The U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Foreign Labor Certification (OFLC) has released assignment groups for H-2B applications requesting an employment start date of October 1, 2024....more
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) recently announced that as of March 7, 2024, the H-2B cap had been reached for the second half of fiscal year (FY) 2024....more
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has updated its policy manual to clarify the circumstances under which the agency, in its discretion, may forgive a failure to timely file a nonimmigrant extension of stay or...more
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) recently announced that as of January 9, 2024, the additional returning H-2B worker allotment of 20,716 visas for the first half of fiscal year (FY) 2024 (October 1, 2023, to...more
On December 28, 2023, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) published a final rule increasing the filing fees to be paid for its premium processing services....more
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) have announced that they plan to make an additional 64,716 H-2B visas available for fiscal year (FY) 2024. The announcement should bring...more
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) recently announced that as of October 11, 2023, the H-2B cap for nonagricultural workers had been reached for the first half of fiscal year 2024....more
On the heels of the U.S. Department of Labor’s announcing plans to revise its H-2A program, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is proposing amendments to its H-2A and H-2B regulations. The proposed changes would...more
The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has announced that it is working to update and improve the protections available to H-2A workers. The proposed changes would include both worker protection measures and compliance and...more
Florida’s Senate Bill (SB) 1718 went into effect on July 1, 2023. One section of the new law—which criminalized the transport into the State of Florida of individuals who entered the United States without inspection—now faces...more
On May 10, 2023, Governor Ron DeSantis signed into law Senate Bill (SB) 1718, immigration-related legislation that will require employers to use the E-Verify system and will impose criminal penalties on individuals...more
The Florida legislature recently passed Senate Bill (SB) 1718 , which, if signed into law, would require both private employers with twenty-five or more employees and public employers in Florida to use the E-Verify system to...more
Senate Bill (SB) 1718 has been approved by both chambers of the Florida Legislature, but section 787.07, which had included criminal penalties for transporting undocumented immigrants, has been modified. While the bill had...more
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) recently announced that as of March 30, 2023, the supplemental H-2B cap for returning workers had been reached for the early second half of fiscal year (FY) 2023.
As part...more
The Florida Legislature recently introduced legislation (Senate Bill (SB) 1718) that would ramp up the penalties imposed on counties and municipalities that “knowingly employ, hire, recruit, or refer, either for herself or...more
A bill working its way through the Florida Legislature would criminalize the “knowing[] and willful[]” transportation of undocumented immigrants “into or within” the state. If enacted, Senate Bill (SB) 1718 could impact...more
Effective November 9, 2017, new regulations took effect limiting U.S. travel and trade with Cuba.
Decades ago, the United States imposed a commercial embargo on Cuba. The embargo existed in one form or another until 2015,...more
Since 2004, the U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS) has adhered to a policy of deferring to prior determinations when adjudicating petitions for extensions of nonimmigrant status. Its memorandum of October 23,...more
Efforts to reform our nation’s immigration system through legislation are frequently contentious and can become embroiled in larger legislative debates that make the passage of a bill into law a complicated process and,...more
With the annual H-1B visa cap posing considerable staffing issues for U.S. employers requiring highly skilled workers, multinational corporations may increasingly turn to the L-1 visa to meet their need for knowledgeable,...more
Under existing law, employers are required to verify the identities and employment eligibility of employees hired after November 6, 1986, by completing the Form I-9. In addition, employers cannot discriminate against workers...more