Month: July 2012

As part of its greater efforts to promote travel and tourism to the
United States, the U.S. Embassy now offers an expanded visa renewal
program, which it launched on July 1, 2012. This new program will allow
more Mexican citizens and residents to renew their non-immigrant visas
without the need for an interview at the U.S. Embassy or a U.S.
Consulate.

Currently, most visas that have been expired for periods of one year or
less can be renewed after an Applicant Service Center appointment
without a second appointment or interview at the U.S. Embassy or
Consulate. This new program enables applicants to apply for a renewal of
their visa if their current visa has expired within 2 years or less of
their renewal application.

This expansion of the interview waiver will ease the process by which
Mexican citizens and residents can renew non-immigrant visas and will
improve the ties of travel and trade between the two North American
nations.

On June 29, 2012, USCIS provided an update of the amount of cap-subject
H-2B visas received and approved by the federal agency for the second
half of Fiscal Year 2012. According to USCIS, a total of 26,149
beneficiaries have been approved for the second half of Fiscal Year
2012, with an additional 2,262 petitions pending. USCIS is targeting a
total of 51,000 cap-subject H-2B petitions for the second half of Fiscal
Year 2012.

Congressionally-based legislation limits the amount of H-2B visas
provided per fiscal year to a total of 66,000, with 33,000 allocated for
employment for the first half of the fiscal year and 33,000 allocated
for employment for the second half of the fiscal year. Unused numbers
from the first half of the fiscal year are made available for use by
employers seeking H-2B workers during the second half of the year. These
numbers do not, however, carry over from one fiscal year to another. A
total of 36,609 beneficiaries were approved for the first half of Fiscal
Year 2012. USCIS was targeting 45,000 beneficiaries for that time
period.