This week the Department of Homeland Security’s Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) agency, which manages and protects US borders and ports of entry, announced the release of a new rule to automate the I-94 admission/departure process.  Once in effect, the rule will be implemented over a planned four week period, beginning at airports in Orlando,…

AUTHOR:  Rebecca Massiatte.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) has announced a temporary adjustment to its premium processing practice for H-1B petitions for the fiscal year (FY) 2014. Requests for premium processing (15-calendar-day processing time, subject to USCIS request for additional evidence/information) of cap-subject H-1Bs received between April 1 and April 14, will be adjudicated…

On March 14, 2013, a member of the American Health Care Association (AHCA) testified before the House Education and Workforce Committee’s subcommittee on Workforce Protections hearing on the critical shortages of mid-level caregivers in the nation’s skilled nursing centers and its impact on the economy.  The hearing was held to examine the role of lower-skilled…

The Department of State’s Bureau of Consular Affairs released on March 11th the April 2013 visa bulletin (available at http://travel.state.gov/visa/bulletin/bulletin_5900.html). Although the bulletin reports no significant progress was made in the employment-based categories, there was some progression.  Progress in priority date movement in employment-based categories includes EB-2 China moving from February 15, 2008 to…

Employers who plan to file for new H-1B employment visas in FY2014 should be prepared to file by April 1, 2013. While H-1B usage has been lower over the last several years, increased demand caused the FY2013 cap to be reached on June 11, 2012, less than two months after USCIS began accepting petitions. H-1B…

In good news for employers faced with fines for immigration law violations, OCAHO has determined that, as a matter of discretion, a company with 17 violations involving failure to prepare or present I-9s and 59 failures to properly complete the I-9 section 2 attestation should have its fine decreased by nearly 50%, to $41,400. USA…

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is expected to publish the new Form I-9 (with a revision date of “(Rev. 03/08/13)N”) on March 8, 2013, in the Federal Register. https://www.federalregister.gov/articles/2013/03/08/2013-05327/introduction-of-the-revised-employment-eligibility-verification-form

Employers should begin using the new form to comply with their employment eligibility verification responsibilities.  There will be a 60-day transition period from the date of…

The Office of Special Counsel for Immigration-Related Unfair Employment Practices (OSC) in the U.S. Department of Justice announced February 8  that it had reached a settlement agreement with Avant Healthcare Professionals LLC, a healthcare staffing company based in Casselberry, Florida, resolving allegations that the company had engaged in a pattern or practice of citizenship status…