Beginning January 30, 2023, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will accept Form I-907, Request for Premium Processing Service, for Form I-140, Immigrant Petition for Alien Workers E-13 (EB-1C) multinational...more
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) recently published fiscal year (FY) 2023 H-1B cap registration statistics, confirming that more than 48,000 prospective petitioners submitted 483,927 registrations - an...more
The H-2B program is available to employers that can demonstrate a temporary need to supplement their staffs based on a one-time, seasonal, intermittent, or peak-load need basis. The program is generally used by employers with...more
On September 13, 2021, the U.S. Department of State issued the Visa Bulletin for October 2021, which showed minor advancement on priority for backlogged filings of employment-based (EB) immigrant visa (green card)...more
9/28/2021
/ EB-1 ,
EB-2 ,
EB-3 ,
Foreign Nationals ,
Green Cards ,
I-485 Applications ,
Immigration Procedures ,
US Department of State ,
USCIS ,
Visa Bulletins ,
Visas ,
Work Visas
On July 22, 2021, the Biden administration extended travel restrictions affecting travel between U.S., Canadian, and Mexican land ports of entry until August 21, 2021. In so doing, the Biden administration confirmed that it...more
8/5/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
Canada ,
Consulate ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Cross-Border Transactions ,
Customs and Border Protection ,
Mexico ,
Non-Essential Businesses ,
Travel Ban ,
Travel Restrictions ,
Traveling Employee ,
Virus Testing
Effective June 1, 2021, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has expanded and extended ongoing flexibility for employers complying with certain I-9 employment eligibility verification requirements due to ongoing...more
On February 24, 2021, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that it reached the H-2B cap for the second half of fiscal year (FY) 2021. The cap was officially reached on February 12, 2021. USCIS explained...more
On March 20, 2020, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced their intent to relax the requirements for performing in-person verification of documents...more
On December 1, 2020, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California granted a motion for summary judgment in favor of the plaintiffs that had requested to set aside two new regulations from the U.S....more
12/2/2020
/ Administrative Procedure Act ,
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
E-3 ,
H-1B ,
H-1B1 ,
Interim Rule ,
Motion for Summary Judgment ,
NPRM ,
PERM ,
Prevailing Wages ,
Wage and Hour
COVID-19 has had significant implications on how employers engage a workforce—particularly with respect to U.S. immigration. The employment changes caused by the pandemic, combined with President Donald Trump’s recent...more
7/8/2020
/ Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Executive Orders ,
H-1B ,
H-2B ,
Immigration Procedures ,
J-1 Visas ,
L-Visas ,
Non-Immigrant Visas ,
Professional Employer Organization ,
Remote Working ,
Risk Assessment ,
Travel Restrictions
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) recently announced that it will consider granting a second 30-day period of Satisfactory Departure to Visa Waiver Program (VWP) travelers who were already granted Satisfactory...more
On April 2, 2020, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced that it is holding off on plans to issue additional H-2B visas. DHS had previously agreed to make an additional 35,000 visas available to seasonal...more
Employers are facing numerous issues in light of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, including remote work, temporary office closures, furloughs, and layoffs. These issues may have particular implications for U.S....more
The U.S. Department of State announced on March 18, 2020, that it has suspended all routine visa services, including immigrant and nonimmigrant visa appointments, in most countries worldwide. It is not yet known how long the...more
Beginning March 16, 2020, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) began allowing certain travelers the opportunity to make a Satisfactory Departure request directly at a port of entry if, due to COVID-19–related travel...more
After a tumultuous filing period for the second half of fiscal year (FY) 2019, employers that rely on H-2B seasonal workers received some good news. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has agreed to issue up to...more
A few weeks before H-1Bs will be filed subject to a random lottery, an Oregon judge dismissed a lawsuit challenging the H-1B lottery system, granting summary judgment to United States Citizenship and Immigration Services...more
On January 17, 2017, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) published a final rule in the Federal Register to “implement the Secretary of Homeland Security’s discretionary parole authority in order to increase and...more
On December 29, 2016, the Board of Alien Labor Certification Appeals (BALCA) issued its decision in the Matter of Unisoft International, Inc., d/b/a SMA (“the Employer”), sending a signal to employers concerning their burden...more
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) service centers are experiencing severe delays in processing immigration cases due to an overwhelming backlog. USCIS has not publicly identified the cause of the delays or...more
On December 18, 2015, the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2016 (the Act) was signed into law. In addition to approving funding for a broad range of federal programs and agencies, the law also enacted a number of changes to...more
On Friday, January 15, 2016, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security published a final rule—Enhancing Opportunities for H–1B1, CW–1, and E–3 Nonimmigrants and EB–1 Immigrants—in the Federal Register. The new regulations,...more
Congress has until September 30, 2015 to reach an agreement on the 2016 Fiscal Year federal budget. If an agreement to fund the federal government is not reached, immigration processes are expected to be impacted as they were...more
9/24/2015
/ Canada ,
Customs and Border Protection ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
E-Verify ,
Federal Contractors ,
Foreign Nationals ,
Form I-9 ,
H-1B ,
Labor Condition Applications ,
PERM ,
Prevailing Wages ,
Security Checks ,
USCIS ,
Visas
The U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) permanent labor certification (PERM) program requires employers to conduct specific recruiting activities to test the labor market before filing an application. The regulation at 20 CFR §...more
The best way to ensure compliance with immigration regulations is to plan as far in advance as possible and to know when it is necessary to obtain a visa. ...more