The Department of State released the September 2024 Visa Bulletin. USCIS will continue to accept employment-based Adjustment of Status applications based on the Final Action Dates chart. Most Employment-Based Categories will...more
The Department of State released the April 2024 Visa Bulletin. USCIS will continue to accept employment-based Adjustment of Status applications based on the Final Action Dates chart. Most employment-based categories will...more
Each month, federal immigration authorities publish a list of dates informing immigrant visa applicants when they should expect to be notified to assemble and submit required documentation to government officials. This...more
The Department of State released the May 2023 Visa Bulletin. There are a few notable developments for employment-based applicants, including further retrogression and expected retrogression for several categories: - USCIS...more
The public will need to wait longer to obtain information about fired police officers and potentially other public employee terminations due to a recent Commonwealth Court ruling. As an exception to an exemption, the...more
The U.S. Department of State publishes a Visa Bulletin in the middle of each month that contains information related to current immigrant visa availability for the following month. We explain the importance of the Bulletin...more
The U.S. Department of State publishes a Visa Bulletin in the middle of each month that contains information related to current immigrant visa availability (i.e., ability to apply for the final step of the Permanent Residency...more
In the March 2020 Visa Bulletin issued by the US Department of State, EB-2 worldwide employment-based classifications, excluding China and India, remain available and current; the Dates for Filing Chart sees no advancement;...more
In a case explaining what comprises an “applicant delay” in the context of a patent term adjustment (PTA), the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit sided with the US Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) ruling that the...more
In 2016, DOI Secretarial Order 3338 imposed a moratorium on new coal leases on federal land until BLM prepared a programmatic environmental impact statement intended to address, among other issues, the impact of coal leasing...more
The U.S. Department of Energy’s recently-proposed grid resiliency rule offers new hope for nearly-extinct coal plants and endangered nuclear power plants operating in competitive organized wholesale power markets and, if...more
On March 1st, the revised Arbitration Rules of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) took effect. The revised Rules seek to enhance time and cost efficiency as well as transparency, and will apply to all arbitrations...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) has just issued a Regulatory Guidance Letter which provides to property owners (including developers) the right of appeal USACE Approved Jurisdictional...more
The United States Supreme Court has handed regulated parties their second win in four years concerning when they can take EPA and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to court over wetlands permitting issues. In 2012, the...more
CONGRESS FINDS THE FORMULA TO REFORM CHEMICAL REGULATION - The Toxic Substance Control Act (TSCA) is the primary federal law by which the manufacture, import and use of chemical substances are regulated in the United...more
On Monday, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office published a notice in the Federal Register (81 Fed. Reg. 44845) regarding the initiation of a new pilot program intended to enhance patent practice during the period after the...more
On July 11, 2016, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) published a notice detailing the initiation of the Post-Prosecution Pilot Program (P3). As implemented, the P3 provides an additional path forward for...more
The USPTO has launched a new after final program available starting July 11, 2016. The Post-Prosecution Pilot Program (P3) combines features of the After Final Consideration Pilot 2.0 (AFCP 2.0) and Pre-Appeal Brief...more
A somewhat surprising decision in favor of the State of Texas was handed down from the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals on June 27, 2016, which held that (i) Texas had standing to challenge the Equal Employment Opportunity...more
The Supreme Court of the United States issued decisions in three cases on May 31, 2016: Army Corps of Engineers v. Hawkes, No. 15-290: Three mining companies sought a permit under the Clean Water Act seeking to...more
According to the trade press, today’s argument in Army Corps of Engineers v. Hawkes did not go well for the government. Pretty much the entire Court was seen as likely to conclude that Corps jurisdictional determinations are...more
On February 22, 2016, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB” or the “Bureau”) published its Final Policy Statement (“Final Policy”) on No-Action Letters (“NALs”). The Final Policy follows a Proposed Policy on...more
On Jan. 8, 2016, in Global Tower Assets, LLC v. Town of Rome, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit held that a wireless permit applicant must go through all administrative appeals required by local law before there...more
In Board of Education of Springfield School District No. 186 v. Attorney General of Illinois et al., 2015 IL App (4th) 140941, the Illinois Appellate Court upheld a trial court's reversal of two Illinois Attorney General...more
USPTO Extends After Final Consideration Pilot 2.0 Program - Last week, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office indicated on its website and through a Patents Alert e-mail that the After Final Consideration Pilot 2.0 (AFCP...more