What Happens to President Trump's Immigration Proclamations During President Biden's First 100 Days?
Employment Visa Restrictions: Past, Present, and Future by Sang Shin
Update from Washington: Employer's Preview of Immigration Restrictions from the Administration
On April 1, 2024, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that it had selected sufficient H-1B visa preregistrations to reach the congressionally mandated 65,000 regular H-1B cap (bachelor’s degree cap)...more
Missing out on the H-1B visa lottery can be disheartening, but it’s not necessarily the end of the road. If you employ foreign nationals, the good news is that you can explore certain short-term, long-term, and even some...more
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that it has completed its annual H-1B cap lottery selection process for fiscal year 2025. Given the high number of lottery registrations and the fixed number of...more
In just two weeks, on April 1, 2024, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will implement its new filing fee structure. The new fees will vary by visa type with exceptions for small employers and non-profit...more
The Department of Homeland Security published a final rule Jan. 31 adjusting the filing fees for applications for immigration benefits submitted to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). For most application types...more
Last January I posted about "An Unwelcome Update to Start 2023: USCIS Proposing Rule to Raise Filing Fees; Set Specific Filing Fees for Different Types of I-129 Filings". That unwelcome proposal to start 2023 may become an...more
Federal immigration officials announced on December 13 that the H-1B cap has been reached for FY 2024. Although you most likely expected the announcement, the finality inevitably leaves many employers and foreign national...more
Each year in March, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) conducts a lottery to award H-1B slots to enough foreign workers to meet its 85,000 visa annual cap. This number includes 20,000 slots reserved for...more
If you employ foreign nationals, you likely know that the federal government already reached the H-1B visa cap for the fiscal year and informed registrants who were not selected. Although employers expected the August 23...more
On March 29, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that it will expand its premium processing service to include additional immigration benefit case types, pursuant to a final rule issued by the...more
Last month, the Department of Homeland Security announced that it was withdrawing a 2018 proposal to remove the International Entrepreneur (IE) Parole program from DHS regulations, effectively confirming to the public that...more
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), a division of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), has just closed its annual H-1B registration, and employers are anxiously awaiting news on whether USCIS has selected...more
On August 3, 2020, USCIS published a final rule that significantly increases the filing fees for certain immigration and naturalization petitions. The rule, which will be effective October 2, 2020, also removes certain fee...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: U.S. employers, applicants for immigration benefits, and other stakeholders should be aware of United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) application fee increases and form changes...more
I have an appointment at the local USCIS office. What should I do? All USCIS offices have been closed to the public at least until June 4, 2020. USCIS is preparing to reopen its offices on or after June 4, 2020. USCIS will...more
On March 20, 2020, due to the global pandemic, U.S. and Canadian officials mutually agreed that non-essential travel between the United States and Canada should be temporarily suspended. U.S. Customs and Border Protection...more
As employers work through issues related to the COVID-19 pandemic, it is important to evaluate the immigration considerations for employees on various work visas. Some of the most common alternatives to H-1B visas include...more
Hiring the best talent can maximize the success of your company. Sometimes that means hiring a foreign national on a work visa. We prepared this booklet to help you navigate the complex U.S. employment-based visa options....more
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has issued updated data confirming that requests for evidence (RFE) and denials continue to climb for most commonly used nonimmigrant visas. The rate of RFEs and denials for...more
It's March and here we are in the middle of another H-1B cap season. So I did what I do almost every day this time of year: I got up to head in to the office. But first I went for a run to clear my head. It is Saturday. It is...more
Many visa options exist to enable U.S. manufacturing companies to employ talented professionals, researchers and managers who are not U.S. citizens or permanent residents. This article will introduce the primary nonimmigrant...more
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) has started returning H-1B petitions to employers whose cases were not selected in the recent H-1B lottery selection process. The USCIS reported that a total of 195,000 H-1B...more
Employers seek predictability when hiring employees. You don’t need to be a mathematician (although that might help qualify you as an outstanding researcher) to know that the odds of being selected in U.S. Citizenship and...more
Most “new” H-1B petitions must be counted against an annual H-1B cap. This limit, or “cap,” administered by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), is currently set at 65,000 plus an additional 20,000 reserved...more