Immigration - Visas

On March 2, 2022, the U.S. Department of State added Ukraine to the Homeless Nationalities list. The Department of State defines a homeless visa applicant as someone who is “a national of a country in which the United States has no consular representation or in which the political or security

H-2B visas for temporary nonagricultural workers present many challenges for employers seeking to bolster their workforce.

Congress is set to pass Omnibus spending legislation that includes reauthorization of the EB-5 Immigrant Investor Regional Center Program, which has been suspended since June 2021. The Regional Center Program allows eligible investors to apply for green cards if they make the necessary monetary inve

USCIS has increased the evidentiary burden for petitions for the O-1 Extraordinary Ability visa to mirror that for the EB-1 Extraordinary Ability visa. Both the O-1 nonimmigrant and EB-1 immigrant visa classifications remain important and flexible methods of sponsoring outstanding talent in the Unit

By: USCIS Accepts First Time H-1B Applications on March 1, 2022 US Citizenship & Immigration Service announced that it will accept initial applications for first time H-1B visa petitions from March 1, 2022 until March 18, 2022. An H-1B visa allows an employer to employ a foreign national in a

Executive Summary: USCIS has announced the timeline for the H-1B FY23 Cap Petition Cycle. The H-1B FY23 cap registration period will run from noon on March 1, 2022 until noon on March 18, 2022. USCIS will then conduct a lottery and notify selected registrants by March 31, 2022. Companies can file H-

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) recently issued policy guidance addressing the automatic extension of status for H-4, L-2, and E dependent spouses in response to the settlement of a class action lawsuit.

While H-1B cap efforts remain underway for fiscal year (FY) 2022, employers may want to push forward now with preparations for FY 2023 H-1B cap season. (According to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), the petition filing period for registrations that were selected on November 19, 202

During the past two years of the pandemic, federal agencies such as the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of State have taken measures to accommodate their services and facilitate the issuance of visas in the consulates across the world in light of on-going safety concerns. The Depa

On November 10, 2021, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) reached a settlement in the class action Shergill v. Mayorkas . As part of the settlement, USCIS agreed to update its policy relating to H-4 and L-2 spousal Employment Authorization Document (EAD) applications, and the settlemen

On January 28, 2022, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced the registration window for the fiscal year 2023 H-1B quota lottery will open March 1, 2022, at noon EST and will close March 18, 2022, at noon EST. During this period, employers (or their representatives) can electroni

It’s that time of the year again: the H-1B cap season is around the corner! On January 28, 2022, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that the registration period for Fiscal Year 2023 will open at noon on March 1, 2022 and will close at noon on March

Manufacturing companies looking for creative solutions to build the talent pool, especially to fill more skilled positions, should consider the TN work visa, a type of work visa available to citizens of Mexico and Canada. For further analysis and insight, please see our article here .

USCIS has announced that H-1B Cap registration will start on March 1, 2022, at noon (Eastern) and will continue through noon (Eastern) on March 18, 2022. If enough registrations to fill the cap are received by March 18 (which is likely), USCIS will randomly select registrations and send selection no

USCIS’s new guidance for O-1 petitions provides a detailed overview of the different O-1 classifications: O-1A, O-1B Arts, and O-1B Motion Picture and Television (“MPTV”). The guidance also provides detailed standards for adjudicating O-1 petitions under each O-1 classification and the use of compar

F-1 nonimmigrant students who have U.S. degrees in certain programs in the fields of science, technology, engineering, or mathematics (STEM) are eligible to apply for a twenty-four-month extension of Optional Practical Training (OPT), in addition to the standard twelve months of OPT available to all

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the number of unfilled job openings increased by over three million in the last year. The construction industry has been particularly hard hit by labor shortages, causing many employers to turn to alternative hiring sources, including recruitment and

As 2021 comes to an end, the White House and the Department of State have announced: South African Travel Restrictions Lifted. The 14-day travel restrictions on southern African countries will be lifted as of midnight on December 31, 2021. Adopted on November 29th, the restrictions based on spread o

The U.S. secretary of state, in consultation with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), has authorized consular officers to waive in-person interviews for certain nonimmigrant visa applicants through the end of 2022.

Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough has ruled for a third time that specific immigration provisions in the Build Back Better Act (BBBA) granting parole and work authorization to unauthorized aliens who entered the United States before January 1, 2011, cannot be included in the reconciliation