For H-1B visas, employers have been hoping there will be another round of selections for FY 2023, but that is not on the horizon.
USCIS has been sending non-selection notices to registrants’ online accounts. USCIS can...more
Some Temporary Protected Status (TPS) holders will once again be able to overcome inadmissibility for adjustment of status purposes by traveling internationally because USCIS is updating its interpretation of MTINA, the...more
The Department of Homeland Security set out the specifics about the upcoming new premium processing benefits in the Federal Register on March 30, 2022. The details, however, did not include any specific implementation dates,...more
Just as the Biden Administration is proposing increased funding for USCIS to help reduce the agency’s backlog, USCIS is announcing future new actions to improve processing times....more
As of January 31, 2022, spouses entering the United States in L-2 or E status may be able to obtain work authorization at the border by asking Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to give them a “spousal” designation in their...more
USCIS has announced that H-1B Cap registration will start on March 1, 2022, at noon (Eastern) and will continue through noon (Eastern) on March 18, 2022.
If enough registrations to fill the cap are received by March 18...more
Nonimmigrant spouses of H-1B and L-1 visa holders with long-pending EAD applications have finally received some relief. Based upon a settlement in Shergill v. Mayokas, USCIS is making major policy changes. Going forward,...more
Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Alejandro N. Mayorkas has issued a policy directive to immediately discontinue mass worksite enforcement operations.
These involve large-scale law enforcement...more
10/13/2021
/ Audits ,
Customs and Border Protection ,
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Foreign Nationals ,
Foreign Workers ,
Form I-9 ,
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) ,
NLRB ,
Trump Administration ,
USCIS
The country dodged a government shutdown at the end of September, but we may be faced with the same problem on December 3, 2021, when Congress will again have to fund the government. Because we often come close to a shutdown...more
E-Verify is moving toward tougher enforcement, which can result in a temporary termination from participation in the E-Verify program.
Early in the COVID-19 pandemic, E-Verify relaxed some of its standards regarding...more
USCIS made more random Cap H-1B selections on July 28, 2021. Notifications started to go out today – July 29, 2021. Due to a glitch in the USCIS system, attorneys do not yet have access to the notices (although some employers...more
Many companies that have been working remotely during COVID-19 expect to continue to do so, at least to some extent after the pandemic. At first, it might seem that manufacturing would not be an industry where remote models...more
The Department of Homeland Security has announced that it will be extending Haitian Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for 18 months, until November 2022. It also has officially set out the application procedures for Burmese...more
Flexibility in completing I-9 Employment Verification Forms has been continued until March 31, 2021, and it may be extended beyond that. Under that flexibility, employers have been allowed to inspect Section 2 Form I-9...more
3/3/2021
/ Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
E-Verify ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Eligibility Verification ,
Foreign Workers ,
Form I-9 ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) ,
Required Forms ,
Return-to-Work Agreements ,
USCIS
USCIS announced that on May 14, 2021, it will dispose of 10 years of records dated on or before December 31, 2010, from its Historic Records Report. Employers that use E-Verify have until May 14, 2021, to download case...more
USCIS has announced that the Cap H-1B Electronic Registration will open on March 9, 2021 at noon EST and will close on March 25, 2021 at noon EST.
The process will mirror last year’s process.
USCIS also announced its...more
USCIS has released its final rule on the modification of the H-1B cap selection process (“Modification Rule”) to prioritize petitions with the highest wage levels in the Federal Register.
Unless the Biden administration...more
On January 4, 2021, DHS announced that for I-9 purposes, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients may present an unexpired Employment Authorization Document (EAD) with Code C33 issued on or after July 28,...more
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) have allowed some flexibility due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Here are some of the changes in effect:.....more
Along with extending its flexibility in allowing virtual Form I-9 employment verification until December 31, 2020, USCIS is also continuing its flexibility with regard to long-pending Employment Authorization Document (EAD)...more
Once again, just as it was about to expire, ICE has announced a further extension of flexibility in its rules related to Form I-9 compliance. This time, the extension will continue through December 31, 2020.
Employers will...more
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has been flexible about how to complete Form I-9 employment verification due to the COVID-19 pandemic, allowing companies working remotely to inspect documents virtually (e.g.,...more
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has released yet another rule that will make it harder and more costly for U.S. companies to employ highly skilled workers.
As a companion regulation to the “Strengthening Wage...more
Premium processing fees are going up (the bad news), but premium processing will be available for more types of cases (the good news) according to changes included in the recently passed Continuing Resolution (CR) that will...more
While it typically uses the “Final Action Dates” chart for accepting adjustment of status application filings, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has announced that for October 2020, it will allow...more