U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) updated employers and immigration practitioners regarding important dates for the upcoming H-1B lottery registration. This year, the online registration period for the H-1B...more
2/7/2025
/ Corporate Counsel ,
Employer Responsibilities ,
Filing Deadlines ,
Foreign Workers ,
H-1B ,
Immigration Procedures ,
Lottery ,
Registration ,
USCIS ,
Visa Caps ,
Visas
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) recently updated employers and immigration practitioners regarding important dates to keep in mind regarding the upcoming H-1B registration for the upcoming H-1B lottery. This...more
2/26/2024
/ Corporate Counsel ,
Foreign Workers ,
H-1B ,
Highly-Skilled Workers Visa ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Immigrants ,
Immigration Procedures ,
Lottery ,
USCIS ,
Visa Caps ,
Visas
For the first time in two decades, a limited number of eligible H-1B workers are now able to apply to renew their visas without having to leave the United States. Starting January 29, 2024, the U.S. Department of State’s...more
What employers are going through today is something that hasn’t been seen in more than a century. To stem the tide of a global pandemic, more and more state and local governments are entering “Stay at Home” or “Shelter in...more
On January 31, 2019, the Department of Homeland Security announced two major changes to the H-1B program. Under the final rule, which takes effect April 1, 2019, employers seeking to file H-1B petitions will now be required...more
Yesterday, the Obama administration announced potential changes that could significant impact the EB-5 investor visa program. The EB-5 investor visa was originally established by Congress in 1990 to attract foreign...more
As a reminder to all U.S. employers, H-1B season is around the corner! United States Citizenship & Immigration Services (“USCIS”) will start accepting new H-1B petitions for fiscal year 2018 on Saturday, April 1, 2017. As...more
Contrary to popular opinion, there are serious immigration consequences for nonimmigrants who are arrested for Driving Under the Influence (DUI) or a related offense. According to recently released guidance found in the...more
As a reminder to all U.S. employers, H-1B season is almost here! United States Citizenship & Immigration Services (“USCIS”) will start accepting new H-1B petitions for fiscal year 2017 on Friday, April 1, 2016. As such,...more
The optional practical training (OPT) program allows students here on an F-1 visa (who have either graduated or been pursuing a degree for 9 months) to work in their chosen field of study for one year. In 2008, the U.S....more
10/20/2015
/ Accreditation ,
Comment Period ,
Department of Education ,
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) ,
E-Verify ,
Federal Register ,
Form F-1 ,
H-1B ,
Immigration Procedures ,
OPT ,
Proposed Legislation ,
STEM ,
Visa Caps ,
Visas
Earlier this month, USCIS, in coordination with the Department of State (“DOS”), announced that it was revising the procedures for determining visa availability for applicants waiting to file for employment-based or...more
Effective September 24, 2015, USCIS will suspend final adjudication of employment-based Adjustment of Status Applications. Cited as the reason is the Department of State’s report that the statutory cap has been reached for...more
Despite the fact that parts of President Obama’s executive actions on immigration currently are being challenged in court, the administration is moving forward with its promise to modernize our antiquated immigration system....more
Determining when is appropriate to pay an honorarium to a foreign national on a visitor’s visa often presents a conundrum. Our immigration system is nothing short of complicated with its alphabet soup of visas, but paying a...more
Today, after receiving nearly 233,000 petitions, United States Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that it conducted its lottery (a computer-generated random selection process) to select the H-1B petitions...more
United States Citizenship & Immigration Services (“USCIS”) announced today that it has reached the congressionally mandated H-1B cap for fiscal year 2016....more
On March 4, 2015, the Department of Labor (DOL) suffered a major blow as result of a ruling by a federal district court in the Northern District of Florida. Specifically, in Perez v. Perez, No. 3:14-cv-682 (N.D. Fla. Mar. 4,...more
On January 30, 2015, Los Angeles Dodgers relief pitcher Joel Peralta faced what many business immigration practitioners would refer to as an avoidable immigration nightmare....more
While many immigration practitioners wait anxiously for a resolution to the judicial challenges faced by DAPA and expanded DACA, others let out a sigh of relief at the announcement made today by U.S. Citizenship and...more
If it’s not bad news, it won’t get good ratings? When Nightline recently reported on the EB-5 program, “Whistleblowers: US gave visas to suspected Forgers, Fraudsters, Criminals,” alleging that it is prone to fraud, they...more
Bipartisan legislation? Does such a thing exist anymore? Well, on January 28, 2015, Congressmen Jared Polis (D-CO) and Mark Amodei (R-NV) introduced The American Entrepreneurship & Investment Act of 2015 in an effort to...more
As a reminder to all U.S. employers, H-1B season is on the horizon! United States Citizenship & Immigration Services (“USCIS”) will start accepting new H-1B petitions for fiscal year 2016 on Wednesday, April 1, 2015. As such,...more
When President Barack Obama first addressed the nation to unveil his Immigration Accountability Executive Actions, the media and the internet were in a frenzy to see who could get the story out first. Despite the fact that...more
1/12/2015
/ Barack Obama ,
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) ,
Executive Orders ,
Highly-Skilled Workers Visa ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Immigration Procedures ,
Immigration Reform ,
OPT ,
PERM ,
Popular ,
USCIS ,
Visas
As of November 12, 2014, the National Visa Center (NVC) will cease accepting original civil documents in support of immigrant visa applications. Rather, most applicants will now be required to submit photocopies of...more
This week, the U.S. Department of State (DOS) released additional changes to its Reciprocity Table following President Barack Obama’s announcement of a new, reciprocal 10-year visa policy between the United States and China....more