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You do not need to apply to extend your stay in the United States as long as you are maintaining your student status and making normal progress toward completing your academic course of study. The designated school official (DSO) from your school will write down a completion date on your SEVIS Form I-20 A-B (Certificate of Eligibility for Nonimmigrant (F-1) Student Status - for Academic and Language Students). Under normal circumstances, you should be able to complete your studies by this date. If you need to extend your stay for compelling academic or medical reasons, then you should contact your designated school official (DSO).

You will have asylee status. You will receive an I-94 Arrival and Departure record documenting that you are able to remain indefinitely in the United States as an asylee. You will be authorized to work in the United States for as long as you remain in asylee status. You may obtain a photo-identity document from USCIS evidencing your employment authorization by applying for an Employment Authorization Document (EAD). You will also be able to request derivative asylum status for any spouse or child (unmarried and under 21 years of age as of the date you filed the asylum application, as long as your asylum application was pending on or after August 6, 2002) who was not included as a dependent in your asylum decision and with whom you have a qualifying relationship. This means that you will be able to petition to bring your spouse and/or children to the United States, or allow them to remain in the United States indefinitely incident to your asylee status.

Your spouse and unmarried children under 21 years of age may come with you to the United States in M-2 nonimmigrant status. The M-2 status of your family will be dependent upon your status as the M-1 vocational student. This means that if you change your status, your family must change their status as well. If you lose your status, your family will also lose their status. (For more information on changing status, please see

Spouses may seek employment authorization on derivative E visas.  Specifically, the spouse of an E visa holder may be able to apply for an obtain an Employment Authorization Documentation (EAD) authorizing him or her to work in the U.S.

Asylum is a form of protection that allows individuals who are in the United States to remain in the country, provided that they meet the definition of a refugee (see below) and are not barred from either applying for or being granted asylum, and eventually to adjust their status to lawful permanent resident.

You first must apply to study at a SEVIS-approved school in the United States. When you contact a school that you are interested in attending, you should be told immediately if the school accepts foreign national students. If you are accepted, the school should send you SEVIS Form I-20M-N/ID (Certificate of Eligibility for Nonimmigrant (M-1) Student Status - For Vocational Students).

No. Only Singaporean citizens are eligible as principal applicants. Note, however, that Singapore Permanent Residents who are the spouse or child of a qualified Singaporean H1B1 applicant may be eligible for an H-4 visa as a dependent family member.

The E-3 must satisfy the consular officer that s/he intends to depart from the U.S. upon termination of status because E-3 status provides for entry on a non-permanent basis into the US.

Citizens of Micronesia and the Marshall Islands can travel to the U.S. without visas under certain circumstances.

Yes. A national of Chile, currently admitted to the United States as a nonimmigrant in a category eligible to change nonimmigrant status, may apply to change to H-1B1 nonimmigrant status. Note that the applicant must be in the U.S. in a nonimmigrant category which is eligible to change nonimmigrant status, of course.

Under the Labor Certification regulations which were in effect prior to March 28, 2005, there were certain occupations which were NOT eligible for Labor Certification because the Labor Department had "determined that there generally [were] sufficient United States workers who are able, willing, qualified and available for" the respective occupations. The occupations are listed below. However, the new PERM Labor Certification has eliminated Schedule B, so that it may now be possible to obtain a Labor Certification for these occupations.

Naturalization is the process by which foreign nationals become U.S. citizens. There are a variety of requirements for naturalization which vary by different circumstances. This page covers the general requirements, and provides a chart comparing the requirements for the main categories.

If you are an active investor in a U.S. enterprise in which you are investing at least $1 million (US), or $500,000 (US) in certain special locations, and the enterprise creates a certain number of jobs, then you may be able to obtain U.S. Permanent Residency under the EB-5 category.

Yes. A national of Singapore, currently admitted to the United States as a nonimmigrant in a category eligible to change nonimmigrant status, may apply to change to H-1B1 nonimmigrant status. Note that the applicant must be in the U.S. in a nonimmigrant category which is eligible to change nonimmigrant status, of course.

The U.S. Government has eliminated the $50 (US) reciprocal issuance fee for all non-immigrant visas for Indian citizens, effective immediately, according to U.S. Ambassador to India David C. Mulford, in a press release on November 9, 2006. However, Visa applicants, who are Indian citizens, will still be required to pay the application fee of $100 (US). The Consulate General of the U.S. announced:

Must the employer contact all individuals identified as a "match" by a computerized state employment system or must the employer only contact those applicants who have submitted a resume and/or response as specified by the employer in the job order?

According to the Labor Department:

The employer is responsible for considering/contacting those applicants who have affirmatively provided a response as specified by the employer in the job order.

According to the Labor Department:

Yes, but only if the wage source used to make the determination was one other than the wage component of the Occupational Employment Statistics (OES), i.e., an employer-provided survey, a McNamara-O'Hara Service Contract Act or Davis-Bacon Act wage, or a Collective Bargaining Agreement wage. To apply under PERM, those employers using the OES must obtain a prevailing wage determination after March 8, 2005.

NOTE: In all labor certification applications filed (postmarked or electronically dated) on or after March 8, 2005, the wage offer must be 100% of the prevailing wage determination and, if the OES is used to make the prevailing wage determination, the determination must be based on the four wage level provision.

According to the Labor Department:

Yes, a prevailing wage determination has a limited validity period as specified by the State Workforce Agency (SWA), which may range from no less than 90 days to no more than one year from the determination date.

NOTE: To use a SWA prevailing wage determination, the employer must file its application or begin the recruitment required within the validity period specified by the SWA.

According to the Labor Department:

If an employer provided survey acceptable under § 656.40(g) provides only a median and not an arithmetic mean, use of the median is permitted.

Must a prevailing wage determination be obtained from the State Workforce Agency (SWA) even if the employer is filing an application under the optional recruitment for college and university teachers and/or Schedule A provisions?

According to the Labor Department:

Yes, a prevailing wage determination must be obtained from the SWA even if the employer is filing an application under the optional recruitment for college and university teachers and/or the Schedule A provisions.