Republican Senator John Cornyn introduced a bill on the Senate floor Tuesday that would create 55,000 visas for graduates of STEM advanced degree programs with qualifying job offers. The bill would not add to the number of immigrant visas issued each year, but would reallocate the 55,000 visas dedicated to the Diversity Visa Lottery. Supporters [...]

In a press release issued Friday, the Department of Homeland Security announced that it has extended the list of approved degree programs that qualify for the STEM optional practical training extension. STEM refers to designated degrees in the areas of science, technology, engineering, and math, which qualify graduates for an extra 17 months of OPT [...]

USCIS has updated the count of cap eligible petitions for H-1B visas in the 2013 fiscal year. As of May 11, USCIS had received 36,700 out of 65,000 cap eligible petitions. USCIS also reported that it had received 14,800 petitions eligible for the Master’s cap exemption of 20,000 visas. For more information, please visit the [...]

The White House released a press statement Thursday articulating the importance of international tourism in the U.S. economy. The administration reported that revenue from international tourism, goods, and services in the United States in 2011 rose more than 8% from 2010. The total spending of international visitors to the U.S. last year is estimated at [...]

The U.S. Department of States has officially released its June 2012 Visa Bulletin. As projected, visa numbers in the EB2 category from India and Mainland China have become unavailable. The designation “unavailable” indicates that no visas will be issued to applicants holding EB2 priority dates until such time as new numbers become available. As previously [...]