On July 17, 2024, the Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO) launched a new electronic system and portal, MyCIPO Patents, as part of its Next Generation Patents initiative. The launch has been fraught with difficulties,...more
USCIS is processing naturalization cases faster than they have in years, and the agency is managing to cut down on its naturalization backlog. Given the current average timing, eligible green card holders who applied early in...more
With the IRS showing no sign of lifting its moratorium on processing Employee Retention Tax Credit (ERC) claims filed after September 14, 2023, businesses whose unpaid, legitimate ERC claims are older than six months should...more
Attend the conference where Administrative Law practitioners – from across Canada and across sectors – come to find clarity in decision making. Canada’s administrative law sector continues to evolve to new demands. Backlogs,...more
In a memorandum dated April 19, 2022, the Internal Revenue Service’s (IRS) Independent Office of Appeals (IRS Appeals) acknowledged that it has a large backlog of cases that is slowing down the process of resolving cases with...more
The Maryland Legislature passed House Bill 649 (“HB 649”) addressing Clean Water Act National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (“NPDES”) permits....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
Congress unveiled the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2022 on Wednesday, March 9, 2022. The roughly $1.5 trillion “omnibus” would entirely fund the federal government through Sept. 30, 2022, and provide economic,...more
Last week, court reform took a giant step forward in New York State when Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Brad Hoylman and Assembly Judiciary Committee Chair Charles D. Lavine introduced a proposed constitutional amendment to...more
Over the past several years, employment authorization and Advance Parole travel authorization could be applied for together as part of the permanent resident green card process without an additional fee. Beginning in February...more
One of the themes of this year’s USCIS Ombudsman Annual Report is that the agency has been through “a year like no other.” USCIS faced “unprecedented challenges.” With the COVID-19 pandemic came temporary office closures,...more
Nearly half of the 20 million veterans in the United States use at least one government benefit or service offered by U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (commonly known as the “VA”). Many of these veterans have developed...more
On March 23, 2020, California Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of California Tani Cantil-Sakauye issued a statewide order suspending all jury trials, criminal and civil, for 60 days. On March 30, she issued another order...more
USCIS may be close to negotiating an agreement that would mean EADs for thousands of foreign nationals with approved applications will finally start to be produced. Yet, first-time EAD applicants who are in H-4 or L-2...more
Like many states around the country, North Carolina placed a moratorium on eviction proceedings to allow its citizens to stay in place during the shelter-in-place order due to the Coronavirus pandemic. Also like many other...more
On March 17, 2020, in response to COVID-19, Chief Judge Janet DiFiore closed all New York State Courts for nonessential services, which effectively shut down the majority of cases pending before the courts and prevented the...more
Although newly released data from the Office of Medicare Hearings and Appeals (OMHA) suggests that the Medicare claim appeals backlog might be decreasing, OMHA's case processing time and recent litigation challenging the...more
In response to heightened Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) activity since 2012, federal agencies have increased their FOIA staff by 21%. This staffing increase has contributed to a nearly 70% surge in federal government...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: On February 4, 2020, EEOC Chair Janet Dhillon’s released a list of priorities for the Commission in 2020. While the priorities primarily focus on continuing to seek justice for workers raising claims of...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: On November 19, 2019, the EEOC released its inaugural “Agency Financial Report” (“AFR”) for Fiscal Year 2019. Substantively, the AFR is a data compilation regarding the EEOC’s financial health,...more
According to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the extended government shutdown earlier this year, as well as the ongoing crisis at the southern border with Mexico, has resulted in a processing backlog of Trusted...more
Earlier this month the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act (H.R. 1044), an act that would radically change the way employment-based immigrant visas are allocated by eliminating...more
California Cannabis Cultivators Stuck Without Licenses: Ab-97 Gives Some Relief, but Immediate Stop-Gap Measures Still Necessary - Over the past few months, thousands of California cannabis farms that had been operating...more
The House Judiciary Committee Subcommittee on Immigration and Citizenship called upon Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officials to explain and report on the delays in immigration processing in a hearing on July 16,...more