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Employers using E-Verify may mistakenly believe that once a record is created, it will be stored forever in the E-Verify system. Effective January 1, 2016, E-Verify transaction records more than 10 years old will automatically be deleted from the E-Verify system. That means that employers will no longer have access in E-Verify to cases created…

USCIS has announced that beginning with the November 2015 Department of State (DOS) Visa Bulletin it will issue a determination within approximately one week following the publication of the Visa Bulletin whether individuals may use the Dates for Filing Visa Applications chart. If USCIS does not post such a determination, individuals should continue to refer…

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s has proposed amending its regulations on the optional practical training (“OPT”) program to allow international F-1 students with U.S. degrees in the sciences, technology, engineering, or mathematics (“STEM”) – attained from accredited institutions – to extend by 24 months the standard 12-month OPT period available to them to remain…

On September 9, 2015, US Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) and the Department of State (“DOS”), announced new procedures for determining visa availability for applicants waiting to file adjustment of status applications. These revisions are intended to implement executive actions by President Obama.

Prior to this change, DOS had published a single chart in…

The U.S. Court of Appeals, in Denver, has issued an opinion putting the entire H-2B labor certification and visa process in jeopardy.

The Tenth Circuit found that the U.S. Department of Labor is not a subordinate agency of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, and, therefore, could not promulgate H-2B regulations. Only DHS, as administrator…

Immigration law practitioners have been receiving Requests for Evidence (RFEs) on most L-1B (Intracompany Transferee-Specialized Knowledge) petitions for new issuance as well as L-1B renewals. These RFEs, requiring burdensome responses, in fact may misinterpret the term “specialized knowledge.”

  • In March, 2015 USCIS, in an effort to clarify adjudication standards, issued a draft L-1B Adjudication Policy

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The 2008 Department of Homeland Security (DHS) rule allowing certain F-1 visa students with Science, Technology, Engineering or Math (STEM) degrees to extend their stay for an additional 17 months of training related to their degrees in the U.S. is deficient, a federal judge for the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia has…

USCIS has resumed acceptance of Form I-907, Request for Premium Processing Service, for all H-1B extension of stay petitions. Premium Processing Service had been suspended by USCIS for this type of filing as of May 26, 2015, in anticipation of a large number of applications for employment authorization by H-4 nonimmigrants under new regulation allowing…