Kimberly M. Bennett

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As the United States carries out projects funded by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, the Inflation Reduction Act, and the Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors (CHIPS) Act, the manufacturing industry must prepare to face staffing challenges in meeting future demand. Immigration can help address the demand. Please see our full article here.

As part of the Biden Administration’s initiative to retain high-skilled foreign nationals in the United States, the Department of Homeland Security announced that it is adding eight new fields as qualifying fields of study for STEM (science, technology, engineering, or mathematics) Optional Practical Training (OPT).

STEM OPT is a 24-month extension of Optional Practical Training…

Portugal is designated an E-1/E-2 treaty country in the James M. Inhofe National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2023 (H.R. 7776/NDAA) passed by Congress on December 15, 2022. President Joe Biden is expected to sign the bill, providing Portuguese nationals E-1 and E-2 visa eligibility.  

E-1 and E-2 visas are for treaty traders…

Employers searching for skilled workers should not overlook the powerful but somewhat obscure immigration tool, the E visa. While use of this visa is dependent on certain treaty laws, qualifying organizations may employ the E visa to hire executives, managers or essential employees which can provide needed options for companies struggling to replace employees in…

On February 4, 2022, the House of Representatives passed the American Creating Opportunities for Manufacturing, Pre-Eminence in Technology, and Economic Strength Act  (known as the America COMPETES Act of 2022). The bill is aimed at “outcompeting China and the rest of the world in the 21st century.” Title III of the COMPETES Act adds…

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has announced that it plans to add mandatory social media collection to the Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA) process.

ESTA is an automated online system that makes an initial determination about a visitor’s eligibility to travel to the United States under the Visa Waiver Program (VWP). The VWP…

A non-genetic, non-gestational legal parent of a child born through assisted reproductive technology (ART) outside of the United States may transmit U.S. citizenship to the child under certain circumstances, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Director Ur Mendoza Jaddou has announced.

Director Jaddou, the first woman to be appointed to that position, made the…

The Trump-era proclamation that would have kept immigrants who could not provide evidence of health insurance within 30 days of coming to the United States has been revoked by President Joe Biden. The move is in accordance with his prior executive order directed at “restoring faith” in the immigration system and to emphasize his…

Due to the COVID-19 experience, some employers and employees are exploring the idea that work may be carried out remotely. Countries with economies that rely heavily on tourism (and hard-hit by the pandemic) are using this to their advantage.

In the United States, business advocacy groups and many companies have been urging the removal of…

Approaching the three-year anniversary of the issuance of President Donald Trump’s “Executive Order Protecting the Nation from Foreign Terrorist Entry into the United States,” on January 31, 2020, Trump added six new countries to the list of affected countries: Eritrea, Kyrgyzstan, Myanmar (Burma), Nigeria, Sudan, and Tanzania.

Pursuant to the Executive Order, the Secretary of…