Photo of Kristin Bolayir ˘

Kristin Bolayir's legal career spans twenty-seven years including more than twenty-four years of experience in immigration. Kristin specializes in business immigration law, especially complex and writing-intensive nonimmigrant and immigrant cases. Her experience in immigration involves nonimmigrant and immigrant solutions for the business, research, information technology, education and entertainment communities. Kristin leads a team of immigration professionals, supervises and mentors paralegals involved in a variety of business immigration matters, assigns cases and monitors paralegal workload and production, and provides training for new paralegals. She effectively manages client relationships, provides case management for clients, and oversees large volume caseloads of both non-immigrant and immigrant petitions. Kristin also regularly writes articles reflecting changes and developments in immigration law and procedure for both the group's blog, Inside Business Immigration: Legal Analysis for the Global Employer.

˘ Not admitted to the practice of law.

There is no premium processing available for any nonimmigrant status requested using a stand-alone Form I-539. Until recently, however, the USCIS would traditionally grant courtesy premium processing for I-539 applications
Continue Reading I-539 Applications are Treated as Stand-Alone Applications and are No Longer Eligible for ‘Courtesy’ Premium Processing with I-129

The Office of Special Counsel for Immigration-Related Unfair Employment Practices (OSC) issued an updated Technical Assistance Letter (TAL) on Jan. 7, 2016, relating to an employer’s internal Form I-9 audit
Continue Reading OSC Issues Updated Guidance on Internal I-9 Audits and Determining Validity of Documentation Provided

In recent years, the USCIS has issued an increasing number of denials and Requests for Evidence (RFE) for L-1B specialized knowledge employees. As defined by regulations, specialized knowledge is special knowledge possessed by an individual of the petitioning organization’s product, service, research, equipment, techniques, management, or other interests and its application in international markets, or an advanced level of knowledge or expertise in the organization’s processes and procedures. The RFEs were extensive and appeared to be “boiler-plate,” sometimes with no indication in the request issued that the examiner had reviewed the evidence that was submitted with the initial filing. The trend added burden to employers with the extra time and cost associated with responding to the extensive RFEs, which could result in unforeseen delays severely affecting projects and impeding on U.S. employer’s ability to conduct business or fulfill projects, contracts, and deadlines.
Continue Reading USCIS issued Draft RFE Template for L-1B Petitions