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Approvals

E-2 Visa Approval in Toronto for Catering Company

Scott Legal P.C. just had an approval for an E-2 visa at the U.S. Consulate in Toronto for a Mexican national. The applicant is a professional chef and will operate a catering and home cooking service company. The Consulate in Toronto…

Jenny ZhanJune 26, 2019

Approvals

E-2 Visa Approval in Toronto for Two Companies

Scott Legal, P.C. just had an approval for an E-2 visa at the U.S. Consulate in Toronto. The applicant was approved for 2 U.S. entities and has been operating the entity for the last 5 years. The Company is also…

Jenny ZhanJune 26, 2019

Family Immigration Immigration

What Happens When my K Visa is Approved? My Approval is Only Valid for Four Months? How Long Do I have to Enter the Country and Get Married?

When the U.S. citizen is living in the U.S. and the beneficiary (the person the U.S. Citizen will marry) is outside the U.S., the U.S. citizen can file an application for a fiancé(e) visa with USCIS. This is known as…

Jenny ZhanJune 25, 2019

Family Immigration Immigration

USCIS No Longer Accepting Abandonment of Green Card Status at International Field Offices

A “green card” or permanent resident card is a document that shows a that a person can stay in the U.S. and work here in almost any capacity. One is eligible to apply for permanent residence/green card through certain family…

Jenny ZhanJune 20, 2019

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Family Immigration Immigration

USCIS to Decrease Wait Times for Green Card and Naturalization Wait Times

USCIS have announced that they have plans to reassign some green card and naturalization cases from local field offices with long backlogs to those with fewer cases. Procedurally, USCIS has a number of main field offices around the country that…

Jenny ZhanJune 19, 2019

Approvals

B Visa Approval in Melbourne

We just had an B-1 visa approval in Melbourne, Australia. The applicant was granted a B-1 business visitor visa in order to come to the United States to investigate E-2 investment opportunities and will return to Australia to apply for the…

Jenny ZhanJune 18, 2019

Approvals

Fiancée Visa Approved by USCIS for Thailand National

We just had a fiancée visa approval with USCIS. When the U.S. citizen is living in the U.S. and the beneficiary (the person the U.S. Citizen will marry) is outside the U.S., the U.S. citizen can file an application for a…

Jenny ZhanJune 17, 2019

Approvals

E-2 Visa approval for Company that Sells and Installs Commercial Storage Equipment at the U.S. Consulate in Toronto

We just had an E-2 investor visa approval at the U.S. Consulate in Toronto. The applicant was granted the visa for 5 years and the business sells and installs industrial shelving and commercial storage equipment. The applicant has been running the business…

Jenny ZhanJune 17, 2019

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EB-5 Visa Immigration Investor Visas News

July 2019 Visa Bulletin: New Cutoff Date Imposed for EB-5 India. Will I have to wait for an EB-5 visa if I’m Indian?

The State Department announced on June 13, 2019 that, due to high demand, a cutoff date of May 1, 2017 will be applied for Indian EB-5 applications. Every year, Congress sets limits on the number of immigrant visas that can…

Jenny ZhanJune 14, 2019

Approvals

TN Visa Approval at Border

Scott Legal, P.C. just had an approval for a TN visa for a Canadian national. The applied by crossing the U.S. border and paying a $50 fee. You can find out more about the TN visa by clicking here. The…

Jenny ZhanJune 14, 2019

Approvals

E-2 Visa approval for a Tax Consulting Company at the U.S. Consulate in Toronto for a National of Switzerland

We just had an E-2 investor visa approval at the U.S. Consulate in Toronto. The applicant was granted the visa for 4 years and the business is a tax consulting company. The applicant has extensive industry experience and is a Swiss national. …

Jenny ZhanJune 13, 2019

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Immigration News

USCIS Issues Data Confirming Increase in Denials and RFEs for Nonimmigrant Applications

USCIS has released data for the first half of fiscal year 2019 confirming that denial and RFE rates have continued to increase for nonimmigrant visa applications such as the H-1B, L visa, O Visa, and TN Visas. The H-1B visa…

Jenny ZhanJune 12, 2019

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H-1B and E-3 Visa Immigration

USCIS to Accept Premium Processing for Remaining H-1B Cap Petitions

USCIS announced that starting on June 10, 2019, it will accept premium processing requests for all remaining FY 2020 H-1B Cap cases. Premium processing costs $1410 and guarantees that USCIS will take adjudicative action on the application within 15 days. If USCIS…

Jenny ZhanJune 10, 2019

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Immigration News

USCIS to Reject Incomplete Form I-129

Starting on August 5, 2019, USCIS will reject any Form I-129, Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker that do not include the Petitioner or Applicant’s name and primary U.S. office address in Part 1 of the form. The petitioner’s or applicant’s…

Jenny ZhanJune 7, 2019

Deportation & Humanitarian Immigration Immigration

House of Representatives Passes Relief Bill for Dreamers

On May 28, 2019, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 6, the American Dream and Promise Act. This Act would provide a path to permanent residence and citizenship for current recipients of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) and Deferred Action for…

Jenny ZhanJune 7, 2019

E-1 Visa E-2 Visa Immigration Investor Visas

E-1 and E-2 Visas Available for New Zealand Nationals Starting June 10!

The U.S. Embassy in New Zealand announced that starting on June 10, 2019, eligible New Zealand companies and nationals will be able to apply for the E-1 Treaty Trader and E-2 Treaty Investor visas. Originally announced on Wednesday August 1,…

Jenny ZhanJune 6, 2019

Approvals

E-2 Visa Approval for Life Coach in Toronto

Scott Legal, P.C. just had an approval for an E-2 visa for a coaching business. The approval was at the U.S. Consulate in Toronto and the visa was granted for 5 years. The total investment amount in this case was…

Jenny ZhanJune 5, 2019

Approvals

E-3 Visa approval for an Executive at the U.S. Embassy in London for a National of Australia

We just had an E-3 visa approval at the U.S. Embassy in London for an Executive of a media company. The applicant was applying for a replacement E-3 visa due to a lost passport. If a passport is lost or stolen…

Jenny ZhanJune 5, 2019

H-1B and E-3 Visa Immigration

Proposed H-1B Cap Registration Fee Under Review

The Department of Homeland Security have submitted a proposal to charge an unknown amount of fee for companies registering foreign nationals for the upcoming H-1B cap online registration system. Starting next year, employers have to register each individual foreign national…

Jenny ZhanJune 3, 2019

Immigration News

Five Years of Social Media Information Now Required for Visa Applications

Last week, the U.S. Department of State updated the DS160 and DS260 forms to include a question asking for the applicant’s last 5 years of social media information. The DS160 form is an electronic form used for U.S. nonimmigrant visa…

Jenny ZhanJune 3, 2019

E-2 Visa Immigration Investor Visas

New E-2 Visa Renewal Procedure for Toronto

The U.S. Consulate in Toronto has changed its procedure for renewals of E-2 visas. If the applicant did not receive their initial visa in Toronto, the applicant can no longer use the streamline application process, instead the applicant will have…

Jenny ZhanMay 31, 2019

Approvals

E-2 Visa Approval in Toronto for Irish Pub

Scott Legal, P.C. just had an E-2 visa approval at the U.S. Consulate in Toronto. The E-2 visa was approved for 5 years and can be renewed indefinitely. The Canadian national purchased an Irish pub. E-2 visas can be obtained…

Jenny ZhanMay 31, 2019

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Family Immigration Immigration

White House Issues Strict Enforcement of Sponsor Laws

The White House has issued a memo on May 23 ordering different government departments to enforce a decades-old law (Section 213A of the INA (8 U.S.C. 1183a)) that requires American who bring migrants into the country to take financial responsibility…

Jenny ZhanMay 30, 2019

E-2 Visa Immigration Investor Visas

How do I make sure my E-2 case is strong enough? What are some things that Consulates view as red flags in an E-2 application?

Scott Legal recently consulted with a client who wanted to know if their E-2 application was strong enough to submit to the Consulate and what red flags existed in their application. These are common questions, as the E-2 visa requires…

Jenny ZhanMay 30, 2019

Immigration

One McPassport with a Side Order of Fries to Go, Please!

In lighthearted and joyous news today, the U.S. Embassy in Vienna has announced on Facebook that the U.S. Ambassador to Austria, Trevor Traina, signed a McAgreement with the McDonald’s chain in Austria. The agreement stated that any American citizens in…

Jenny ZhanMay 28, 2019