Yesterday, March 9, 2016, the Department of Homeland Security previewed the final rule governing STEM OPT, to be released on Friday. This rule is effective May 10, 2016, except the addition of 8 CFR 214.16, which is effective...more
On October 1, 2015 USCIS announced the launch of the Known Employer Pilot Program. Yesterday, March 3, USCIS confirmed the participation of five employers in the pilot. The purpose of the Known Employer Program is to expedite...more
A Brief History of PERM -
2015 marked the 10th anniversary of the implementation of the Program Electronic Review Management (“PERM”). The regulations, first published in 2014, govern the labor certification process for...more
From proposals to overhaul OPT to decreasing the number of H-1Bs, 2016 is already proving to be an interesting year for business immigration. In a series of posts, the Mintz Levin team will provide an overview of the cases,...more
2/26/2016
/ Arbitrary and Capricious ,
Class Action ,
Corporate Counsel ,
H-1B ,
Highly-Skilled Workers Visa ,
OPT ,
Rescission ,
US Department of State ,
USCIS ,
Visa Bulletins ,
Visas
From proposals to overhaul OPT to decreasing the number of H-1Bs, 2016 is already proving to be an interesting year for business immigration. In a series of posts, the Mintz Levin team will provide an overview of the cases,...more
From proposals to overhaul OPT to decreasing the number of H-1Bs, 2016 is already proving to be an interesting year for business immigration. In a series of posts, the Mintz Levin team will provide an overview of the cases,...more
From proposals to slash the H-1B cap to overhauling the EB-5 investor program, 2016 is already proving to be an interesting year for business immigration. In a series of posts, the Mintz Levin team will provide an overview of...more
As of April 1, 2016, United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will begin accepting H-1B petitions for Fiscal Year 2017 (FY2017). Upon approval, petitions for FY2017 will allow foreign nationals to work for...more
One of the major immigration developments for 2016 is a proposed rule from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) that would allow certain F-1 students to extend their period of “optional practical training” (OPT) if they...more
Yesterday, in an opinion authored by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the U.S. Supreme Court brought a measure of hope to non-citizens facing deportation on the basis of certain minor criminal convictions. In Mellouli v. Lynch,...more
United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) will begin accepting cap-subject H-1B petitions on April 1, 2015, for start dates of October 1, 2015 or later. ...more
Late Tuesday afternoon, the House of Representatives voted 257-167 to fund the Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”) through September 30, 2015, covering the remainder of the fiscal year. A clean funding bill was passed by...more
The Senate remains at a stalemate over funding of the Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”), with funding running out on Friday, February 27. A full budget was passed for the rest of the US government in December. However,...more
The Obama administration announced on Tuesday, February 17th that it will comply with an injunction temporarily blocking its plan to shield millions of people who are in the United States illegally, suspending applications...more
On February 2, USCIS announced that the congressionally mandated H-2B cap for the first half of fiscal year 2015 has been reached. January 26, 2015 was the final receipt date for new H-2B worker petitions requesting an...more
The Department of Homeland Security announced this week that the final rule, Notices of Decisions and Documents Evidencing Lawful Status, published for comment on October 29, 2014, is effective as of January 27, 2015....more
On January 13, 2015 Senators Orrin Hatch (R-UT), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Marco Rubio (R-FL), Chris Coons (D-DE), Jeff Flake (R-AZ), and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) introduced the Immigration Innovation Act of 2013 into the...more
This alert is a reminder of the rapidly approaching April 1, 2015 deadline for the filing of H-1B visa petitions for Fiscal Year 2016. Petitions for the new fiscal year, which starts on October 1, 2015, will be accepted by...more
In October 2014, the Department of State (“DOS”) amended Subpart A of the J exchange visitor regulations. These new regulations go into effect in 2015 and apply to all exchange visitor programs and program categories. There...more
It’s a little known fact that U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) won’t approve an employment-based visa petition before checking the company information against the Dun and Bradstreet (D&B) database via the...more
As a part of President Obama’s recent announcement regarding his executive action on immigration, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Jeh Johnson issued several memoranda to the directors of US Citizenship and...more
On Thursday, November 20th, coinciding with President Obama’s announcement regarding his forthcoming executive action on immigration, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Jeh Johnson issued a memo to the directors...more
11/25/2014
/ Barack Obama ,
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) ,
E-Verify ,
Executive Orders ,
Green Cards ,
H-1B ,
H-4 Spouses ,
Immigration Procedures ,
Immigration Reform ,
L-1 Visas ,
OPT ,
STEM ,
USCIS ,
Visa Caps
During last week's primetime television broadcast, President Obama announced steps to fix what he termed the “broken” US immigration system. The president focused his speech on increasing border security and providing a...more
11/24/2014
/ Barack Obama ,
Customs and Border Protection ,
DACA ,
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) ,
Deportation ,
Executive Orders ,
Green Cards ,
Highly-Skilled Workers Visa ,
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) ,
Immigration Reform ,
PERM ,
STEM ,
USCIS
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has implemented changes recently that affect many individuals seeking to travel to the United States, US employers of H-1B and L-1 workers, and users of some USCIS services. This...more
US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) empowers its Fraud Detection and National Security (FDNS) officers to make unannounced site visits to employers of H-1B and L-1 workers. The stated purpose of these site visits...more