The Conrad 30 State Waiver Program is designed for international medical graduates (IMGs) who have entered the U.S. in a J-1 visa status to complete medical training and are subject to the two-year home residence requirement...more
On March 3, 2022, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced that Ukraine will be designated for Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for 18 months. TPS is available for those Ukrainian nationals who are already in the...more
We recently reported on our Immigration Blog that hospitals and medical centers, facing challenges in staffing during the pandemic, content with heightened struggles to find and hire sufficient numbers of registered...more
As hospitals and medical centers continue to face challenges in staffing during the pandemic, the struggle is heightened to find and hire sufficient numbers of registered professional nurses. In the rural and medically...more
8/18/2021
/ Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Form I-140 Petitions ,
Highly-Skilled Workers Visa ,
I-485 Applications ,
Nurses ,
Permanent Residence Cards ,
Prevailing Wages ,
Unions ,
USCIS ,
Visas
On Thursday, February 18, House Democrats introduced the Biden Administration’s Immigration Bill “The U.S. Citizenship Act.” This is an ambitious, comprehensive immigration bill that likely will not be passed as a...more
On November 2, 2020, the Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”) published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) to effectively end the random H-1B visa lottery selection process used when U.S. Citizenship and Immigration...more
11/23/2020
/ Corporate Counsel ,
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
F-1 Visa ,
H-1B ,
Immigration and Nationality Act ,
Interim Final Rules (IFR) ,
Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NOPR) ,
Trump Administration ,
USCIS ,
Visas
Many international medical graduates (IMGs) from around the world come to the U.S. each year to complete a U.S. residency program and become licensed to practice in this country, filling a significant need due to physician...more
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) H-1B Strengthening Rule and Department of Labor (DOL) Prevailing Wage Interim Final Rules were published last week, launching a 30-day comment period. Employers who hire H-1B...more
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) H-1B Strengthening Rule and Department of Labor (DOL) Prevailing Wage Interim Final Rules will be published tomorrow, launching a 30-day comment period. Employers need to take...more
On July 6, 2020, the Trump Administration announced that due to continued public safety concerns surrounding COVID-19, it is imposing far-reaching restrictions on the F-1 and J-1 programs. These restrictions have significant...more
In an effort to combat the COVID-19 pandemic and tap into available healthcare workers from around the world, on May 5, 2020 a group of six senators introduced bipartisan legislation which seeks to enhance the healthcare...more
6/23/2020
/ China ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Green Cards ,
Healthcare Workers ,
Immigrants ,
India ,
Lawful Permanent Residents ,
Nurses ,
Physicians ,
Proposed Legislation ,
USCIS
It’s strikingly apparent that the current global pandemic of COVID-19 is impacting travel and visa/immigration processes worldwide. As of right now, all USCIS processing centers for visa petitions remain open and...more
On January 23, 2020, the Federal Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit issued a scathing decision that has garnered much attention. (Baez-Sanchez v. Barr, No. 19-1642 (7th Cir. 2020). It was not the merits of the...more
1/29/2020
/ Abuse of Discretion ,
Appeals ,
Article III ,
Board of Immigration Appeals ,
Crime Victims ,
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) ,
Employee Transfers ,
H-1B ,
L-1 Visas ,
Preponderance of the Evidence ,
Remand ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Standard of Proof ,
Statutory Requirements ,
U Visas ,
Undocumented Immigrants ,
USCIS
On November 14, 2019 the Trump Administration proposed increasing the cost of filing many types of non-immigrant and immigrant visa applications. The proposed rule to implement these fees increases is currently open for...more
12/30/2019
/ 485 ,
Comment Period ,
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) ,
Fees ,
Green Cards ,
H-1B ,
Immigrants ,
Immigration Procedures ,
L-1 Visas ,
Non-Immigrant Visas ,
Proposed Rules ,
Trump Administration ,
USCIS ,
Visas
With media attention focused, and rightfully so, on the migrant crisis at our southern border, it is also important to pay attention to a more slowly-brewing crisis in our immigration policies and laws that directly affect...more
There are two main paths to Permanent Residency, or green card, for foreign national physicians. The first is the Physician National Interest Waiver (PNIW), created for those physicians who serve five years in primary care...more
5/16/2019
/ Activist ,
Administrative Backlogs ,
Conflicts of Laws ,
Green Cards ,
Highly-Skilled Workers Visa ,
Immigration Procedures ,
India ,
Labor Certifications ,
Lawful Permanent Residents ,
Physician National Interest Waiver (PNIW) ,
Physicians ,
Residency Status ,
Special Immigrant Visas ,
Trump Administration ,
USCIS
The United States health care system is struggling with an acute shortage of doctors. What does that have to do with immigration? The short answer is: Quite a lot. The longer answer leads us to an inescapable conclusion that...more
4/22/2019
/ Conrad 30 Waiver ,
Foreign Nationals ,
Health Care Providers ,
Highly-Skilled Workers Visa ,
Immigration Reform ,
International Medical Graduate (IMG) ,
J-1 Visas ,
Labor Shortage ,
Physicians ,
Rural Areas ,
Rural Health Care Providers ,
Trump Administration
New legislation impacting international medical graduates would extend the Conrad State 30 program until 2021, improve the process for obtaining a visa, and allow for additional slots if certain thresholds are met. The bill...more
4/12/2019
/ Healthcare Facilities ,
Immigration Reform ,
International Medical Graduate (IMG) ,
J-1 Visas ,
Physicians ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Residency Requirements ,
Rural Areas ,
Rural Health Care Providers ,
Underserved Locations ,
Visa Waiver Program
It's March and here we are in the middle of another H-1B cap season. So I did what I do almost every day this time of year: I got up to head in to the office. But first I went for a run to clear my head. It is Saturday. It is...more
4/8/2019
/ Foreign Nationals ,
Foreign Workers ,
H-1B ,
Highly-Skilled Workers Visa ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Immigration Procedures ,
L-1 Visas ,
O-1 Aliens of Extraordinary Ability ,
OPT ,
Request for Evidence (RFEs) ,
STEM ,
USCIS ,
Visa Caps
In this series, Partner Danielle Rizzo explores how several small changes to student visa policy by the Trump Administration are having a major impact on the international student population in the United States. These...more
1/23/2019
/ Adjustment of Status ,
Colleges ,
Deportation ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
F-1 Visa ,
Foreign Students ,
H-1B ,
Immigration Procedures ,
Immigration Reform ,
OPT ,
Resident Status ,
STEM ,
Students ,
Trump Administration ,
Universities ,
Unlawful Presence Waivers ,
USCIS ,
Work Visas
In this series, Partner Danielle Rizzo explores how several small changes to student visa policy by the Trump Administration are having a major impact on the international student population in the United States. These...more
1/16/2019
/ Colleges ,
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) ,
Deportation ,
F-1 Visa ,
Foreign Students ,
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) ,
Immigration Reform ,
J-1 Visas ,
M-1 Visa ,
Notice to Appear ,
Residency Status ,
Trump Administration ,
Universities ,
USCIS
In this series, Partner Danielle Rizzo explores how several small changes to student visa policy by the Trump Administration are having a major impact on the international student population in the United States. These...more
1/10/2019
/ Colleges ,
Drivers ,
eBay ,
F-1 Visa ,
Foreign Nationals ,
Internships ,
J-1 Visas ,
Lyft ,
Minor Violations ,
Resident Status ,
Students ,
Trump Administration ,
Uber ,
Universities ,
Unlawful Presence Waivers ,
Unpaid Interns ,
USCIS