massey and others demanded and took illegal payments from victims in exchange for purportedly filing H-1B visa applications on behalf of the victims, federal prosecutors alleged.

Source: http://www.ndtv.com/world-news/woman-charged-with-h1b-visa-fraud-in-us-1287372

New US visa rules for international students

NEW YORK: The United States federal government changed rules for non-immigrant student visas on Friday, saying that international students will now be eligible to stay for three years after finishing their degrees for training potentially leading to employment.

Only students earning degrees in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields from accredited higher education institutes and employed by employers participating in E-Verify are eligible for the optional practical training (OPT) program.

The new rule is seven months longer than the previous 17 month rule and comes into effect on May 10, 2016. The extension is also meant to widen the window of time to match fresh graduates with employers looking for skilled talented workers.

Previously, students had to apply for a visa known as H-1B, given by lottery and capped at 65,000 with 20,000 reserved for those with advanced degrees.

The extension was met with a mixed response even before it was published as immigration reform and unemployment remain hot topics in the US and wage protections are just one measure the ruling includes for both international STEM OPT students and permanent American workers.

According to the new rules, “a STEM OPT student would not replace a full- or part-time, temporary or permanent US worker,” and that the salary offered would “be commensurate” to American workers.

Source: http://www.dawn.com/news/1245226