U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) published a notice today announcing that it no longer will grant changes or extensions of status to citizens of Iran seeking E-1 Treaty Trader or E-2 Treaty Investor status. In most cases, persons coming to the U.S. to engage in trade with their country of citizenship or to invest […]
In what has become the norm for the Trump administration to release important announcements at the end of the week, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services sent out its latest update last Friday at 5:25 p.m. Eastern. The press release confirmed that USCIS will implement the electronic pre-filing registration system for H-1B employers for the next […]
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced this week that it has approved Poland for participation in the Visa Waiver Program (VWP) as of November 11, 2019. It joins 38 other countries, which include: Andorra, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brunei, Chile, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Latvia, […]
The annual Diversity Lottery (i.e. green card lottery) opened this week. The registration period is from October 2, 2019 until noon Eastern Standard Time on November 5, 2019. Each year the U.S. State Department runs the program to encourage individuals from countries with historically low numbers of immigrants to the United States to apply for […]
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services this week announced an “enhancement” to the E-Verify system that employers use to confirm that new employees have authorization to work in the United States. It has created more frustration than anything. The update to the system is to accept only an “Unrestricted Social Security Number” when entering the new […]
As a follow up to my November 30, 2018 post on the H-1B pre-registration system, there remains uncertainty whether the system will launch for next year’s cap season. USCIS still does not appear ready to go live with pre-registration early next year. Several stakeholder organizations also have written to USCIS urging the agency to publish […]
The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) released its report on E-2 visas this month following a review of E-2 visa applications for fiscal years 2014-18. The two key takeaways are: (1) Inconsistency among U.S. consulates continues, and (2) It’s still better to apply for an E-2 visa abroad, rather than through USCIS in the United […]
If there is one positive thing that has come out of the Trump administration, it’s broader civic engagement. The mid-term election cycle showed us a welcome range of diverse candidates. We’re also seeing more and more interest and participation in all levels of government. This brings me to the topic of this post. When was […]
Human Resources professionals who have been around a decade may remember the last batch of so-called “no match letters” that the Social Security Administration sent to employers to notify them that the Social Security Numbers they provided for employee withholdings did not match SSA records for those employees. The letters then directed employers to inquire […]
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 […]
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