On November 15, 2019, the United States Department of Labor (DOL) and the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) amended the regulations that govern the H-2B temporary non-agricultural worker certifications. Changes have been made to the DOL’s labor market test that is conducted to assess the availability of the American workers for the required job position. » Read More
An information technology (IT) consulting company that develops database and web-based applications, content management, and blockchain technology was fined $48,193 by the Department of Labor’s (DOL) Wage & Hour Division to settle allegations of H-1B Visa Program violations. » Read More
Only five days after the United States Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS) opened the 2020 H-1B petition season, the agency announced on Friday that it had already received enough petitions to reach the 65,000 H-1B regular cap visas that Congress issues each fiscal year. » Read More
Yesterday, United States Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS) announced it immediately resumed premium processing for all H-1B petitions, following a halt on the service for several months to allow USCIS to bring current applications that were then pending for extended durations. » Read More
Starting April 1, 2019, United States Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS) will accept new H-1B Quota-Based Visa Petitions for the 2020 Fiscal Year, for an employment start date of October 1, 2019.
USCIS’ regular H-1B visa cap limits annual H-1B approvals to 65,000 visas, with an additional 20,000 H1-B visas for individuals who earned a master’s degree or higher from a U.S. » Read More
E-Verify expired as a result of the government shutdown. Employers will not have access to E-Verify to initiate new employee verifications, resolve non-confirmations, and verify employment authorization. » Read More
On Friday, I was honored to join a group of today’s business leaders and innovators at WeWork, who are shaping tomorrow, for a discussion on immigration. In a room nineteen floors above the rumbling of New York’s traffic with sushi in hand, two concerns quickly became central to our discussion: (1) the growing barrier of US businesses—small, mid, and large—to access to the global workforce; and (2) the foreign entrepreneur’s inability to enter –or even attempt to enter—as a start-up in or expansion to the US market. » Read More
Raymond G. Lahoud, a Member with Norris McLaughlin, P.A., and Chair of its Immigration Practice Group, is pleased to present a complimentary Q&A session covering immigration issues. Human resource professionals, business owners, compliance officers, administrators, and management at organizations and companies in every industry of every size are urged to attend. » Read More
Today, Canada became the second country in the world to legalize recreational marijuana use with the enactment of Canadian House Government Bill C-45. Pretty nice, right? Yes, it is. But citizens of Canada who travel to the United States under employment-based non-immigrant visas, visitor visas, and those seeking lawful permanent residency must be on notice: just because you can legally possess and distribute marijuana in Canada does not excuse you from the archaic and complex Immigration & Nationality Act (the “INA”). » Read More
US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has announced a nearly 15% fee increase for its premium processing service. The current $1,225 fee will increase to $1,410, effective October 1, 2018.
Premium processing is an optional service USCIS offers to employers that for an additional fee allows for 15-day processing of certain immigrant and non-immigrant employment-based visa petitions. » Read More
