Immigration and Firm News

I took up bluegrass fiddle a few years ago and like to jam with groups at various venues including pubs, libraries, house parties, music festivals and workshops. I noticed that some festival sponsors have not been able to get their foreign workshop leaders or performers visas on time. Or, sometimes pubs like to host visiting musicians, or need last minute substitutions, sometimes on a lark.  Foreign musicians or their agents are often confused about what visas they need or what the permissible … [Read more...]

At the Seattle, Washington Law Office of Bonnie Stern Wasser, we enjoy working on National Interest Waiver (NIW) EB-2 permanent resident cases. NIW means the government will waive the usual requirement that there be a US employer and job offer, and a labor market test for willing, qualified and able US workers through the labor certification or “PERM” process. Although a US employer and job offer is not required in a NIW EB-2 case, the applicant must show he/she has offers of work in the US in … [Read more...]

Below are some alternatives for employers and current/prospective employees who were not selected for the H-1B cap cases for FY 2016 beginning October 1, 2015.  As mentioned in an earlier post, there were 233,000 applications for 85,000 slots! If you are among the two thirds of applicants who were rejected, there may be some other options available as described below.  Some of the options described below are for nationals of specified countries. They are highlighted to help employers focus on … [Read more...]

I am pleased to announce that my newly revised article, “Investing for Fun and Profits in the Arts, Entertainment and Sports Industries” was just published in the second edition of Immigration Options for Artists and Entertainers published by the American Immigration Lawyers Association. The first edition of this popular book was published back in 2007. Although we typically think of O, P and Q visas for artists, entertainers and athletes who are tops in their fields, or “culturally unique,” … [Read more...]