On June 18, 2024, President Biden announced new pathways to legal immigration status for two groups: college-educated “Dreamers” and certain American family units....more
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) has announced that a revised version of Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification will be available starting August 1, 2023. The current version can be used through...more
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has announced that employers will have 30 days to reach compliance with Form I-9 requirements after the COVID-19 flexibilities sunset on July 31, 2023.
Effective since...more
On January 4, 2023, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) issued a Notice of Prospective Rulemaking proposing a sweeping fee hike for immigration services across the board. The proposed fee increases range between...more
On January 12, 2023, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced implementation of the final phase of premium processing expansion for employment-based first and second preference I-140 petitions. Beginning on...more
Corporate immigration and a cross-border workforce are one of the many considerations for in-house counsel today. Increasingly, companies are turning to international workers and this creates both business opportunities and...more
11/29/2022
/ Compliance ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Foreign Workers ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Immigration Procedures ,
Job Applicants ,
NAFTA ,
Recruitment Policies ,
Risk Management ,
United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) ,
USCIS ,
Visa Waiver Program ,
Visas
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) announced a Temporary Final Rule that will automatically extend the period of employment authorization up to 540 days beyond the expiration date of the Employment...more
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that it has received enough FY2023 H-1B electronic registrations to reach the cap and that it has notified petitioners whose registrations were selected that they...more
In November 2021 DHS announced a new policy recognizing E and L dependent spouses as having employment authorized incident to their status, meaning they do not need to apply for a separate employment authorization document...more
On November 12, 2021, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) issued policy guidance to automatically extend employment authorization (“EAD”) for H-4, E, and L nonimmigrant dependent spouses under certain...more
How are immigration benefits impacted if Congress is unable to agree on a spending bill and the U.S. government shuts down? The general rule is that those services that are essential or fee-funded continue without...more
10/1/2021
/ Customs and Border Protection ,
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
E-Verify ,
Federal Budget ,
Government Shutdown ,
Immigration Procedures ,
Operators of Essential Services ,
Social Security Administration (SSA) ,
US State Departments ,
USCIS
On January 8, 2021, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) published the Modification of H-1B Cap Registration Requirement for Petitioners Seeking to File Cap-Subject H-1B Petitions Rule. Should it be implemented,...more
The courts dealt another blow to the Trump administration's continued efforts to restrict immigration this week, providing relief for companies looking to fill and retain critical positions with foreign talent. On Tuesday,...more
12/4/2020
/ Department of Homeland Security (DHS) ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Executive Orders ,
H-1B ,
Highly-Skilled Workers Visa ,
Immigration Procedures ,
Interim Final Rules (IFR) ,
Preliminary Injunctions ,
Presidential Proclamations ,
Trump Administration ,
USCIS ,
Visas
Q. I entered the U.S. using ESTA (the visa waiver program), and my I-94 Arrival/Departure Record will expire before I am able to depart the U.S. Can I apply for an extension of stay?
A. U.S. immigration law does not permit...more
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has announced that it has received a sufficient number of H-1B petitions to meet the congressionally-mandated 65,000 regular cap for fiscal year 2020...more
U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS) has announced that it will begin to accept Fiscal Year (FY) 2020 H-1B cap cases on April 1, 2019, but not all FY 2020 cap cases will be permitted to request premium processing...more
On April 18, 2017, President Trump signed the Buy American and Hire American (BAHA) Presidential Executive Order. The mandate is designed to create higher wages and employment rates for U.S. workers by administering and...more
9/7/2018
/ Buy American Act ,
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Executive Orders ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Services Industry ,
H-1B ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Human Resources Professionals ,
Immigration Reform ,
Trump Administration ,
USCIS
Temporary Protected Status (TPS) is a humanitarian benefit available to foreign nationals who are unable to return to their home countries because of certain temporary conditions including ongoing armed conflict such as civil...more
Congress was unable to agree on a spending bill and the US government has shut down as of midnight, January 19th. This leaves many wondering how immigration benefits are impacted. The general rule is that those services that...more
1/23/2018
/ Department of Labor (DOL) ,
E-Verify ,
Employment Eligibility Verification ,
Foreign Nationals ,
Foreign Workers ,
Government Shutdown ,
H-1B ,
Immigration Procedures ,
OFLC ,
USCIS ,
Visas
Best Practices for Managing U.S. Border Searches of Electronic Devices -
Effective October 18, 2017, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS), Immigration & Customs...more
11/8/2017
/ Border Searches ,
Customs and Border Protection ,
Data Protection ,
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) ,
Electronic Devices ,
Electronically Stored Information ,
Fourth Amendment ,
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) ,
New Regulations ,
Port of Entry ,
Search & Seizure ,
USCIS
In immigration news, the U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS) announced on Tuesday, October 3, 2017 that it has resumed its premium processing program for all H-1B visa petitions. USCIS had previously suspended...more
10/6/2017
/ Administrative Procedure Act ,
Delays ,
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) ,
EB-6 ,
Executive Orders ,
Foreign Affairs Manual (FAM) ,
H-1B ,
International Entrepreneur Rule ,
Notice and Comment ,
Trump Administration ,
US Department of State ,
USCIS ,
Visas
Today, the Trump Administration announced rescission of the Obama Administration’s 2012 Executive Order which created the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. As of March 5, 2018, DACA will fully end with...more
9/6/2017
/ DACA ,
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) ,
Deportation ,
Executive Orders ,
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) ,
Immigration Reform ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Obama Administration ,
Rescission ,
Students ,
Temporary Work Visas ,
Trump Administration ,
Universities ,
USCIS
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has announced that, effective October 1, 2017, it will begin expanding in-person interviews for certain immigration benefit applications that currently do not require...more
9/1/2017
/ Adjustment of Status ,
Asylum ,
Executive Orders ,
Green Cards ,
Immigration Procedures ,
Immigration Reform ,
Interviews ,
Permanent Residence Cards ,
Refugees ,
Trump Administration ,
USCIS