Cost increases due to inflation have become a norm over the last two years, and immigration fees are no exception. USCIS announced that effective April 1, 2024, fees for certain immigration benefits will be adjusted for the...more
Employers wishing to sponsor a candidate for an H-1B visa in Fiscal Year (FY) 2025 are approaching an important time of year. United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) recently announced the H-1B cap lottery...more
2/8/2024
/ Corporate Counsel ,
Foreign Workers ,
H-1B ,
Highly-Skilled Workers Visa ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Immigrants ,
Immigration Procedures ,
Job Applicants ,
Lottery ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
USCIS ,
Visa Caps ,
Visas
United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) recently announced all available visas in the Fiscal Year 2024 H-1B lottery program have been utilized. Each year, 65,000 H-1B visas are available for positions...more
Foreign nationals often coordinate travel abroad to coincide with the holidays. December can be one of the busiest times of year for visa processing at U.S. Consulates and Embassies abroad. Here are a few helpful...more
The Department of State (DOS) appears primed to renew the practice of domestic visa renewal for at least some foreign nationals in 2024. DOS sent a Federal Register notice titled Pilot Program to Resume Renewal of H-1B...more
11/9/2023
/ Federal Pilot Programs ,
Foreign Nationals ,
Foreign Workers ,
H-1B ,
Highly-Skilled Workers Visa ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Immigrants ,
Immigration Procedures ,
Immigration Reform ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Renewal Options ,
US Department of State ,
USCIS ,
Visas
United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has instituted a revised Form I-9 that is mandatory for all employers, starting November 1, 2023.
USCIS announced the new version in August, in part to aid with...more
In an effort to address the ongoing Employment Authorization Document (more commonly known as an “EAD”) processing backlog, USCIS recently announced it would lengthen the maximum validity period for certain EAD categories to...more
10/11/2023
/ Adjustment of Status ,
Employment Authorization Documents (EAD) ,
Foreign Nationals ,
Foreign Workers ,
Green Cards ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Immigrants ,
Immigration Procedures ,
USCIS ,
Validity ,
Visas
Last month, DHS announced E-Verify employers would be eligible to utilize an alternative remote document verification procedure when completing Section 2 of Form I-9, starting August 1, 2023. Only a few days later, DHS...more
8/22/2023
/ Department of Homeland Security (DHS) ,
E-Verify ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Eligibility Verification ,
Foreign Workers ,
Form I-9 ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Immigrants ,
Immigration Procedures ,
Required Forms ,
USCIS
On February 14, 2023, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) made a small change in the Child Status Protection Act (CSPA) that will have a significant impact on the lives of many immigrant families....more
2/17/2023
/ CSPA ,
Family Members ,
Foreign Nationals ,
Foreign Workers ,
I-485 Applications ,
Immigrants ,
Immigration Reform ,
Minors ,
Residency Status ,
USCIS ,
Visas
USCIS recently announced the annual registration period for the FY2024 H-1B cap will open at noon (ET) on March 1, 2023, and remain open until noon (ET) on March 17, 2023. Registration is an annual electronic process through...more
Employers wishing to sponsor a candidate for an H-1B visa in Fiscal Year 2024 are approaching an important time of year. United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is expected to announce the H-1B cap...more
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) recently announced an extension to its waiver of the civil surgeon signature validity requirement for Form I-693. Form I-693 is the Report of Medical Examination and...more
Since its introduction in 2001, the Premium Processing service offered by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) has seen notable changes. Premium Processing was originally introduced as an option for certain...more
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) announced a Temporary Final Rule that will increase the 180-day automatic extension period for some Employment Authorization Documents (“EADs”) to 540 days beyond the EAD’s...more
5/11/2022
/ Employment Authorization Documents (EAD) ,
Employment Eligibility Verification ,
Final Rules ,
Foreign Workers ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Immigrants ,
Immigration Procedures ,
Immigration Reform ,
Temporary Regulations ,
Time Extensions ,
USCIS
Last week, USCIS announced the H-1B visa cap registration deadlines for FY2023. Registration is mandatory for employers wishing to sponsor a candidate for an H-1B visa in the FY2023 H-1B cap cycle. Registration is an annual...more
While the United States has seen a drastic drop in COVID-19 cases as vaccinations become more prevalent, other countries continue to see significant infection rates. Travel restrictions aimed at curbing the spread of...more
6/8/2021
/ Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
E-2 ,
Foreign Nationals ,
H-1B ,
Immigrants ,
Immigration Reform ,
Infectious Diseases ,
L-Visas ,
National Interest Waiver ,
O Visa Petitions ,
Travel Ban
What Matters: Travel from India will be significantly limited by Presidential Proclamation effective Tuesday, May 4, 2021....more
5/3/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Green Cards ,
Immigrants ,
India ,
Infectious Diseases ,
International Travel ,
National Interest Waiver ,
Public Health ,
Public Health Emergency ,
Travel Restrictions ,
Traveling Employee
On March 30, 2021, USCIS announced completion of the initial FY2022 H-1B Cap-Subject lottery selection process. Beginning April 1st, those selected were eligible to start filing. But what if your employee was not selected? ...more
4/29/2021
/ Employment Authorization Documents (EAD) ,
Foreign Workers ,
H-1B ,
Highly-Skilled Workers Visa ,
Immigrants ,
Immigration Procedures ,
Lottery ,
O Visa Petitions ,
OPT ,
STEM ,
TN-Visas ,
USCIS ,
Visas
After federal courts blocked their first attempt in December, the U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) recently published a new final rule seeking to again increase the minimum wage paid to foreign workers when sponsored for an...more
1/25/2021
/ Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Foreign Workers ,
H-1B ,
Highly-Skilled Workers Visa ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Immigrants ,
Immigration Procedures ,
Immigration Reform ,
Labor Regulations ,
Minimum Wage ,
PERM ,
Prevailing Wages ,
USCIS ,
Visas ,
Wage and Hour
On May 29, 2020, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) announced the phased resumption of Premium Processing. Premium Processing allows employers to obtain expedited decisions on certain immigration filings by...more
On April 22, 2020, President Trump signed an Executive Order restricting immigration to the United States with the stated intent of protecting U.S. citizens from job competition and preserving medical resources as the economy...more
Additional Restrictions: The United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland have been added to the list of countries subject to travel restrictions....more
3/19/2020
/ Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Emergency Management Plans ,
ESTA ,
Foreign Workers ,
Immigrants ,
Ireland ,
Travel Restrictions ,
Traveling Employee ,
Trump Administration ,
UK ,
Visas
Last Wednesday night, President Trump issued a proclamation restricting direct travel from the European “Schengen” Region to the United States. There has been some confusion about the nature of the restrictions and who is...more
3/18/2020
/ China ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Crisis Management ,
Emergency Management Plans ,
EU ,
Foreign Nationals ,
Immigrants ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Public Health ,
Screening Procedures ,
Travel Restrictions ,
Traveling Employee ,
Trump Administration
Employers who file I-129 petitions to sponsor foreign nationals for work visas make a number of representations to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) about the terms of the foreign national’s employment,...more
11/20/2019
/ Buy America ,
Domestic Hiring Policy ,
E-1 ,
E-2 ,
Enforcement Guidance ,
Executive Orders ,
FDNS ,
Foreign Nationals ,
Foreign Workers ,
Fraud and Abuse ,
Hiring & Firing ,
I-129 ,
Immigrants ,
Immigration Procedures ,
Immigration Reform ,
Investigations ,
Trump Administration ,
USCIS ,
Visas
Now that the April 1, 2019 H-1B visa deadline has passed, thousands of employers may find themselves looking for an alternative to employ valuable foreign workers. While not receiving as much media popularity as the H-1B...more
4/16/2019
/ E-2 ,
Foreign Investment ,
Foreign Nationals ,
Foreign Workers ,
Highly-Skilled Workers Visa ,
Immigrants ,
Immigration Procedures ,
Investors ,
L-Visas ,
USCIS ,
Visas