It is time for employers to prepare H-1B filings for workers who have not held H-1B status before and are subject to the annual cap on visa numbers. The filings need to be submitted on April 1 to USCIS with full documentation...more
Possibilities are brewing for a partial U.S. Government shutdown starting December 22 over the issue of funding "The Wall" after a very public contentious White House meeting yesterday. What is the potential immigration...more
In about 2015, USCIS started denying petitions of EB-5 investors who used the cash proceeds of a loan as their source of funds unless the loan was collateralized by the personal assets of the investor. ...more
On March 3, 2017 USCIS announced that it will not honor any requests for premium processing for ANY H-1B petitions filed starting April 3 until further notice. That includes capped and cap-exempt petitions, and petitions for...more
On January 22, 2017, two days after President Trump was inaugurated but with no connection to that event, USCIS published a new Form I-9 for verification of employment authorization required for every new hire since 1986. ...more
In finalizing a regulation focused on eligibility of workers being sponsored by employers for various temporary and permanent visas, USCIS has established some rules that affect all employers, even those not sponsoring...more
USCIS has published a final rule, to take effect January 17, 2017, ensconcing in regulations most of the policies it had long ago worked out in memorandums implementing provisions of 1998 and 2001 laws intended to bridge some...more
USCIS finally has published the new Form I-9 that has been in the works for a few years and that all U.S. employers will be required to use in onboarding new hires as of January 22, 2017, although they can choose to use it...more
On March 11, 2016, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) published its final rule on enhancements to the Optional Practical Training (OPT) program for F-1 international students in science, technology, engineering...more
Clients who pay attention might worry that they have missed something when they see that the OMB expiration date of March 31 has come and gone. But just like some items in your refrigerator or pantry, the Form I-9 for...more
On September 9, 2015, the U.S. Government pleasantly surprised the immigration world by publishing a new type of monthly Visa Bulletin for October 2015 with USCIS announcement about a new approach to the timing of the ability...more
9/28/2015
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Work Visas
The Attorney General has designated as "precedent" a decision of the USCIS Administrative Appeals Office (AAO) ruling that the change of a job's location outside the area covered by the original approved labor condition...more
On November 20, 2014, President Obama announced a bold series of measures to change removal priorities, temporarily legalize and grant work authorization to millions of undocumented persons, and make some other changes to...more
E-Verify, a semi-voluntary online program by which employers can confirm the identity and work authorization of workers as they are hired, is being programmed to "lock out" social security numbers (SSNs) that have been...more
USCIS issued a public announcement on October 17 to employers who were affected by the shutdown of E-Verify that occurred in the government shutdown of the last few weeks. Essentially, employers registered for E-Verify must...more
Below are my summaries of the 2012 EB-5 AAO decisions recently posted by USCIS, which can be a accessed from www.uscis.gov > Administrative Decisions and choosing the "Folders" for B7 and K1....more
USCIS has unveiled a new I-9 Form and Instructions, but it has made extra changes in the 65-page "Handbook for Employers," tagged as Form M-274, that is meant to guide employers further in completing, updating, and storing...more