In a last-minute rush, the outgoing Trump administration crammed through two new rules. The first is a new version of the prevailing wage rule from October 2020 that a court set aside. The second is a rule to reconfigure the allocation of H-1B visas in the annual lottery. The wage rule is scheduled to go […]
In the last few months there has been an increase in the guessing game of wondering what will come out of Washington. Not knowing what to expect from the Trump administration and the Friday afternoon bombshells became the norm in the last four years. Now we’re waiting to see what will happen with USCIS filing […]
If only Uncle Joe could wave a magic wand and make four years of horrible immigration policy and practice go away, the United States would be in a much better place. Major policy shifts will take some time to unwind and correct. The low hanging fruit, however, is the pile of anti-immigration executive orders that […]
While the world optimistically hopes for a Biden victory, the Trump administration’s concern over polling numbers has the swan song lyricists working in high gear. The targets this time are prevailing wages for H-1B visa and green card sponsorship and the H-1B program in general. Precisely as immigration lawyers have expected it would happen, the […]
As we inch ever closer to a very important election day, I thought a refresher on Comprehensive Immigration Reform (or “CIR”) would be helpful when reading candidate statements and viewing debates. Broadly speaking there are three key areas to CIR: Secure the border, provide a path to legalization for undocumented persons, and bring the remaining […]
Not that it ever was inexpensive to apply for a green card to become a permanent resident or to apply for naturalization to become a citizen, but it’s now about the break the piggy bank. The current fee for individuals applying for permanent residency from within the U.S. is $1,225. That amount includes the initial […]
The U.S. State Department announced that visa processing at U.S. consulates and embassies abroad can begin as early as July 15, 2020. Since the March 20, 2020 suspension of operations and cancellation of visa interviews at most consular posts, there has been little guidance. As local country conditions permit, visa operations will resume but be […]
Knapp Immigration Law supports the Black Lives Matter movement to achieve understanding, equality, and justice. As an immigration attorney, I also believe it’s important to offer a word of caution to noncitizens about participating in public assemblies or demonstrations. Setting aside the health concerns of Covid-19, the potential for negative interactions with law enforcement presents […]
Facing difficulty in meeting the 15-day commitment to review Premium Processing requests for I-129 and I-140 petitions, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) halted the service on March 20, 2020. Ironically, since then, processing times for many H and L visa petitions have gone from several months to just a few weeks. Employers welcome the […]
In typical fashion, the White House released this latest Executive Order after business hours last night and made it effective today, April 23, 2020. Let’s first be clear about what’s going on here. This no doubt was engineered by the president’s anti-immigration, xenophobic sycophants who are trying desperately to salvage the waning votes he may […]
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