On Monday, August 9, 2021, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that applicants filing for permanent resident status may also apply for a Social Security number or replacement card as part of their...more
On April 12, 2021 U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that F-1 students seeking optional practical training (OPT) can now file Form I-765, Application for Employment Authorization, online if they are...more
On October 5, 2020, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) announced a 10 federal government working day period in which employers will need to take action within E-Verify on Tentative Non-confirmations (“TNCs”)...more
As we noted in a recent post, on August 21st, on August 18, 2020 U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced that as a result of EAD (“employment authorization...more
On August 9, 2019, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that over the course of the coming year it will shutter all but 7 of its 23 international offices. Offices in Beijing, Guangzhou, Nairobi, New...more
The L-1 visa regulations mandate to employers that they must file an amended L-1 visa petition: to reflect changes in approved relationships; additional qualifying organizations under a blanket petition; change in capacity...more
In this five-part series, we highlight three important USCIS policy changes and provide eight best practice tips in light of the ever-tightening U.S. immigration environment. This is the fourth installment in the...more
In this five-part series, we highlight three important USCIS policy changes and provide eight best practice tips in light of the ever-tightening U.S. immigration environment. This is the third installment in the...more
In this five-part series, we highlight three important USCIS policy changes and provide eight best practice tips in light of the ever-tightening U.S. immigration environment. This is the second installment in the series...more
In this five-part series, we highlight three important USCIS policy changes and provide eight best practice tips in light of the ever-tightening U.S. immigration environment. This is the first installment in the series. ...more
The tilt in this Administration towards harsh immigration measures is well known because of high profile moves like the travel bans and the separation and incarceration of parents and young children from Central America who...more
On March 26, 2018, Massachusetts adopted a new system for driver’s licenses and identification (Mass ID) cards to comply with the REAL ID federal standards.
Massachusetts residents now have two options for their driver’s...more
4/6/2018
/ Asylum ,
Citizenship ,
Driver's Licenses ,
Foreign Nationals ,
Passports ,
Popular ,
REAL IDs ,
State and Local Government ,
Temporary Protected Status ,
Travel ,
USCIS
From time to time, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) conducts site visits at the offices of employers petitioning for temporary work visas on behalf of their employees. These visits are funded by the $500 “anti-fraud”...more
Back in 2014, when it was clear that Congress was not going to pass bipartisan immigration reform, President Obama vowed to take whatever steps he could, short of legislation, to advance his immigration agenda, including...more
At the end of the 2016 calendar year, the Administrative Appeals Office (AAO) published a welcome precedent decision, Matter of Dhanasar, 26 I&N Dec. 884 (AAO 2016). In this case, the AAO has significantly revised the...more
In light of the general unavailability of H-1B visas due to the limited and inadequate H-1B visa quota, it is more important than ever that U.S. employers and highly skilled foreign nationals be able to take maximum advantage...more
On November 14, 2016, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) published a revised version of Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification.
Beginning January 22, 2017, employers must use only the new version of...more
Effective December 23, 2016, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) will be adjusting the fee schedule for immigration and naturalization benefit requests processed by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). DHS...more
On August 26, 2016, USCIS released the text of a proposed rule to be published in the Federal Register shortly, that provides temporary immigration relief to qualifying foreign entrepreneurs whose presence in the U.S. would...more
The Department of State released the visa bulletin for August 2016 and set cutoff dates for employment-based first preference Chinese and Indian chargeable applicants as well as second preference categories for “all other”...more
This advisory summarizes key travel and employment issues if you are an F-1 student with Optional Practical Training (OPT) employment eligibility and an H-1B change of status filing on your behalf has been accepted by US...more
In this short series on the new STEM OPT rules, Susan Cohen, Chair of Mintz Levin’s Immigration Section will examine the top takeaways for students and their employers. The second post will focus on the expansion of the...more
In this short series on the new STEM OPT rules, Susan Cohen, Chair of Mintz Levin’s Immigration Section will examine the top takeaways for students and their employers. The first post will focus on the timing rules related to...more
On April 7, 2016, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that it had received more than enough H-1B petitions to meet the numerical limit for fiscal year 2017 cap-subject H-1B visas, which includes both...more
In a welcome move, on March 18, 2016 U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) released policy guidance for its officers to help them decide “green card portability” cases....more