On July 12, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) completed review and forwarded a final rule on a Public Charge rule to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). This action follows action last week as reported here wherein the Department of Justice completed review and forwarded aspects of a Public Charge final rule within … Continue Reading
The Department of State (DOS) August 2019 Visa Bulleting shows significant retrogression in employment-based (EB) categories. In the EB-1 category, final action dates retrogress to July 1, 2016, for all countries of chargeability except for India. The cutoff date for India’s EB-1 category remains at Jan. 1, 2015. The EB-2 category retrogresses to July 1, … Continue Reading
On July 3rd, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) posted receipt of a “public charge” rule from the Department of Justice (DOJ)- AGENCY: DOJ-EOIR RIN: 1125-AA84 Status: Pending Review TITLE: Inadmissibility and Deportability on Public Charge Grounds STAGE: Proposed Rule ECONOMICALLY SIGNIFICANT: No RECEIVED DATE: 07/03/2019 LEGAL DEADLINE: None While the text of the … Continue Reading
Today, the U.S. House of Representatives approved H.R. 1044, the Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act of 2019, that eliminates per-country quotas for all employment-based immigrant visa petitions by a wide, bipartisan vote of 365-65. The bill includes language helpful to the EB-5 program relating to a transition period for implementation, as explained – Fairness for … Continue Reading
The Venezuelan opposition-controlled National Assembly recently acknowledged the significant obstacles for Venezuelans in extending or obtaining new passports, and issued a decree extending the validity of already issued Venezuelan passports for five years. The U.S. Department of State announced on June 7 it will recognize the decree and accept Venezuelan passports accordingly. This is positive news for Venezuelans … Continue Reading
Starting July 1, 2019, international offices of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will no longer accept Form I-407, Record of Abandonment of Lawful Permanent Residence Status. On that date and going forward, all I-407 forms must be sent by mail to the address below. USCIS anticipates that processing of the form, from receipt … Continue Reading
On June 4, 2019, the Kenan Institute released a timely policy brief, “Immigrant Entrepreneurship: An American Success Story,” on the value of highly skilled and motivated foreign entrepreneurs to the U.S. economy. The brief states, “When looking at the founding of the United States’ largest startups…[t]he immigrant-founded startups employ an average of more than 1,200 workers … Continue Reading
USCIS Acting Director Cuccinelli tweeted June 14 that “@USCIS took action to further @POTUS directive to enforce the legal responsibilities of sponsors. Self-sufficiency is a principle that has been enshrined in our laws since the 1800s & we must ensure that immigrants who become part of our country abide by this principle.” His multiple tweets … Continue Reading
Greenberg Traurig was proud to attend Samsung’s annual “Seoul Sisters” Women’s Conference in Teaneck, New Jersey. The event was created for Samsung employees from across all of Samsung’s North American subsidiaries to come together and discuss best practices, leadership topics, and other hot topics. Greenberg Traurig is especially proud that one of the key presenters was … Continue Reading
Ian R. Macdonald, co-chair of Greenberg Traurig LLP’s Immigration & Compliance Practice, as well as Jennifer Hermansky and Courtney B. Noce, shareholders in the practice, were each recognized by the National Law Journal (NLJ) with the 2019 Immigration Trailblazer award. The award recognizes movers and shakers in the legal industry who have made an impact … Continue Reading
USCIS announced June 7 it had received sufficient petitions to reach the recently allocated 30,000 additional returning worker H-2B visas (see our related May 8 post here). Some commenters had noted that the returning worker and the “irreparable harm” attestation requirements required under the additional allocation might suppress utilization. Even with the additional requirements, U.S. employers maintained … Continue Reading
Per its announcement on June 7, USCIS started accepting premium processing requests for all remaining FY 2020 cap-subject H-1B petitions on June 10, 2019. This allows petitioners to file Form I-907, Request for Premium Processing Service with the service center processing their cap-subject H-1B petition. Previously, USCIS accepted premium processing requests only for FY 2020 cap-subject H-1B petitions … Continue Reading
Former Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli has been appointed acting director of USCIS, replacing Acting Director Koumans. Director Koumans replaced Director Cissna on June 3 as acting director. Below is the USCIS release: WASHINGTON— Department of Homeland Security Acting Secretary Kevin McAleenan today announced that Kenneth T. (Ken) Cuccinelli will serve as the new acting director of … Continue Reading
Under a new State Department policy, virtually all visa applicants to the United States are now required to submit information about social media accounts they have used in the past five years. Applicants for immigrant and nonimmigrant visas must use the State Department’s Consular Electronic Application Center (CEAC) to complete online forms for nonimmigrant (DS-160) … Continue Reading
USCIS Deputy Director Mark Koumans has been appointed acting director following L. Francis Cissna’s departure. Mr. Koumans has experience in Custom Border Protection and the U.S. Foreign Service. Prior to his exit from USCIS, former Director L. Francis Cissna released a report highlighting agency programs, workload and accomplishments, in which he states the following: The 2018 … Continue Reading
On May 10, 2019, the U.S. Embassy in Vienna announced a partnership with McDonald’s in Austria to help U.S. citizens in need. The post states that American citizens traveling in Austria who are in distress may enter any McDonald’s in Austria and receive assistance from staff to contact the U.S. Embassy. The U.S. Embassy itself … Continue Reading
On May 17, USCIS announced completion of data entry for all fiscal year 2020 H-1B cap-subject petitions selected in its computer-generated random selection process. USCIS will now begin returning petitions that were not selected. USCIS will issue another announcement once it has finished returning all petitions that were not selected. As has been the case in … Continue Reading
Today, President Trump hosted a Rose Garden event unveiling his new immigration plan. The theme of the address, “Modernizing Our Immigration System for a Stronger America,” focuses on border security and modernizing the employment-based immigration systems to be more merit-based, according to the president. A new initiative called the “Build America Visa” would replace certain … Continue Reading
The U.S. State Department has just released the June 2019 Visa Bulletin, and the headline is the significant retrogression in EB-1 India, where the Final Action Date goes back to January 2015. There is slow forward movement in almost all employment-based categories; EB-1 China remains unchanged and EB-3 India remains more advanced than EB-2 India. For more visa … Continue Reading
On May 6, the U.S. Departments of Homeland Security and Labor issued a prepublication of the joint temporary rule setting forth the process for accessing 30,000 additional H-2B visas. It is expected that on formal publication of the rule in the Federal Register May 8, eligible U.S. employers documenting returning worker status (over the last three … Continue Reading
On April 30, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) announced the completion of its review of the regulation providing additional H-2B for fiscal year 2019- Agency: DHS-USCIS RIN: 1615-AC38 Status: Concluded Title: Exercise of Time-Limited Authority to Increase the Fiscal Year 2019 Numerical Limitation for the H-2B Temporary Nonagricultural Worker Program Stage: Final Rule … Continue Reading
Of counsel Kristen Burke and Associate Sarah Amendola, attorneys in Greenberg Traurig’s Immigration and Compliance Practice, wrote an article published in Texas Lawyer titled “The Era of Tougher Immigration Enforcement.” The commentary addresses DHS’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which has escalated its efforts to oversee and enforce I-9 compliance, both in terms of conducting audits and … Continue Reading
Courtney Noce, shareholder of Greenberg Traurig’s Immigration and Compliance Practice, was recently quoted in an April 24 Law360 article titled “New Israeli Visa to Woo Tech Startups.” The article discusses the E-2 investor visa program opening up to Israeli startups. To read the full article, please click here. *Access to this article requires a Law360 subscription.… Continue Reading
As previously announced on our blog, the E-2 Treaty Investor Visa will soon be available to Israeli nationals wishing to make a substantial investment in or set up a business in the United States. USCIS announced on April 22 that eligible Israeli nationals already in the United States in a lawful nonimmigrant status, as well … Continue Reading
