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
Originally published in Healthcare Michigan, Volume 40, No. 11 - The nursing profession’s vital signs are unstable and require an intervention. The single largest occupation of health care workers is Registered Nurses (RN)....more
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 U.S. companies struggle to find workers to fill their rosters, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), in consultation with the Department of Labor (DOL), offered a reprieve through the authorization of supplemental...more
For the last 4 years, U.S. immigration law and policy has been in the spotlight with numerous Presidential Proclamations, Executive Orders, and rapid policy changes as well as regulations, which have resulted in a...more
On July 1, 2020, the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) entered into force and replaced the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) that governed continental trade for more than two and a half decades....more
’Tis the season for celebrating the holidays! Globally, offices and plants are closing their doors for a couple of days to a few weeks. While most people are finalizing their last-minute shopping and preparing for a...more
Federal judges in Hawaii and Maryland have temporarily blocked the implementation of President Trump’s most recent travel ban, which was issued by Presidential Proclamation on September 24, 2017 (Proclamation) and set to take...more
10/25/2017
/ Department of Homeland Security (DHS) ,
Executive Orders ,
Foreign Nationals ,
Foreign Workers ,
Green Cards ,
Immigrants ,
Immigration Procedures ,
Immigration Reform ,
National Security ,
Refugees ,
Terrorist Threats ,
Travel Ban ,
Trump Administration ,
Visas
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 24, 2017, President Trump issued a proclamation entitled, “Enhanced Vetting Capabilities and Processes for Detecting Attempted Entry into the United States by Terrorists or Other Public-Safety Threats” (“the...more
9/29/2017
/ Bona Fide Relationship Test ,
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) ,
Dual Citizenship ,
Executive Orders ,
Foreign Nationals ,
Immigration Reform ,
Lawful Permanent Residents ,
Refugees ,
SCOTUS ,
Travel Ban ,
Trump Administration ,
Visas ,
Waivers
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 August 8, 2017, the Department of State (DOS) updated its Foreign Affairs Manual (FAM) to modify instructions to consular officers considering F-1 student visas. The modified instructions address how a consular officer...more
8/31/2017
/ Buy America ,
F-1 Visa ,
Foreign Affairs Manual (FAM) ,
Immigrants ,
Immigration Procedures ,
Immigration Reform ,
OPT ,
Travel Restrictions ,
Trump Administration ,
US Department of State ,
Visas
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
Effective November, 2016, Chinese nationals, including nationals from People’s Republic of China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau will be required to use an on-line enrollment system, referred to as EVUS to update biographic...more
7/15/2016
/ B-1 ,
B-2 ,
China ,
Electronic Data Transmissions ,
EVUS ,
Foreign Nationals ,
Hong Kong ,
Macau ,
Passports ,
Taiwan ,
Travelers ,
Visas
Effective today the U.S. Department of State has extended the maximum visa validity period from one (1) to ten (10) years for Chinese nationals seeking a B-1/B-2 (business/tourist) visitor visa. This change comes on the heels...more