The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) published the new edition of the Form I-9 and employers are required to use this new version starting on November 1, 2023....more
U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that the registration period for this year’s H-1B lottery will begin at noon Eastern time on March 1, 2022 and will end at noon Eastern time on March 18, 2022. All...more
On October 25, 2021, the White House issued a new Presidential Proclamation (the “Proclamation”) which rescinds the existing COVID-19 travel restrictions effective November 8, 2021 at 12:01AM EST. This Proclamation replaces...more
On July 6, 2021, the U.S. Department of State announced that the validity period for National Interest Exceptions (NIEs) to COVID-19 Travel Restrictions will now be valid for 12 months from the date of approval and would...more
President Biden signed a new Presidential Proclamation, which adds the Republic of India to the list of countries subject to travel restrictions for noncitizens of the United States amid the COVID-19 pandemic. This...more
In February 2020, as a result of the COVID-19 global pandemic, former President Trump signed a Presidential Proclamation that instituted travel restrictions on foreign nationals traveling to the U.S. from certain countries,...more
3/5/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Critical Infrastructure Sectors ,
Foreign Nationals ,
International Travel ,
Ireland ,
National Security ,
Presidential Proclamations ,
Rescission ,
Travel Restrictions ,
Trump Administration ,
UK ,
US Department of State
This is an exciting time of the year, both as a baseball fan and as an immigration attorney. Pitchers and catchers have reported to their teams’ spring training facilities in Florida and Arizona....more
On January 8th, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security published a final rule which will modify the H-1B lottery system. The final rule will prioritize H-1B petitions that offer Level IV wages based on the Department of...more
In October, the Department of Labor (DOL) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued two interim final rules that would negatively, and significantly, impact how H-1B nonimmigrant “specialty occupation” visa...more
12/3/2020
/ Department of Homeland Security (DHS) ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Foreign Workers ,
H-1B ,
Highly-Skilled Workers Visa ,
Immigration Procedures ,
Interim Final Rules (IFR) ,
Prevailing Wages ,
Summary Judgment ,
Trump Administration ,
Visas
In June, President Trump issued a proclamation that suspended the issuance of certain nonimmigrant visas and required the Secretaries of Labor and Homeland Security to provide recommendations on measures to protect the U.S....more
On Wednesday, April 1, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) issued a temporary federal rule that provides additional guidance regarding how employers should implement the protections afforded under the Emergency Paid Sick Leave...more
Under federal law, employers and new hires must complete the Form I-9 Employment Eligibility Verification process to ensure that all employees employed in the United States are lawfully authorized for employment. This...more
U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS) confirmed it will utilize a new electronic registration system for the Fiscal Year 2021 H-1B lottery. By way of background, the H-1B visa program allows companies in the United...more
1/15/2020
/ Electronic Filing ,
Employment Authorization Documents (EAD) ,
F-1 Visa ,
Foreign Nationals ,
H-1B ,
H-4 Spouses ,
Highly-Skilled Workers Visa ,
Immigration Procedures ,
L-1 Visas ,
Lottery ,
OPT ,
Registration Requirement ,
STEM ,
TN-Visas ,
USCIS ,
Visa Caps ,
Visas
With the potential to positively impact almost 300,000 Indian nationals living in the U.S. who are waiting for green cards (and to a somewhat lesser extent, Chinese nationals who are also waiting for green cards), the U.S....more
Update: On May 1, 2019, the EEOC announced that in mid-July, 2019 it will begin collecting Component 2 data for calendar year 2017 in addition to the Component 2 data for calendar year 2018. Employers must submit this data...more
4/29/2019
/ Data Collection ,
EEO-1 ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Federal Contractors ,
Filing Deadlines ,
Gender-Based Pay Discrimination ,
OMB ,
Pay Data ,
Pay Gap ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Wage and Hour
The Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”) announced a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (“Notice”) on Friday that would require companies seeking first-time H-1B approvals subject to the statutory cap or lottery (also known as...more
The H-1B visa program allows companies in the United States to temporarily employ foreign workers in “specialty occupations.” Essentially, a specialty occupation is a professional position that requires an individual to...more
As part of President Trump’s “Buy American, Hire American” initiative, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is reportedly considering new regulations that would eliminate the ability of certain H-1B workers who are in...more
The H-1B visa program allows companies in the United States to temporarily employ foreign workers in “specialty occupations.” In recent months, several changes to the program have either been announced or proposed, with...more
The more that technology evolves, the easier it has become for employers of all sizes and across various industries to monitor their employees with tracking technology. Indeed, a 2012 study by technology research firm...more
On January 17, 2017, a long awaited new rule (the “New Rule”) published by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) went into effect. Companies and foreign nationals that are employed in various nonimmigrant...more
On November 14, 2016, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) released a new version of the Form I-9 Employment Eligibility Verification (“Form I-9”). Employers may continue to use the current Form I-9, which...more
In recent years, various initiatives and enforcement efforts on both the state and federal level have arisen in an attempt to combat the misclassification of employees as independent contractors. Misclassification occurs when...more
The Virginia Department of Labor and Industry (“DOLI”) has recently announced the implementation of a new Virginia Occupational Safety and Health (“VOSH”) policy directed at preventing the misclassification of workers in VOSH...more
Classifying a worker as an independent contractor rather than an employee significantly affects an employer’s obligations towards the worker and can result in liability for misclassification. Employees are entitled by law to...more