Newsletter

BIG TECH PUSHES FOR ADDITIONAL IMMIGRATION PROTOCOL TO BE ADDED TO THE CHIPS AND SCIENCE ACT IN THE NAME OF NATIONAL SECURITY Three months ago, Congress passed the Chips and Science Act, which aims to attract foreign STEM workers to the United States to help reinvest in the domestic manufacturin...

USCIS EXTENDS COVID-19 RELATED FLEXIBILITY On October 24th, USCIS issued a renewed automatic extension of 60 days to the due date of several types of requests and notices. This extension applies to Requests for Evidence, Continuations to Requests for Evidence, Notices of Intent to Deny, Notices...

USCIS ISSUES POLICY ALERT FOR L-1 INTRACOMPANY TRANSFEREES Updates on eligibility requirements, filing, documentation and evidence, and adjudication procedures for L-1 visa petitions can be found in the recent policy guidance provided by USCIS. For L-1A visas, the employee must be performing ma...

DHS EXTENDS I-9 FLEXIBILITY THROUGH JULY 2023 AND SAYS EMPLOYERS SHOULD CONTINUE USING CURRENT I-9 FORM EVEN AFTER ITS EXPIRATION DATE OF OCTOBER 31, 2022 UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE Form I-9 is used to verify the identity and employment authorization for both citizens and noncitizens who are hired to ...

Welcome to the second edition of our Weekly Immigration News Newsletter! Published every Friday, we will provide you with the most important breaking news and keep you up to date with current U.S. and global immigration policy updates.

H-1B EMPLOYER COMPLIANCE TIPS FOR LCA AND PAF AUDITS Employers who hire H-1B workers are subject to many regulatory obligations. For example, the employer must continue to pay the H- IB worker the required wage rate throughout the entirety of the period of validity of the LCA. If the required wa...

We are excited to announce the launch of our Weekly Immigration News Newsletter! Published every Friday, we will provide you with the most pertinent breaking news and keep you up to date with current U.S. and global immigration policy updates.

On June 24, 2022, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California ordered a nationwide preliminary injunction thus allowing RCs to immediately accept new investors as of the date of the decision. The judge ruled that USCIS may not deauthorize the previously valid RCs and those centers must be allowed to continue their operations in accordance with the RIA. Moreover, Form I-526 petitions from immigrants investing in RCs should resume processing.

The FY2023 H1B lottery result is out and will continue to come out until the end of March 2022. USCIS has published the 1st round of random lottery from the submitted petitions. The other rounds of H1B lottery Results will be updated by March 31st, 2022.

Congress has passed the “EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act of 2022” as part of its Omnibus spending legislation. Under the EB-5 Immigrant Investor Regional Center Program, individuals can apply for permanent residence if they make the necessary monetary investments and create at least 10 permanent full-time jobs for American workers.

If adequate initial evidence is not submitted with an H1-B petition or does not demonstrate eligibility, USCIS may deny the request for lack of proof or request that the evidence is provided within 12 weeks. A request for evidence will specify the evidence already provided and what is still required. There are several reasons why USCIS may issue an RFE.

The OPT Cap-Gap Extension and pending H-1B visa  A Cap-Gap extension allows an eligible F-1 OPT or STEM OPT student to continue to work on an expired OPT card so long as it expires after April 1st and an H-1B visa lottery has been selected and a non-frivolous change of status from F-1 to H-1B ha...

Denial of H-1B Visa lottery due to double filing of H-1B visa by multiple companies Can I file multiple Cap Subject H-1B visas (lottery) from multiple companies? The short answer is Yes. You can file multiple Cap Subject H-1B visas from multiple companies provided these multiple companies are n...

H-1B Registration Process 2022 The H-1B registration process requires employers to register each qualified cap subject H-1B visa beneficiary through a USCIS online portal before filing the actual petition with the USCIS. If the H-1B registration submissions exceed the statutory limits (which...

What is a DOL H-1B Audit? An H-1B Audit is conducted by the Wage and Hour Division of the US Department of Labor (DOL) or United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to determine if an H-1B employer is in compliance with the existing H-1B laws and regulations. The Labor or H-1B A...

STEM OPT SITE VISIT  WHAT DOES YOUR CLIENT NEED TO KNOW TO MAINTAIN STEM OPT COMPLIANCE?  In March 2016, the STEM final rule13 expanded STEM OPT to 24 months but along with expanding the maximum period, it also put into place certain compliance provisions including the right to conduct worksite...

Maintenance of Status while Filing Cap Subject H-1B Visa By Keshab Raj Seadie, Esq. As a prospective Cap Subject H-1B Visa Employee, you shall gather all relevant documentation whether you are filing to change your current non-immigrant status to H-1B or going for H-1B visa interview overseas...

Importance of Maintaining a Valid Status while Filing Cap Subject H-1B Visa By Keshab Raj Seadie, Esq. As a prospective Cap Subject H-1B Visa Employee, you shall gather all relevant documentation whether you are filing to change your current non-immigrant status to H-1B or going for H-1B visa i...

PROTOCOLS FOR H-1B FDNS SITE VISIT  By Keshab Raj Seadie, Esq. Background  The FDNS Directorate (herein also referred as “unit”) is an office within USCIS that conducts unannounced inspections of employer worksites for companies that sponsor foreign workers. The purpose of these site visits i...