Table of Contents
- US Visa Backlog Clears for Indian Applicants
- EB-5 Visa - Migration Agents must Register with USCIS
- Revived Semiconductor Manufacturing in the US
- Indians are Fourth biggest Source market for Overseas Visitor to the US
- EB-1 Indian Visa Applicants Now Face 10 Year Processing Time
- Decrease in Student Numbers due to Visa Refusals
- Proposed Changes to the E-3 Visa for Australians
26 October 2023
US Visa Backlog Clears for Indian Applicants
Recently, Visa Waiting periods have been reduced significantly for Indian applicants, and there has been a reduction in Visa rejections, with now 95% of visa applications getting cleared. In addition, Applicants have options available to re-schedule Appointments. Applications for Student visas are considered high priority and are most rapidly cleared. In addition, with the visa backlog now cleared, many Indian citizens are applying for US Visitor visas, and receiving 10 year Visitor visas, stamped on their passports. The Indian travel industry are very pleased with the backlog clearance, and consequently many opportunities will arise for Indian travelers to visit the US during the vacation season.
20 September 2023
EB-5 Visa - Migration Agents must Register with USCIS
USCIS now requires that all Migration Agents or EB-5 Promoter Consultants advising and assisting clients with an EB-5 Investor Visa Project must register their information, and complete a Form I-956K -'Registration for Direct and Third Party Promoters'. In addition, the Promoter Agent must specify the full details of the EB-5 Project, which they are promoting, and include a signed printed copy of their Finders Agreement with the Regional Center. Also, the Promoter Agent must include copies of their Identification, such as certified Passport biodata page and certified Drivers License. There is no Filing fee and the I-956K application must be sent by Courier to the USCIS office, in Lewisville, Texas, US.
19 September 2023
Revived Semiconductor Manufacturing in the US
The United States Government has implemented a law in 2022 to revive the Semiconductor manufacturing industry in the US. The new 2022 Law is The Creating Helpful Incentives to produce Semiconductors (CHIPS), which channels billions of USD into bringing back the manufacturing of semicnductors to the US, which has been outsourced overseas over the past three decades. To enable this manufacturing endeavour, the United States would need a massive skilled talent pool of Engineers and Techincians, at all levels. Unfortunately, now there is a dearth of sufficient skilled talent in the US. This is eveidenced by the fact that the United States currently manufactures only 12% of the world's chips, which is a decline from 37% in 1990.
13 September 2023
Indians are Fourth biggest Source market for Overseas Visitor to the US
Indians were the 4th largest source of foreign inbound Visitors to the US, after Canada, Mexico and the UK, during the June peak summer travel month, despite high airfares and visa backlogs. Anil Kalsi, VP of Travel Agents’ Federation of India, said: "The demand for travel to the US is tremendous because of a number of factors like visiting friends and relatives (VFR), students, parents going to visit children and business". After making a payment for a Visitor visa, Applicants have 365 days from the date of payment to schedule an appointment before the payment expires.