The H-1B lottery process for professional foreign workers for Fiscal Year 2025 will be different than in prior years. In order to prepare for the highly anticipated lottery, employers will need to be aware of significant...more
Beginning January 29, 2024, under a pilot program, the U.S. Department of State will allow certain H-1B visa holders to renew their expired or expiring H-1B visas from within the United States, rather than needing to travel...more
New Form I-9 Edition; New Virtual Verification Procedure for Eligible E-Verify Employers; and Temporary Remote I-9 Flexibilities End, with Action Required by August 30, 2023....more
8/1/2023
/ 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
On January 27, 2023, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that the initial registration period for the fiscal year 2024 H-1B lottery will open on March 1, 2023 at noon EST and close on March 17,...more
2/2/2023
/ Foreign Workers ,
H-1B ,
Highly-Skilled Workers Visa ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Immigrants ,
Immigration Procedures ,
Lottery ,
OPT ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
STEM ,
USCIS ,
Visa Caps ,
Visas
On January 4, 2023, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) published a proposed rule seeking 60-day comment on proposed changes to the fee schedule for benefit requests before U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services...more
1/13/2023
/ Department of Homeland Security (DHS) ,
Filing Fees ,
Foreign Workers ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Immigrants ,
Immigration Procedures ,
Immigration Reform ,
Job Applicants ,
Proposed Rules ,
Registration Requirement ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
USCIS ,
Visas
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) published a policy alert outlining significant changes that include allowing for the automatic extension of Employment Authorization Document (EAD) validity for E, H-4 and...more
11/19/2021
/ Employment Authorization Documents (EAD) ,
Employment Eligibility Verification ,
Foreign Workers ,
H-4 ,
H-4 Spouses ,
I-94 Cards ,
Immigrants ,
Immigration Procedures ,
Immigration Reform ,
L-2 Visas ,
USCIS
The White House announced a new air travel proclamation effective November 8, 2021, that requires foreign nationals traveling to the U.S. by air be fully vaccinated for COVID-19, with limited exceptions. ...more
Starting October 1, 2021, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) and the U.S. Department of State will require COVID-19 vaccinations for applicants for refugee or lawful permanent residence (green cards), with some...more
On July 6, 2021, the U.S. Department of State announced that National Interest Exceptions (NIEs) to presidential proclamations 9984, 9992, 10143 and 10199 will now be valid for 12 months from the date of approval and allow...more
Registration Dates Announced and Rule Prioritizing Selection of Highest Wage-Level Delayed -
On February 5, 2021, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that the initial registration period for the...more
2/9/2021
/ F-1 Visa ,
Foreign Workers ,
H-1B ,
Highly-Skilled Workers Visa ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Immigrants ,
Immigration Procedures ,
Immigration Reform ,
J-1 Visas ,
L-1 Visas ,
Lottery ,
OPT ,
USCIS ,
Visa Caps ,
Visas
On August 3, 2020, the president issued Executive Order No. 13940 on Aligning Federal Contracting and Hiring Practices with the Interests of American Workers....more
This is an update to an alert from April 8, 2020.
On June 29, Arizona Governor Doug Ducey issued an executive order, entitled “Pausing of Arizona's Reopening — Slowing the Spread of COVID-19” partially implementing...more
On June 22, 2020, President Trump issued a proclamation expanding immigration restrictions, this time on the entry of foreign nationals and their family members pursuant to the employment-based H-1B, H-2B, L-1 and certain J-1...more
6/25/2020
/ Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Foreign Nationals ,
Foreign Workers ,
H-1B ,
H-2B ,
Immigration Procedures ,
J-1 Visas ,
L-1 Visas ,
Non-Immigrant Visas ,
Presidential Proclamations ,
Trump Administration ,
Visas
As the curve of COVID-19 infections begin to level off, employees recover from infections, and as government shelter-in-place and similar orders begin to expire, businesses are confronted with the complexities of returning...more
5/4/2020
/ Best Practices ,
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employer Responsibilities ,
Labor Relations ,
OSHA ,
Personal Protective Equipment ,
Popular ,
Re-Opening Guidelines ,
Return-to-Work Agreements ,
Social Distancing ,
Workplace Safety
Following a surprise announcement on Twitter, President Donald Trump signed an executive order late Wednesday, April 22, 2020, temporarily suspending the issuance of new green cards (immigrant visas) filed from abroad through...more
On March 30, Arizona Governor Doug Ducey issued an executive order, entitled "Stay Home, Stay Healthy, Stay Connected" directing all Arizona residents to remain at home through April 30 except as otherwise required to conduct...more
The coronavirus (COVID-19), declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization and as a result, President Trump has made a proclamation restricting travel into the United States and an emergency declaration to help control...more
3/16/2020
/ Business Continuity Plans ,
Business Travel ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Crisis Management ,
Emergency Management Plans ,
Foreign Nationals ,
Health and Safety ,
Immigrants ,
Immigration Procedures ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Labor Condition Applications ,
Public Health ,
Risk Management ,
Travel Ban ,
Travel Restrictions ,
Traveling Employee ,
Trump Administration ,
USCIS ,
Workplace Safety
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced on December 6, 2019 that employers seeking to file H-1B petitions for the 2021 fiscal year cap will be required to first electronically register and pay a $10 fee....more
12/11/2019
/ Conditional Job Offers ,
Foreign Workers ,
H-1B ,
Highly-Skilled Workers Visa ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Immigrants ,
Immigration Procedures ,
Immigration Reform ,
Job Applicants ,
Lottery ,
Registration Requirement ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Trump Administration ,
USCIS ,
Vetting ,
Visa Caps ,
Visas
After a hiatus, the Social Security Administration (SSA) announced that "No Match" letters will return this spring. These informational notices are sent to employers who submit wage and tax statements with a name and social...more
As Congress and the Trump Administration have been unable to pass a federal spending bill due to the stalemate related to funding of the Southern border wall and border security, the federal government has temporarily shut...more
1/9/2019
/ Department of Labor (DOL) ,
E-Verify ,
Federal Budget ,
Federal Funding ,
Foreign Workers ,
Government Shutdown ,
Immigrants ,
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) ,
Immigration Procedures ,
Political Debates ,
Trump Administration ,
Undocumented Immigrants ,
US-Mexico Border Wall ,
USCIS
On August 28, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that they will extend and expand the suspension of premium processing for certain types of H-1B petitions in order to prioritize time sensitive and...more
As Congress has been unable to pass a federal spending bill, the federal government has temporarily shut down. We are closely monitoring the situation and will provide updates as information becomes available. Our...more
1/22/2018
/ Department of Labor (DOL) ,
E-Verify ,
Employment Eligibility Verification ,
Federal Budget ,
Foreign Workers ,
Form I-9 ,
Government Shutdown ,
H-1B ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) ,
Immigration Procedures ,
Labor Condition Applications ,
PERM ,
USCIS
On September 5, 2017, the Department of Justice announced the wind-down of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival (DACA) program. The federal program, created under President Barack Obama's administration, provided work...more
9/11/2017
/ DACA ,
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) ,
Deportation ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Authorization Documents (EAD) ,
Executive Orders ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Immigration Procedures ,
Immigration Reform ,
Obama Administration ,
Path To Citizenship ,
Trump Administration ,
USCIS
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) released yet another version of the Form I-9 on July 17, 2017. The latest version includes minor revisions to the Instructions and the Lists of Acceptable Documents....more