March Madness will once again not fail this Fiscal Year 2025 (FY25) H-1B cap season. The shift in 2020 to the “new” H-1B registration system continues to be a work in progress. The USCIS strength and conditioning exercises...more
This is the sixth edition of Plugged-In, our monthly EV newsletter. In the last six months, we have covered multiple topics such as the United States’ decoupling agenda from China (and how that may not work in the...more
6/29/2023
/ Automotive Industry ,
Electric Vehicles ,
Ford Motor ,
Foreign Workers ,
Highly-Skilled Workers Visa ,
Immigrants ,
Immigration Procedures ,
Infrastructure ,
Job Creation ,
Motor Vehicles ,
NAFTA ,
Popular ,
TN-Visas ,
United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) ,
USCIS
March Madness is around the corner, and we are not talking about basketball! For the immigration aficionado, the much-anticipated annual H-1B cap season for Fiscal Year (FY) 2024 is gearing up to start. While many will make...more
As a result of the ongoing COVID-19 global pandemic, employees continue to work from home in record numbers, and employers continue to scramble to adjust their business operations and employee relations policies to...more
Managing your company’s Canada-U.S. operations will become hazier following Canada’s October 2017 legalization of recreational cannabis. While the Canadian Senate passed the Cannabis Act on June 21, 2018 to control and...more
Earlier this summer, US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) published new guidance for how their officers should handle what we call a “Notice to Appear” (NTA)....more
USCIS Permits Certain EAD Applicants to apply for a Social Security Number on Form I-765 -
Based on a new information-sharing partnership between U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) and the Social Security...more
10/18/2017
/ Buy America ,
Customs and Border Protection ,
Domestic Hiring Policy ,
Employment Authorization Documents (EAD) ,
Executive Orders ,
Foreign Nationals ,
Foreign Workers ,
Form I-765 ,
H-1B ,
Highly-Skilled Workers Visa ,
Immigrants ,
Immigration Reform ,
L-Visas ,
Legal Representatives ,
NAFTA ,
Popular ,
Ports ,
TN-Visas ,
Trump Administration ,
USCIS ,
Visas
With the recent change by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to mandate in-person interviews for employment based adjustment cases along with changes to require the review of social media and to what...more
10/10/2017
/ Employment Eligibility Verification ,
Foreign Affairs Manual (FAM) ,
Hiring & Firing ,
I-140 ,
I-485 Applications ,
Immigrants ,
Immigration and Nationality Act ,
Immigration Procedures ,
Interviews ,
Ombudsman ,
Social Media ,
USCIS ,
Visa Applications ,
Visas
On September 5, 2017, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued the unfortunate Memo to rescind the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program (Memo). DHS Acting Secretary, Elaine C. Duke, noted that...more
9/7/2017
/ DACA ,
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) ,
Deportation ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Authorization Documents (EAD) ,
Executive Orders ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Immigration Procedures ,
Immigration Reform ,
Obama Administration ,
Path To Citizenship ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Trump Administration ,
USCIS
On August 28, 2017, the USCIS announced that beginning October 1st, the USCIS will begin to phase-in “in-person” interviews for Employment-Based, Adjustment of Status applicants (Form I-485, Application to Register Permanent...more
On July 17, 2017 U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced the availability of a new version of the Form I-9. The new version has a revision date of 07/17/17....more
In connection with the Trump Administration’s desire to crack-down on its perceived misuse of the H-1B visa category, various U.S. government agencies have announced a coordinated effort in re-interpreting regulations as well...more
4/17/2017
/ Department of Homeland Security (DHS) ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Foreign Workers ,
H-1B ,
Highly-Skilled Workers Visa ,
Immigrants ,
Immigration Procedures ,
Immigration Reform ,
Labor Condition Applications ,
Popular ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Trump Administration ,
USCIS ,
Visas
The USCIS announced on March 3, 2017 that beginning April 3, 2017, it will temporarily suspend premium processing for all H-1B petitions. According to the USCIS, the suspension may last up to 6 months. While H-1B premium...more
3/9/2017
/ F-1 Visa ,
Foreign Workers ,
H-1B ,
Highly-Skilled Workers Visa ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Immigration Procedures ,
Immigration Reform ,
Lottery ,
USCIS ,
Visa Caps ,
Visas
The US Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) published new regulations effective January 17, 2017 which modernize and improve aspects of certain employment-based nonimmigrant and immigrant visa programs. The...more
12/27/2016
/ Employment Authorization Documents (EAD) ,
Employment Eligibility Verification ,
Extensions ,
H-1B ,
H-4 Spouses ,
Highly-Skilled Workers Visa ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Immigration Procedures ,
Non-Immigrant Visas ,
Popular ,
USCIS
On November 14, 2016, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) published a revised version of Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification (“Form I-9”). Employers can continue to use the most recent version dated...more
The U.S. government never gives without getting something in return, and the same is true with the new STEM 24-month, Optional Practical Training (OPT) Program. On March 11, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) published...more
Multinational companies wishing to transfer foreign national employees to the U.S. under the L-1B program will have to show the employee’s “specialized knowledge” by a “preponderance of evidence” under new guidance published...more
On April 9, 2015, the Administrative Appeals Office (AAO) of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) issued a binding, precedential ruling that all U.S. employers must file an amended petition with the agency...more