Insight, News, and Strategy on Immigration Matters Around the World
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has proposed new guidance for adjudicating O-1 visa petitions for athletes and other individuals of extraordinary ability in certain fields. If the proposal becomes effective, athletes will have greater flexibility in satisfying the O-1 visa criteria.
Under current USCIS regulations, an athlete may qualify for an O-1 visa…
Recognizing the significant hardship a regulatory gap would cause current and future participants in the STEM OPT program, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia has given the Department of Homeland Security an additional three months to issue a new rule to cure the defects in the STEM OPT rule extension that the…
The U.S. Supreme Court agreed today to hear a case challenging President Barack Obama’s executive action on immigration. The Supreme Court will decide whether President Obama can proceed with plans to defer deportation and provide work authorization to millions of individuals currently in the United States without lawful status.
The Supreme Court granted certiorari in…
Each year, USCIS issues 65,000 H-1B visas and 20,000 “master’s cap” visas. April 1, 2016 is he first date on which an H-1B petition may be filed for FY 2017, in anticipation of an October 1, 2016 start date. Last year, USCIS accepted 233,000 petitions in the first week. A lottery was conducted and over…
On January 13, 2016, the Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”) released an advance copy of an updated rule providing additional flexibility and enhanced opportunities for certain highly skilled workers. It covers workers who are in the U.S. in H-1B1 (from Chile and Singapore), E-3 (from Australia), temporary workers in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana…
The Department of Homeland Security has issued proposed regulations to address retention and portability of high-skilled workers in the U.S. in response to President Barak Obama’s November 2014 directives to relieve the worst ills of the immigration code.
The proposed changes target U.S. businesses and their employees. According to DHS, the laws are “intended to…
On December 18th, the Senate passed the FY2016 omnibus spending package on the heels of House passage the day before and sent the bill to the White House. President Barack Obama is expected to sign the bill, making it law.
The bill includes the following immigration-related provisions:
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Periodic internal I-9 audits are considered an employer “best practice” by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Before conducting an internal I-9 audit, however, employers need to understand how to address a range of issues likely to be identified.
In a Technical Assistance Letter (dated October 23, 2015), the Office of Special Counsel for Immigration-Related Unfair…
A bill that would drastically reshape the H-1B visa program and effectively end the Option Practical Training (OPT) program, both of which employers use to hire foreign national employees in skilled positions, has been introduced in the Senate.
Presidential candidate Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Senator Jeff Sessions (R-Alabama), Chairman of the Senate’s Subcommittee on…
For its proposed 13th iteration, the I-9 form is getting “smart” new features. The suggested changes to the form from the Department of Homeland Security include:
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