U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) data between 2015 and 2019 show that denials of the H-1B Specialty Occupation Nonimmigrant Visa Petitions have quadrupled for both initial H-1B petitions and those seeking the continuation of employment with the same employer.
According to immigration policy analysts, including the National Foundation for American Policy (NFAP), this is a result of more restrictive Trump administration policies, specifically the 2017 “Buy American and Hire American” executive order. » Read More
The United States Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that it has received enough registrations for the H-1B, Nonimmigrant Specialty Employee visa program petition to meet the annual statutory cap for the Fiscal Year 2021 on the number of H-1B visas permitted to be issued to foreign nationals. » Read More
On January 21, 2020, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy signed legislation allowing children of H-1B visa workers to qualify for in-state tuition, subject to certain conditions.
“New Jerseyans deserve equal access to higher education, and today we are taking another step toward making that possible,” said Gov.
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
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
Raymond G. Lahoud, a Member of law firm Norris McLaughlin, P.A., and Chair of its Immigration Law Practice, was recently interviewed by New Jersey Business, a publication of the New Jersey Business & Industry Association. The resulting article, “Immigration Law Issues: Strict enforcement of immigration law is impacting New Jersey employers,” discusses how New Jersey businesses are affected by current issues in immigration law, affected businesses within New Jersey, such as the importance of the I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification Form; the H-1B Work Visa; Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA); Temporary Protected Status (TPS); discrimination in the workplace; and the impact on higher education. » Read More
The number of applications for H-1B visas – reserved for foreign professionals seeking to work in skilled positions in the United States – is expected to rise this year, and employers need to prepare accordingly.
The law caps the number of available visas at 85,000 (with 20,000 reserved for those with a master’s degree), and the 85,000 recipients are chosen at random through a lottery system. » Read More
