Employers wishing to sponsor a candidate for an H-1B visa in Fiscal Year (FY) 2025 are approaching an important time of year. United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) recently announced the H-1B cap lottery...more
2/8/2024
/ Corporate Counsel ,
Foreign Workers ,
H-1B ,
Highly-Skilled Workers Visa ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Immigrants ,
Immigration Procedures ,
Job Applicants ,
Lottery ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
USCIS ,
Visa Caps ,
Visas
United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) recently announced all available visas in the Fiscal Year 2024 H-1B lottery program have been utilized. Each year, 65,000 H-1B visas are available for positions...more
The Department of State (DOS) appears primed to renew the practice of domestic visa renewal for at least some foreign nationals in 2024. DOS sent a Federal Register notice titled Pilot Program to Resume Renewal of H-1B...more
11/9/2023
/ Federal Pilot Programs ,
Foreign Nationals ,
Foreign Workers ,
H-1B ,
Highly-Skilled Workers Visa ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Immigrants ,
Immigration Procedures ,
Immigration Reform ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Renewal Options ,
US Department of State ,
USCIS ,
Visas
United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has instituted a revised Form I-9 that is mandatory for all employers, starting November 1, 2023.
USCIS announced the new version in August, in part to aid with...more
In an effort to address the ongoing Employment Authorization Document (more commonly known as an “EAD”) processing backlog, USCIS recently announced it would lengthen the maximum validity period for certain EAD categories to...more
10/11/2023
/ Adjustment of Status ,
Employment Authorization Documents (EAD) ,
Foreign Nationals ,
Foreign Workers ,
Green Cards ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Immigrants ,
Immigration Procedures ,
USCIS ,
Validity ,
Visas
On May 4, 2022, the Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”) issued a rule temporarily increasing the Employment Authorization Document (“EAD”) automatic extension period for certain renewal applicants. Under the temporary...more
9/6/2023
/ Department of Homeland Security (DHS) ,
E-Verify ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Authorization Documents (EAD) ,
Employment Eligibility Verification ,
Filing Deadlines ,
Form I-9 ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Immigration Procedures ,
Popular ,
Required Forms ,
USCIS
Last month, DHS announced E-Verify employers would be eligible to utilize an alternative remote document verification procedure when completing Section 2 of Form I-9, starting August 1, 2023. Only a few days later, DHS...more
8/22/2023
/ Department of Homeland Security (DHS) ,
E-Verify ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Eligibility Verification ,
Foreign Workers ,
Form I-9 ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Immigrants ,
Immigration Procedures ,
Required Forms ,
USCIS
USCIS recently announced the annual registration period for the FY2024 H-1B cap will open at noon (ET) on March 1, 2023, and remain open until noon (ET) on March 17, 2023. Registration is an annual electronic process through...more
It is no secret that certain sectors of U.S. employers have engaged in significant layoffs over the last six months. Meta—the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp—laid off more than 11,000 employees in November...more
1/17/2023
/ Adjustment of Status ,
E-3 ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Foreign Nationals ,
Foreign Workers ,
Green Cards ,
H-1B ,
H-1B1 ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Immigration Procedures ,
Layoffs ,
Visas
Employers wishing to sponsor a candidate for an H-1B visa in Fiscal Year 2024 are approaching an important time of year. United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is expected to announce the H-1B cap...more
Since its introduction in 2001, the Premium Processing service offered by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) has seen notable changes. Premium Processing was originally introduced as an option for certain...more
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) announced a Temporary Final Rule that will increase the 180-day automatic extension period for some Employment Authorization Documents (“EADs”) to 540 days beyond the EAD’s...more
5/11/2022
/ Employment Authorization Documents (EAD) ,
Employment Eligibility Verification ,
Final Rules ,
Foreign Workers ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Immigrants ,
Immigration Procedures ,
Immigration Reform ,
Temporary Regulations ,
Time Extensions ,
USCIS
Last week, USCIS announced the H-1B visa cap registration deadlines for FY2023. Registration is mandatory for employers wishing to sponsor a candidate for an H-1B visa in the FY2023 H-1B cap cycle. Registration is an annual...more
Last month, President Joe Biden (“President Biden”) wrapped up his first 100 days as President of the United States – focusing on a myriad of issues from the Coronavirus pandemic (“COVID-19”) to America’s immigration system....more
5/20/2021
/ DACA ,
Foreign Nationals ,
Green Cards ,
H-1B ,
H-2B ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Immigration Procedures ,
Immigration Reform ,
J-1 Visas ,
L-1 Visas ,
Popular ,
Presidential Proclamations ,
Prevailing Wages ,
Public Charge ,
USCIS ,
Wage and Hour
After federal courts blocked their first attempt in December, the U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) recently published a new final rule seeking to again increase the minimum wage paid to foreign workers when sponsored for an...more
1/25/2021
/ Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Foreign Workers ,
H-1B ,
Highly-Skilled Workers Visa ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Immigrants ,
Immigration Procedures ,
Immigration Reform ,
Labor Regulations ,
Minimum Wage ,
PERM ,
Prevailing Wages ,
USCIS ,
Visas ,
Wage and Hour
COVID-19 has affected nearly all areas of immigration, including the speed at which the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) is able to produce the Employment Authorization Document (“EAD card”). ...more
It’s official, almost. Implementation of the new H-1B filing process for 2020 is fast approaching and more details have been released. DHS published a notice in the Federal Register on January 9, 2020, which officially...more
1/29/2020
/ Department of Homeland Security (DHS) ,
Foreign Workers ,
H-1B ,
Highly-Skilled Workers Visa ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Immigration Procedures ,
Immigration Reform ,
Lottery ,
New Regulations ,
USCIS ,
Visas
Employers who file I-129 petitions to sponsor foreign nationals for work visas make a number of representations to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) about the terms of the foreign national’s employment,...more
11/20/2019
/ Buy America ,
Domestic Hiring Policy ,
E-1 ,
E-2 ,
Enforcement Guidance ,
Executive Orders ,
FDNS ,
Foreign Nationals ,
Foreign Workers ,
Fraud and Abuse ,
Hiring & Firing ,
I-129 ,
Immigrants ,
Immigration Procedures ,
Immigration Reform ,
Investigations ,
Trump Administration ,
USCIS ,
Visas
PERM can be one of the most confusing and frustrating portions of the employment-based Green Card process for employers. PERM is driven by numerous regulatory requirements and the slightest mistake can doom a Green Card...more
7/11/2019
/ Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Filing Requirements ,
Foreign Workers ,
Green Cards ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Immigration Procedures ,
Job Applicants ,
Labor Certifications ,
PERM ,
Prevailing Wages ,
Recruitment Policies ,
USCIS ,
Visas ,
Wage and Hour
Many of our clients rely on temporary labor solutions and outsourcing of certain functions to contractors to make their businesses work. While these workers are not your direct employees, their presence on your site doing...more
The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced on March 7, 2013, that it is releasing a revised Form I-9 effective March 8, 2013. The form, which must be used to verify the work authorization of all...more