Trying to make sense of immigration processing times long has been an exercise in reading tea leaves. The government posts estimated processing times, and then experience reveals a different reality. Sometimes decisions come sooner. Often, they come much, much later. Nowadays it can be just as bad applying for a visa at the U.S. embassy […]
During a March 1, 2019 stakeholder conference call, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) explained the new I-539 Application form. USCIS will require applicants to use the new form March 22, 2019. Persons in the U.S. on a temporary visa, such as a B-1 or B-2 visitor, or an H-4 or L-2 dependent family member […]
Up to now, H-1B and L-1 workers applying for their visas In China had five locations from which to choose: U.S. Embassy in Beijing and U.S. Consulates in Chengdu, Guangzhou, Shanghai, and Shenyang. Effective March 1, 2019, persons applying for either H or L visas who require an in-person interview must apply at the Embassy […]
Before we bid farewell to 2018, I thought I’d offer one final post on how the increasing legalization of marijuana cultivation, sale and use in many states can impact foreign nationals in the United States. The federal government has yet to consider the question of what to do about marijuana, which means it remains a […]
An advance copy of a regulation to be published Monday, December 3 began circulating today. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is planning to implement a pre-registration process for the annual allocation of H-1B visas, which informally is called the H-1B lottery. USCIS will collect public comments for 30 days, consider and evaluate recommended changes […]
The current administration is trying to derail employers’ talent acquisition efforts. The CATO Institute last week reported its analysis of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services’ current fiscal year immigration applications and petitions adjudications. Not surprisingly, denial rates for various applications and petitions (e.g. H-1B and L-1 nonimmigrant petitions, immigrant petitions, work permits, travel documents) increased […]
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services published proposed new rules this month that could alter the landscape for family-based immigrants. As most immigrants who applied for green cards through a family member will recall, the process requires having a sponsor. The sponsor (often the U.S. citizen spouse) must meet certain income or asset thresholds to ensure […]
On June 28, 2018, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services released a policy memorandum that effectively transforms the current “services” division of Homeland Security into an enforcement agency. The new policy, which goes into effect next Monday, is to issue a Notice to Appear, or NTA, to start the deportation process against persons suspected or alleged […]
Spending a week helping women and children navigate the asylum process reminded me why I became an attorney: to help those in need with complex legal issues. Representing clients in a detention facility allowed me to take my compassion and expertise to them. They certainly had the need, and their legal issues were more than […]
The Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) unit of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has been a tear with worksite investigations and enforcement actions. Since January 2018, HSI has served more than 5,200 notices on businesses to conduct audits of their I-9 Forms. The I-9 is the document employers must complete, along with a new employee, within […]
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