Immigration Settlement Clears the Way for Thousands of H-1B and L-1 Spouses to Work in the US
It’s that time of year again when employers have to decide who they are sponsoring for an H-1B visa. For a brief background, H-1B work visas are the most common work visas for foreign nationals in professional positions...more
It’s hard to keep up with all the recent changes to labor and employment law. While the law always seems to evolve at a rapid pace, there have been an unprecedented number of changes for the past few years — and this past...more
On January 19, 2023, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) reached a settlement in Edakunni v. Mayorkas. As a result of the settlement, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has agreed to resume its...more
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has announced several important changes this week: expansion of premium processing for several employment-based categories; resumption of concurrent processing of spousal...more
In an excellent development, as of January 25, 2023, the U.S. government agreed to resume the process of “bundling” H-4 and L-2 dependent applications, – including I-765 work permission applications, with the H-1B and L-1...more
As previously reported, pursuant to a policy announced on November 12, 2022, USCIS will consider E and L nonimmigrant dependent spouses to be employment authorized incidental to their status. On January 30, 2022, USCIS and...more
Employment Authorization Document (EAD) processing times have been severely delayed in recent years, rendering certain dependent nonimmigrants temporarily ineligible to work and causing gaps in some U.S. employers’...more
Please see the guidance on U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service’s (“USCIS”) recent settlement and policy changes regarding work authorization for L-2, H-4, and E visa spouses. ...more
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) published a policy alert outlining significant changes that include allowing for the automatic extension of Employment Authorization Document (EAD) validity for E, H-4 and...more
After years of outreach to USCIS, a major settlement (Shergill, et al. v. Mayorkas, 11/10/21) has forced the agency to update its policy to provide that certain H-4, E, or L-2 dependent spouses will qualify for an automatic...more
Federal immigration officials just released helpful guidance that eases the process of spouses of highly skilled workers to receive their work authorization documentation, no doubt welcome news for employers across the...more
Immigration Settlement Clears the way for thousands of H-1B and L-1 spouses to work in the U.S., Ulmer Immigration Group Leader David Leopold explains....more
On November 11, 2021 American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) and its litigation partners Wasden Banias and Steven Brown, announce the historic settlement with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in Shergill, et...more
Spouses of H-1B, L-1, and maybe E-1/E-2/E-3 workers or investors will have an easier time maintaining work authorization under a litigation settlement entered by United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). The...more
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is expected to release new guidelines for employment authorization which will affect H-4 and L-2 spouses resulting from a settlement agreement reached in a federal court...more
Spouses of H-1B and L-1 workers have long faced protracted delays by the U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS) in processing their work authorization (EAD) renewals. The wait has sometimes exceeded more than a...more
On January 25, 2021, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) withdrew its proposed rule that sought to eliminate the H-4 employment authorization document (EAD) program for eligible spouses of H-1B workers. The...more
As H-1B cap subject petition receipt notices begin to trickle in, and employers are being notified as to whether their foreign employees will obtain an H-1B visa this cap season, it is a necessity to think about other viable...more
DHS has made the first move to rescind the H-4 EAD Rule: sending the proposed rule to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review. The H-4 EAD Rule provides work authorization for spouses of certain H-1B workers...more
There have been many immigration policy changes in 2018 that affect employers directly or indirectly. Most importantly, there has been a significant shift to a more restrictive immigration philosophy that has affected the...more
In April 2017, three months after taking office, President Trump signed the “Buy American and Hire American” Executive Order, which confirmed that his administration would be taking a tough stance on business immigration,...more
Proposed changes to the rule authorizing employment for H-4 status holders could spell an increase in H-1B petitions this upcoming fiscal year, and ultimately, increased sponsorship costs for employers. ...more
U.S. employers who sponsor foreign workers for temporary H-1B work visas should start preparing now for the upcoming H-1B cap filing season commencing this year on Monday, April 2, 2018. Employers should start identifying...more
Certain news reports have hinted that the pursuant to President Trump’s “Buy America, Hire America” Executive Order of April, 2017, the Trump Administration is considering changes to the H Visa Program. ...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) published its regulatory plan for 2018, which aligns with President Trump’s Executive Order, Buy American Hire American. ...more