Following the March 15, 2022 enactment of the EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act of 2022 (the “Integrity Act” or “RIA”), United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”), a component agency of the Department of...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has announced an important policy change that will benefit noncitizens holding Temporary Protected Status (TPS). The new policy permits USCIS to issue a new...more
On June 1, 2021, President Biden heralded the 30 days when Spring transitions into Summer as “National Immigrant Heritage Month,” by issuing a Proclamation that paid homage to immigrants’ contributions past, and offered...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: This is the final installment in a series of recommendations to the Biden Administration on immigration reform previously published by the Cato Institute in “Deregulating Legal Immigration: A Blueprint for...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: This is the fourth installment in a series of recommendations to the Biden Administration on immigration reform previously published by the Cato Institute in “Deregulating Legal Immigration: A Blueprint for...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: This is the third installment in a series of recommendations to the Biden Administration on immigration reform previously published by the Cato Institute in “Deregulating Legal Immigration: A Blueprint for...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: This is the second installment in a series of recommendations to the Biden Administration on immigration reform previously published by the Cato Institute in “Deregulating Legal Immigration: A Blueprint for...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: This is the first installment in a series of recommendations to the Biden Administration on immigration reform previously published by the Cato Institute in “Deregulating Legal Immigration: A Blueprint for...more
At the urging of President Biden, two members of Congress – Senator Robert Menendez and Representative Linda Sanchez – introduced companion 353-page bills last month in the Senate and the House entitled the “U.S. Citizenship...more
“America is back, the trans-Atlantic alliance is back.” – So declared President Biden on February 23, 2021. Apparently, however, Antony J. Blinken, the newly installed U.S. Secretary of State (DOS), didn’t get the memo. On...more
Globe-hoppers of the world, too long cabined and constrained by the pandemic, are exhilarated at the prospect of imminent foreign travel. Many have received the vaccine and are poised to fly far away for business or...more
The English nursery rhyme was wrong. Not only do sticks and stones break our bones, but words can also hurt. This is the lesson recently imparted by the Acting Director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS),...more
In its waning hours, the Trump Administration announced comprehensive, burdensome changes to H-1B visa requirements for multiple firms across virtually all industries. Fortunately, however, the changes are set to detonate on...more
With the COVID-19 pandemic still in full force, nonimmigrants traveling to the United States should expect no lifting of visa and entry bans as the Biden Administration comes to power – notwithstanding late-breaking changes...more
The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) last week affirmed the truth of the Upton Sinclair maxim on just how hard it is get someone “to understand something, when his [or her] salary...more
The trend of recent months to curtail employment-based immigration, purportedly prompted by the coronavirus pandemic, continues unabated. On August 3, 2020 President Trump issued yet another executive order, this one...more
8/7/2020
/ Department of Homeland Security (DHS) ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
E-Verify ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Contractors ,
Foreign Nationals ,
Foreign Workers ,
H-1B ,
Highly-Skilled Workers Visa ,
Immigration and Nationality Act ,
Immigration Procedures ,
Immigration Reform ,
Memorandum of Agreement ,
Subcontractors ,
Trump Administration ,
USCIS ,
Visas
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced a policy change on July 6 that will substantially disrupt higher education for the fall semester. This major change in policy was issued without any opportunity for...more
7/9/2020
/ Colleges ,
Customs and Border Protection ,
F-1 Visa ,
Foreign Exchange Students ,
Foreign Students ,
Immigration Procedures ,
M-1 Visa ,
Online Education ,
SEVP ,
Trump Administration ,
Universities ,
US Department of State
We’ve seen this movie before.
Scene 1: The President issues a proclamation in reliance on his authority to restrict the entry of certain noncitizens under Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) § 212(f) so long as he...more
7/9/2020
/ Exceptions ,
Executive Orders ,
Foreign Nationals ,
H-1B ,
Immigration and Nationality Act ,
Immigration Reform ,
L-1 Visas ,
Presidential Proclamations ,
Travel Ban ,
Trump Administration ,
Visas
In the wake of recent losses in the federal courts, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) – on June 17, 2020 – issued a memorandum that rescinds two agency policies which, for more than ten years, had forced...more
6/25/2020
/ Bona Fide Relationship Test ,
Deregulation ,
Filing Requirements ,
Foreign Workers ,
H-1B ,
Highly-Skilled Workers Visa ,
Immigration Procedures ,
Immigration Reform ,
Popular ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
USCIS
On June 16, 2020, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) once again announced a 30-day extension of flexibility for the remote completion of Form I-9 (Employment Eligibility Verification), and a dispensation from the...more
6/22/2020
/ Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) ,
E-Verify ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Eligibility Verification ,
Foreign Workers ,
Form I-9 ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Immigrants ,
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) ,
Immigration Procedures ,
Relief Measures ,
Required Forms ,
USCIS
Much like patient vintners, federal immigration agencies often take time to offer up a grand cru. One such agency, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), the Homeland Security component that administers the legal...more
Seyfarth Blog Synopsis: In today’s posting we discuss the impact that furloughs and layoffs may have on F-1 student workers and related employer obligations....more
Seyfarth Blog Synopsis: In today’s posting we discuss the impact that COVID-19 related changes in working conditions, furloughs and layoffs have on businesses with employees currently working on H-1B, H-1B1 or E-3 work...more
4/13/2020
/ Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Corporate Counsel ,
E-3 ,
Furloughs ,
H-1B ,
H-1B1 ,
Immigration Procedures ,
Labor Condition Applications ,
Telecommuting ,
Visas ,
Wage and Hour
Seyfarth Synopsis: COVID-19 has upended the world. Governments and businesses are racing to respond. The US legal immigration system for sponsoring and employing noncitizens is no exception. American employers must plan...more
3/16/2020
/ Best Practices ,
Business Continuity Plans ,
China ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Crisis Management ,
Emergency Management Plans ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Foreign Nationals ,
Health and Safety ,
Immigrants ,
Immigration Procedures ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Policies and Procedures ,
Public Health ,
Risk Management ,
Workplace Safety
President Trump’s October 9, 2019 overtures landed as music to the ears of many a grizzled immigration lawyer who persistently suffers battle fatigue from the culture of virtually never. On that day the President released a...more