By Samantha Wolfe The United States faces a critical shortage of healthcare professionals, particularly in rural areas. Hospitals, nursing homes, and clinics struggle to find qualified workers, leading to increased patient...more
Another potential government shutdown may be on the horizon, as we await updates on the progress of the latest funding bill. Although already passed in the House of Representatives, an extension to continue funding the...more
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) updated its policy guidance on Jan. 15, 2025, to clarify how it will evaluate candidates’ eligibility for second preference employment based (EB-2) immigrant visa with a...more
As we head into another Trump presidency later this month, many U.S. employers are wondering how the new administration’s strong stance on immigration might impact their organization, including its ability to hire and retain...more
Please join senior attorneys from Gibney’s Immigration Practice Group for a live virtual panel discussion to review the outlook for business immigration in 2025. The panel will highlight potential changes at the executive,...more
In an era of increasing global competition for highly skilled professionals, U.S. employers often face challenges in recruiting and retaining top talent. The National Interest Waiver (NIW) is a special provision under the...more
The Diversity Visa (DV) Lottery program, administered by the U.S. Department of State, allocates up to 55,000 immigrant visas annually through a random selection process from countries with low rates of immigration to the...more
The sponsorship of temporary, nonimmigrant work visas and U.S. permanent residence can be a tremendous lure for U.S. employers to attract and retain foreign talent— but it comes with a large price tag. Is a U.S. employer...more
Where are we next month? The United States Immigration and Citizenship Services (USCIS) has announced that for the September 2024 Visa Bulletin, applicants must use the Final Action Dates chart for employment-based preference...more
In light of prolonged Department of Labor (DOL) processing times and recent regulatory settlements involving the DOL and Department of Justice, employers are reevaluating their approaches to securing permanent residence...more
The H-1B Electronic Registration Selection Process debuted in March 2020 for fiscal year 2021 H-1B cap-subject petitions. The barrier to entry dropped significantly with the introduction of the electronic registration...more
The increasing need for talented workers in the United States has more and more employers considering eliminating bachelor’s degree requirements from job descriptions. A recognition of the value of skills and experience over...more
In early 2020, Alco Harvesting, LLC hired Jesus Guzman, a citizen of Mexico, to perform agricultural work in Santa Maria under the H-2A visa program. The H-2A visa program allows employers to hire foreign nationals to engage...more
Two recent developments involving the U.S. Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division ("DOJ") highlight potential risks and opportunities for companies facing immigration-related employment matters....more
This is the second of the two-part series Navigating Changes to a Job Post-PERM Certification, which evaluates the impact a job change may have on an approved, certified PERM and during a foreign national’s green card...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: If Congress cannot resolve funding issues by 11:59 pm EST on September 30, 2023, resulting in a federal government shutdown, it will have a ripple effect on employers, both large and small, with an impact...more
The U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) Office of Foreign Labor Certification (OFLC) has announced plans to revise the permanent labor certification (PERM) process in an effort to streamline the program, improve the employer...more
As we move deeper into the new year, the U.S. government continues to try to resolve the challenges facing the immigration system due to the disruptions of the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting processing backlogs. These...more
Employers know that U.S. immigration laws are complex, and the Department of Labor’s (DOL’s) long processing delays – coupled with recent layoffs in the tech industry – have further complicated matters by adding new fact...more
Businesses across industries are reducing their workforces and implementing hiring freezes amid increasing labor costs and fears of slower economic growth. In fact, reports suggest that tens of thousands of workers could be...more
Equal Pay Transparency (EPT) laws have been passed in several states and localities, potentially impacting the permanent employment certification (PERM)/H-1B labor condition application (LCA) process for employers conducting...more
On December 14, 2021, the Department of Labor (DOL) published a final rule that rescinds a previous DOL regulation implemented in January 2021. The January 2021 regulation would have led to a dramatic increase in prevailing...more
Federal agencies are providing leniency in light of the significant impact of Hurricane Ida on government operations, corporations, and those residing in the United States. Below we provide a summary of the flexibility that...more
The effective date of the “Strengthening Wage Protections for the Temporary and Permanent Employment of Certain Immigration and Non-Immigrants in the United States” (Prevailing Wage Rule) related to H-1B, H-1B1, and E-3 work...more
The Department of Labor (DOL) has further postponed the effective date of its prevailing wage final rule to November 14, 2022. The final rule significantly increases prevailing wage requirements for permanent resident and...more