Employers should begin assessing their H-1B needs for fiscal year (FY) 2024 now. Each year, US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) releases dates for the H-1B cap registration processes by the end of January, with...more
The US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that it will continue to roll out and finalize its expansion of premium processing eligibility for certain petitions and applications throughout the first half of...more
The US Citizenship and Immigration Services will use the Dates for Filing Chart in January 2023. Due to increased demand, an EB-1 cutoff date has been established for China and India. There are no other changes to the January...more
The US Citizenship and Immigration Services will use the Dates for Filing chart in December 2022. Due to increased demand, a worldwide EB-2 Final Action cutoff date has been established. China EB-3 will advance by three...more
US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) on May 3 announced a temporary increase—up to 540 days—to the automatic extension period for employment authorization and employment authorization documents (EADs) for certain...more
In recent US immigration developments, the Department of State has authorized consular offices to forgo the in-person interview requirement for some nonimmigrant visa applicants. Further, President Joseph Biden has revoked...more
A settlement has been reached in Shergill v. Mayorkas, a federal lawsuit seeking to compel US Citizenship and Immigration Services to follow its regulations by automatically granting work permit extensions to L-2 and H-4...more
11/15/2021
/ Employment Authorization Documents (EAD) ,
Foreign Nationals ,
Form I-9 ,
H-4 Spouses ,
Immigration Procedures ,
L-2 Visas ,
Non-Immigrant Visas ,
Settlement Agreements ,
Time Extensions ,
USCIS ,
Visas
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently announced a new policy under which all applicants for a green card must be fully vaccinated against COVID-19. As part of the green card application process, all...more
The Biden-Harris administration has allowed Presidential Proclamation 10052 (PP 10052) to expire as of March 31. PP 10052, implemented by the previous administration in June 2020, had suspended the issuance of certain...more
4/2/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Foreign Nationals ,
Foreign Workers ,
H-1B ,
H-2B ,
H-4 ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Immigration Procedures ,
Infectious Diseases ,
J-1 Visas ,
L-1 Visas ,
Non-Immigrant Visas ,
Presidential Proclamations ,
USCIS ,
Visas
President Joe Biden signed three new executive orders relating to immigration on Tuesday. Along with the executive orders issued immediately after his inauguration and the immigration legislative proposal sent to Congress on...more
2/4/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
DACA ,
Family Reunification ,
Foreign Nationals ,
Foreign Workers ,
Immigrants ,
Immigration Procedures ,
Immigration Reform ,
Joint Task Force ,
Public Charge ,
USCIS ,
Visas
US President Donald Trump has extended the entry ban on H-1B, H-2B, L-1, and specific J-1 statuses as well as certain immigrant entries through March 31, 2021. The original proclamations were set to expire on December 31,...more
1/7/2021
/ Foreign Workers ,
H-1B ,
H-2B ,
Highly-Skilled Workers Visa ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Immigrants ,
Immigration Procedures ,
Immigration Reform ,
J-1 Visas ,
L-1 ,
Trump Administration ,
USCIS ,
Visas
With successive presidential proclamations and executive orders in recent months, there can be considerable confusion around what type of immigration petitions and applications can be filed, and who can enter the United...more
8/12/2020
/ Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Foreign Nationals ,
Foreign Workers ,
H-1B ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Immigrants ,
Immigration Procedures ,
L-1 Visas ,
O Visa Petitions ,
PERM ,
TN-Visas ,
Travel Restrictions ,
USCIS ,
Visa Applications ,
Visas
The US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced Friday that it will resume premium processing for certain petitions in phases over the next month....more
In response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, on April 1, US Citizenship and Immigration Services confirmed that its offices would remain closed to the public until at least May 3....more
Due to Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced today that applicants and petitioners who receive a Request of Evidence (RFE) or Notice of Intent to Deny (NOID) dated between...more
In response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) on March 25, 2020, extended suspension of routine in-person services until at least April 7, 2020. USCIS had previously...more
Consular sections of US embassies around the world, as well as US Citizenship and Immigration Services, are beginning to announce cancellations of certain in-person services, including routine nonimmigrant and immigrant visa...more
As employers prepare plans to handle possible alternate employee work arrangements in light of the 2019 Novel Coronavirus outbreak, it is important to keep in mind how these plans and policies—including telework policies—may...more
3/5/2020
/ Best Practices ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Corporate Counsel ,
E-1 ,
E-2 ,
E-3 ,
F-1 Visa ,
Foreign Nationals ,
Foreign Workers ,
H-1B ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Immigrants ,
Immigration Enforcement ,
Immigration Procedures ,
Infectious Diseases ,
L-1 Visas ,
Labor Condition Applications ,
O Visa Petitions ,
OPT ,
Public Health ,
Remote Working ,
Risk Management ,
SEVIS ,
STEM ,
Telecommuting ,
TN-Visas ,
USCIS ,
Visas
A new US Department of State policy that took effect on January 24 makes it more difficult for pregnant women to obtain B nonimmigrant visas to visit the United States if the consular officer has reason to believe that the...more
1/30/2020
/ ESTA ,
Foreign Nationals ,
Immigration Procedures ,
Immigration Reform ,
Non-Immigrant Visas ,
Path To Citizenship ,
Pregnancy ,
Tourism ,
US Department of State ,
Visa Applications ,
Visa Waiver Program ,
Visas
The US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced on December 6 that it completed testing of the new electronic registration system, and will be implementing the system in the upcoming fiscal year 2021 H-1B cap...more
The US District Court for the District of Oregon on November 2 issued a temporary restraining order (TRO) to block the new health insurance requirement for immigrant visa applicants from taking effect on November 3, 2019. As...more
The US District Court for the Southern District of New York on October 11 enjoined and halted enforcement of the new public charge rule that was due to become effective October 15, 2019. The court not only enjoined the US...more
The US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is preparing to implement a new rule next week that makes it more difficult for foreign nationals to extend their stay in the country or receive permanent residence if they...more
Israeli entrepreneurs will be able to get E-2 investor visas to launch startups in high-tech and other industries in the United States, and to work in the country to develop those businesses. Reciprocal rules will allow US...more
Now is the time for employers to assess their FY2020 H-1B needs and start preparing their petitions for submission on April 1. It is very likely that the cap for H-1B petitions will be reached in early April of this year, so...more