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Starting May 26, 2015, USCIS will begin accepting H-4 work authorization (EAD) applications from certain spouses of H-1B workers. This is a regulatory amendment that was published as a final rule in the Federal Register on February 29, 2015. USCIS published the H-4 notice of proposed rulemaking in May 2014 and finalizing it was part of the executive actions on immigration that President Obama announced in November 2014. Extending eligibility for employment authorization to certain H-4 … [Read more...]
Immigration and Firm News
May 8, 2015 by ·
In a disturbing new case from the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) this week, Matter of Fitzpatrick, 26 I&N Dec. 559 (BIA 2015), the BIA held that a foreign national was removable (deportable) for having voted in a federal election regardless of the foreign national's lack of knowledge that she was committing an unlawful act by voting when not a US citizen. In this case, Ms. Fitzpatrick is a native and citizen of Peru who became a permanent resident in 2004. In 2005, she applied for an … [Read more...]
April 25, 2015 by ·
I had the pleasure to volunteer my time and service at the Citizenship Day event in Yakima, Washington where I helped permanent residents review their eligibility and prepare forms for naturalization applications. Started by an American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) colleague back in 2004 or so, the program has become a national one in many AILA chapters. Around 2009 or 2010, I had the good fortune as chair of the AILA Washington Citizenship Day Committee to form a partnership with … [Read more...]
April 13, 2015 by ·
USCIS announced today that it received a whopping 233,000 H-1B visa petitions during the seven-day filing period that began April 1, 2015! These are for "specialty occupations" that will be effective in the NEXT fiscal year (FY2016) beginning October 1, 2015. Because there were only 65,000 general category visas available plus an additional 20,000 for the advanced degree cap, that means there were more than two and a half times the number of applicants than visas that are available. USCIS just … [Read more...]
February 27, 2015 by ·
I am pleased to announce that on March 3, 2015, I will be participating in a national webinar hosted by the American Immigration Lawyers Association on "Immigrant Options for Small and Start-Up Businesses." This program will focus on the unique challenges faced by foreign personnel working for small businesses, or founding start-up companies. We will discuss various permanent residence options, ability to pay, bona fide job opportunities, capitalization, business plans, and best practices for … [Read more...]
February 25, 2015 by ·
Recently, USCIS held an interactive engagement session with stakeholders on the issue of proving lawful source of funds for EB-5 Entrepreneur Investor applicants. The following is from my notes from the meeting. The most common Requests for Evidence or “RFEs” in EB-5 investor cases involve insufficient proof of the legal source of funds used to invest in commercial enterprises or regional centers. Proof of the required job creation is another frequent RFE issue. However, this conference focused … [Read more...]
February 23, 2015 by ·
USCIS has released updated adjudications data for the EB-5 investor entrepreneur program. This is the "$500k or million dollar club" investor visa for permanent residence. The EB-5 program is modeled after marriage based immigration that requires a two-step process to permanent residence. The first application is called the Immigrant Petition for Alien Entrepreneur, filed on Form I-526. If approved, the applicant receives a conditional residence card valid for two years. Within the 90-day … [Read more...]
February 22, 2015 by ·
On February 15, 2015, the US State Department issued a cable announcing that starting March 1, 2015, medical exam results will only be valid for six months, or three months depending upon exam results for tuberculosis (TB) or HIV. These changes actually come from the Center for Disease Control (CDC), which regulates immigrants' medical exams. Previously, medical exams were good for up to a year for non-TB results. This means applicants for immigrant visas are going to need repeated medical … [Read more...]
