On Feb. 10, 2025, the U.S. Department of State (DoS) began limiting those who can use the Dropbox Program to renew their visas to individuals with either valid visas or with visas that expired in the last 12 months (reduced...more
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Announces FY 2026 H-1B Cap Registration Period U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that it will hold the H-1B electronic registration process for the fiscal...more
On Dec. 18, 2024, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) finalized new H-1B regulations with changes that will impact both employers and employees. While the regulations will introduce significant benefits and...more
Updates to Kramer Levin’s Immigration Tracker System Two-Factor Authentication for Tracker Beginning on Monday, May 20, 2024, Tracker will require “two-factor authentication” in order to access our immigration system. We are...more
Recently, USCIS published a final rule increasing certain government filing fees effective April 1, 2024. In addition, it announced a final rule that will increase the premium processing fees effective Feb. 26, 2024....more
New version of Form I-9 to be released on Aug. 1, 2023
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) recently announced modifications to the Form I-9, condensing it to one page to make it easier for employers to use. The...more
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) recently reminded employers that they must complete the physical inspection of I-9 documents that were inspected remotely under...more
Recently, New York became the 16th state in the United States to legalize recreational marijuana. We wanted to remind you and your employees that the use, purchase or possession of marijuana is still a crime throughout the...more
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that it will hold the H-1B electronic registration process for the fiscal year 2022 H-1B cap (from which the annual H-1B lottery will be run). Registration begins at...more
2/9/2021
/ Corporate Counsel ,
E-3 ,
F-1 Visa ,
Foreign Workers ,
H-1B ,
Highly-Skilled Workers Visa ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Immigrants ,
Immigration Procedures ,
J-1 Visas ,
L-1 Visas ,
TN-Visas ,
USCIS ,
Visa Caps ,
Visas
We anticipate that in March 2021, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will open the electronic registration process for the fiscal year 2022 H-1B cap for professional positions. Please review your employment...more
1/14/2021
/ Foreign Workers ,
Green Cards ,
H-1B ,
Highly-Skilled Workers Visa ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Immigrants ,
Immigration Procedures ,
Immigration Reform ,
International Travel ,
Registration Requirement ,
Travel Restrictions ,
USCIS ,
Visa Caps ,
Visas
On Jan. 8, the Department of Homeland Security published a final rule, effective March 9, changing the way the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will select H-1B cap-subject registrations. Instead of using a...more
On Dec. 1, the United States District Court in the Northern District of California set aside two Interim Final Rules affecting the H-1B program, holding that the Rules were promulgated in violation of the Administrative...more
12/4/2020
/ Administrative Procedure Act ,
Domestic Hiring Policy ,
Foreign Workers ,
H-1B ,
Highly-Skilled Workers Visa ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Immigrants ,
Immigration Procedures ,
Immigration Reform ,
Motion to Set Aside the Verdict ,
Prevailing Wages ,
Trump Administration ,
USCIS ,
Visas
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) recently provided additional guidance for the H-1B electronic registration process for the fiscal year 2021 H-1B cap, which begins at noon Eastern standard time on March 1,...more
2/20/2020
/ Conditional Job Offers ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Electronic Filing ,
Foreign Workers ,
H-1B ,
Highly-Skilled Workers Visa ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Immigrants ,
Immigration Procedures ,
Immigration Reform ,
Job Applicants ,
New Guidance ,
Registration Requirement ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
USCIS ,
Visa Caps ,
Visas
Earlier this week, President Donald Trump signed the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) Implementation Act, which ratifies the trade agreement that will soon replace the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)....more
1/31/2020
/ Canada ,
Cross-Border Transactions ,
Exports ,
Federal Labor Laws ,
Foreign Relations ,
Foreign Workers ,
Free Trade Agreements ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Immigration Procedures ,
Imports ,
Labor Regulations ,
Mexico ,
NAFTA ,
Non-Immigrant Visas ,
TN-Visas ,
Trade Relations ,
Trump Administration ,
United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) ,
US Trade Policies
Last week, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that an H-1B cap registration system (from which the annual H-1B lottery will be run) will be implemented for the upcoming fiscal year 2021 H-1B cap...more
12/16/2019
/ Conditional Job Offers ,
E-3 ,
F-1 Visa ,
Filing Fees ,
Foreign Workers ,
H-1B ,
Highly-Skilled Workers Visa ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Immigrants ,
Immigration Procedures ,
Immigration Reform ,
J-1 Visas ,
Job Applicants ,
L-1A ,
L-1B ,
Lottery ,
OPT ,
Registration Requirement ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
TN-Visas ,
Trump Administration ,
USCIS ,
Vetting ,
Visa Caps ,
Visas ,
Work Permits
Earlier this month the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act (H.R. 1044), an act that would radically change the way employment-based immigrant visas are allocated by eliminating...more
7/26/2019
/ Administrative Backlogs ,
Country of Origin ,
EB-5 ,
Foreign Nationals ,
Foreign Workers ,
Green Cards ,
H-1B ,
Highly-Skilled Workers Visa ,
Immigrants ,
Immigration Procedures ,
Immigration Reform ,
Labor Condition Applications ,
Legislative Agendas ,
New Regulations ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Quotas ,
USCIS ,
Visas
Consulates Now Requesting Social Media Information From Visa Applicants A new State Department policy requires all U.S. visa applicants to submit information about social media accounts (such as Facebook, Twitter or...more
6/5/2019
/ China ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Eligibility Verification ,
Foreign Nationals ,
Foreign Workers ,
Form I-9 ,
H-1B ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) ,
Immigration Procedures ,
Immigration Reform ,
No-Match Letters ,
Personal Data ,
Social Media Policy ,
Social Security Administration (SSA) ,
Social Security Numbers ,
Trump Administration ,
Visa Applications ,
Visas
Last Friday, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) issued a significantly revised Form I-539, Application to Extend/Change Nonimmigrant Status. This application is used to change or extend the status of dependents...more
USCIS to Implement a Registration System for H-1B Cap Filings On Monday, Dec. 3, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) issued a proposed regulatory rule to establish an electronic registration program for...more
12/5/2018
/ Comment Period ,
Foreign Workers ,
H-1B ,
Highly-Skilled Workers Visa ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Immigrants ,
Immigration Procedures ,
Immigration Reform ,
L-1 Visas ,
Proposed Regulation ,
Registration Requirement ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
USCIS ,
Visa Caps ,
Visas
On April 1, 2019, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will begin accepting new H-1B petitions for professional positions. We note that these petitions will have a start date of Oct. 1, 2019....more
Earlier this week, the U.S., Canada and Mexico reached agreement on a new trilateral trade pact to replace the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). The agreement will be known as the United States-Mexico-Canada...more
10/3/2018
/ Canada ,
Foreign Nationals ,
Foreign Relations ,
Foreign Workers ,
Free Trade Agreements ,
Immigration Procedures ,
Mexico ,
NAFTA ,
Non-Immigrant Visas ,
TN-Visas ,
Trade Relations ,
United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) ,
US Trade Policies ,
Work Visas
USCIS Extends and Expands Suspension of H-1B Premium Processing -
Earlier this week, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that it will extend the suspension of Premium Processing for all pending FY...more
8/30/2018
/ F-1 Visa ,
Foreign Workers ,
H-1B ,
Highly-Skilled Workers Visa ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Immigrants ,
Immigration Procedures ,
Immigration Reform ,
OPT ,
STEM ,
Trump Administration ,
USCIS ,
Visas
On March 20, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) did an about-face and announced that beginning on April 2 it will suspend Premium Processing of all fiscal year (FY) 2019 H-1B cap filings. This comes after prior...more
3/22/2018
/ Foreign Workers ,
H-1B ,
Highly-Skilled Workers Visa ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Immigrants ,
Immigration Procedures ,
Immigration Reform ,
Lottery ,
USCIS ,
Visa Caps ,
Visas
Here is what we know so far about how this past weekend’s federal government “shutdown” will affect immigration adjudications and other related matters. As U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) operations are...more
1/22/2018
/ Department of Labor (DOL) ,
E-Verify ,
EB-5 ,
EB-5 Regional Centers ,
Employment Eligibility Verification ,
Federal Budget ,
Foreign Workers ,
Form I-9 ,
Government Shutdown ,
H-1B ,
Immigration Procedures ,
Labor Condition Applications ,
Passports ,
PERM ,
Trump Administration ,
US Department of State ,
USCIS ,
Visas
On April 2, 2018, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will begin accepting new H-1B petitions for professional positions. We note that these petitions will have a start date of Oct. 1, 2018....more
1/17/2018
/ E-3 ,
F-1 Visa ,
Foreign Workers ,
H-1B ,
Highly-Skilled Workers Visa ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Immigrants ,
Immigration Procedures ,
Immigration Reform ,
J-1 Visas ,
L-1 Visas ,
TN-Visas ,
USCIS ,
Visa Caps ,
Visas