Murthy Immigration Services

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has issued a proposed rule that would impose an additional $103,265 fee on every cap-subject H-1B petition, including petitions filed under the U.S. master’s degree exemption. The proposed fee would be paid at the time of filing and would be required in addition to all existing H-1B filing…

President Donald Trump signed two executive orders aimed at tightening action against “birth tourism” and limiting recognition of U.S. citizenship in several specified circumstances. The White House says the measures follow the Supreme Court’s June 30 decision in Trump v. Barbara and are intended to protect the value of American citizenship and prevent misuse of temporary visa…

The U.S. Department of State expanded its $750 “Paid Expedite” pilot on August 18, 2026, adding five new posts beyond the original Mission Mexico rollout: Mission Canada, and the embassies in Bogotá (Colombia), Guatemala City (Guatemala), San José (Costa Rica), and Tegucigalpa (Honduras). This is a meaningful expansion just under a month after the program…

On July 16, 2026, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued a final rule replacing the longstanding “Duration of Status (D/S)” admission framework for F (students), J (exchange visitors), and I (foreign media) nonimmigrants with fixed periods of admission. More information is provided below.  Background:  For decades, most individuals admitted to the United States…

The U.S. visa application system has a set of new options for B-1/B-2 visa applicants.The new set of categories include the following: B1/B2 – 1 Business Professionals (Conditions Apply) B1/B2 – 2 Parents Visiting Children with Legal Status (Conditions Apply) B1/B2 – 3 General Tourism & Travel (Open to All Applicants with No Recent Refusal)…

On June 8, 2026, the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts issued a landmark ruling in California et al. v. Mullin et al., vacating the $100,000 H-1B petition fee imposed by the September 2025 Presidential Proclamation.  Background:  Twenty states in the United States had challenged the Proclamation, arguing it violated the Constitution and the Administrative Procedure Act. The Court agreed on…

The U.S. Department of State (DOS) has published a temporary final rule, creating a pilot program that will allow certain B1/B2 (business/tourist) visa applicants to pay an additional $750 fee for access to expedited interview appointments. More information is provided below. Key Highlights of the Pilot Program: The program is scheduled to run from July…

U.S. visa applicants were previously placed in a waiting room which just indicated that they need to wait before being let in. Last week, www.usvisascheduling.com has a new updated waiting room. The new page displays the average wait time before the URL is accessible.  Some users are being placed in virtual queues with estimated wait times stretching…

The Murthy Immigration Services has received numerous reports from U.S. visa applicants, regarding significant technical disruptions on the official U.S. Visa Scheduling portal (usvisascheduling.com). As of this writing, the portal appears to be experiencing a global outage, impacting applicants in India, the Philippines, and other regions transitioning to the new CGI Federal system. Users attempting to log…

Recent reports indicate that the U.S. Department of State (DOS) has instructed consular officers to ask all nonimmigrant visa applicants two questions regarding past harm and fear of return to their home countries, and to refuse visas when applicants indicate such fear. This change may affect individuals applying for visitor, student, and temporary worker visas…