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I am pleased and honored to announce that I will be speaking at the national Annual American Immigration Lawyers Association Conference next week in Las Vegas. This conference regularly attracts thousands of immigration practitioners from around the country. I will be joining two colleagues, Robert Divine and David Grunblatt, on a panel about "Complex Visa Issues for Entrepreneurs." We will discuss attempts by USCIS to (supposedly) enhance opportunities for entrepreneurs within the confines of … [Read more...]
Immigration and Firm News
May 23, 2016 by ·
The American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) has filed a lawsuit under the Freedom of Information Act against US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) demanding information about how the H-1B lottery is conducted. Every year, USCIS receives far more petitions than are allowed under the annual 85,000 cap, but the system for conducting the lottery to select those lucky 85,000 applicants remains a mystery. Looking for transparency, AILA wants to see how cap-subject petitions are … [Read more...]
March 13, 2016 by ·
On May 10, 2016 a new final DHS regulation will go into effect for foreign students with or desiring STEM Optional Practical Training (OPT). The new rule, issued March 11, 2016, includes a combination of new benefits as well as restrictions and clarifications for U.S. college graduates. In addition, ICE, the agency that monitors foreign students, has released a new STEM-OPT website hub. Unfortunately, the new rule stifles opportunities for entrepreneurial self-starters creating their own … [Read more...]
March 10, 2016 by ·
I am honored to be speaking about EB-2 National Interest Waiver (NIW) cases at the annual American Immigration Lawyers Association Northwest CLE. This annual event put on by the Washington and Oregon AILA Chapters will be held at Seattle University on March 17 and 18. Along with my colleagues, Amy Royalty and Ursula Owen, we will be discussing the crème de la creme employment based categories: EB-1-1 extraordinary ability workers, EB-1-1 outstanding researchers and professors, EB-1-3 … [Read more...]
January 18, 2016 by ·
On January 15, 2016, USCIS announced new final regulations (Enhancing Opportunities for H-1B1, CW-1 and E-3 Nonimmigrants and EB-1 Immigrants) that will streamline certain country-specific work visa status for citizens of Australia, Chile, Singapore and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI). These nationals are entitled to a variation of the professional worker H-1B visas (although CNMI is based on place of work v. nationality.) Australians can get E-3 specialty occupation … [Read more...]
January 16, 2016 by ·
The F-1 Foreign Student Visa Optional Practical Training (OPT) program affects thousands of foreign students in the USA every year. Recently, OPT has been the subject of litigation, proposed regulations and changing adjudication trends. This blog post covers each of these topics below as well as what does it mean for the thousands of students, schools and employers out there whose status could possibly be terminated next month. OPT is authorized off-campus paid experiential work status for … [Read more...]
January 5, 2016 by ·
L-1 and H-1B visa petition fees are increasing for companies that employ 50 or more employees and have more than 50% of their US workforce in H-1B or L-1 nonimmigrant status. On December 18, 2015, Congress passed and the President signed the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2016. The previous supplemental fees for this group of employers expired. Therefore, this bill extends and raises the fees through September 30, 2025. L-1 petition fees will increase from $2,250 to $6000 per covered … [Read more...]
October 8, 2015 by ·
I previously reported on the new Filing Date v. Final Action Date policy of the US State Department and USCIS concerning the quota, and the debacle resulting from the State Department rolling back some filing dates between September 9 and September 25, 2015 for the October 2015 Visa Bulletin. On September 28, 2015 a lawsuit was filed against the State Department, Mehta v. DOS, in which the plaintiffs sought declaratory relief from the court. Plaintiffs ask the court to order the State … [Read more...]
September 26, 2015 by ·
In a prior blog post, I reported on the new State Department and USCIS policy permitting early filing of some adjustment of status and immigrant visa petitions in advance of the quota being current. However, on September 25, 2015, the State Department revised its October 2015 Visa Bulletin. In particular, it rolled back both Final Adjudication and new Filing Date priority dates for certain applicants from India, China, the Philippines, and Mexico. (See also the USCIS announcement about the … [Read more...]
September 10, 2015 by ·
On September 9, 2015, the US State Department (DOS) and US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) issued a new joint policy regarding early filing of green card applications for people stuck in the quotas. All business and family green card categories EXCEPT for "immediate relatives" (spouses and children under 21 and parents of U.S. citizens) are subject to annual category and per country limits. When demand exceeds supply, there is a backlog or quota, and applications for green cards, … [Read more...]
