The US Department of State announced on December 21 the launch of a stateside visa renewal pilot program, which will be limited to approximately 20,000 nonimmigrant visa holders during its initial pilot run, which starts on...more
Employers should begin evaluating their H-1B needs for fiscal year (FY) 2025. Each January, US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) releases dates for the H-1B cap registration processes, with registration generally...more
As part of our Spotlight series, we invited Shannon Donnelly, a partner in our Washington, DC office who works with clients on a wide range of complex global immigration and mobility issues, to discuss the proposed H1B...more
The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) recently released a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) with respect to the regulations governing the H-1B nonimmigrant visa classification. The proposed rule seeks to improve the...more
Employers should begin assessing their H-1B needs for fiscal year (FY) 2024 now. Each year, US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) releases dates for the H-1B cap registration processes by the end of January, with...more
The Biden-Harris administration has allowed Presidential Proclamation 10052 (PP 10052) to expire as of March 31. PP 10052, implemented by the previous administration in June 2020, had suspended the issuance of certain...more
4/2/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Foreign Nationals ,
Foreign Workers ,
H-1B ,
H-2B ,
H-4 ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Immigration Procedures ,
Infectious Diseases ,
J-1 Visas ,
L-1 Visas ,
Non-Immigrant Visas ,
Presidential Proclamations ,
USCIS ,
Visas
Following the inauguration of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, President Biden signed several executive orders related to immigration. And, as promised by the Biden transition team, the Biden...more
1/22/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
DACA ,
Deportation ,
Executive Orders ,
Foreign Nationals ,
Foreign Workers ,
H-1B ,
Immigrants ,
Immigration Reform ,
Muslims ,
National Origin Discrimination ,
Regulatory Freeze ,
Travel Ban
US President Donald Trump has extended the entry ban on H-1B, H-2B, L-1, and specific J-1 statuses as well as certain immigrant entries through March 31, 2021. The original proclamations were set to expire on December 31,...more
1/7/2021
/ Foreign Workers ,
H-1B ,
H-2B ,
Highly-Skilled Workers Visa ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Immigrants ,
Immigration Procedures ,
Immigration Reform ,
J-1 Visas ,
L-1 ,
Trump Administration ,
USCIS ,
Visas
With successive presidential proclamations and executive orders in recent months, there can be considerable confusion around what type of immigration petitions and applications can be filed, and who can enter the United...more
8/12/2020
/ Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Foreign Nationals ,
Foreign Workers ,
H-1B ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Immigrants ,
Immigration Procedures ,
L-1 Visas ,
O Visa Petitions ,
PERM ,
TN-Visas ,
Travel Restrictions ,
USCIS ,
Visa Applications ,
Visas
President Donald Trump on June 22 issued an amendment to the Presidential Proclamation previously released in April, which suspended the admission of immigrant aliens to the United States. The amendment limits entry into the...more
The US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced Friday that it will resume premium processing for certain petitions in phases over the next month....more
As employers prepare plans to handle possible alternate employee work arrangements in light of the 2019 Novel Coronavirus outbreak, it is important to keep in mind how these plans and policies—including telework policies—may...more
3/5/2020
/ Best Practices ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Corporate Counsel ,
E-1 ,
E-2 ,
E-3 ,
F-1 Visa ,
Foreign Nationals ,
Foreign Workers ,
H-1B ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Immigrants ,
Immigration Enforcement ,
Immigration Procedures ,
Infectious Diseases ,
L-1 Visas ,
Labor Condition Applications ,
O Visa Petitions ,
OPT ,
Public Health ,
Remote Working ,
Risk Management ,
SEVIS ,
STEM ,
Telecommuting ,
TN-Visas ,
USCIS ,
Visas
The US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced on December 6 that it completed testing of the new electronic registration system, and will be implementing the system in the upcoming fiscal year 2021 H-1B cap...more
The US District Court for the Southern District of New York on October 11 enjoined and halted enforcement of the new public charge rule that was due to become effective October 15, 2019. The court not only enjoined the US...more
Now is the time for employers to assess their FY2020 H-1B needs and start preparing their petitions for submission on April 1. It is very likely that the cap for H-1B petitions will be reached in early April of this year, so...more
A registration program proposed by US Citizenship and Immigration Services would eliminate the need for paper filings prior to the lottery process for cap-subject H-1B petitions, and increase the chance of selection for...more
US Citizenship and Immigration Services has announced without warning that it will extend its suspension of premium processing for cap-subject H-1B petitions and, beginning September 11, expand it to include additional H-1B...more
The announcement from the US Citizenship and Immigration Services came as a surprise and could create significant uncertainty for H-1B petitioners and the beneficiaries of cap-subject H-1B petitions....more
Most operations are either fee-based or considered “essential” and are therefore expected to proceed normally.
Barring passage of an eleventh-hour spending bill, the current continuing resolution will expire on January 20...more
Now is the time for employers to assess their FY2019 H-1B needs and start preparing their petitions for submission on April 2....more
Potential change would impact three-year extensions under the American Competitiveness in the Twenty-first Century Act.
Recent press reports suggest that United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), the...more
Now is the time for employers to assess their FY2018 H-1B needs and start preparing their petitions for submission on April 3....more
The final rule adds employer obligations to the STEM OPT program.
The US Department of Homeland Security has released an advance version of its long-anticipated final rule that expands employment authorization for...more
The Proposed Rule would implement provisions of the AC21 and introduce significant reforms to the employment-based immigration process.
On New Year’s Eve 2015, US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) published a...more
Now is the time for employers to assess their FY2017 H-1B needs and to start preparing their petitions for submission on April 1.
On April 1, 2016, US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will begin accepting...more