As of March 5, 2015, the immigration service has suspended processing of H-2B (seasonal non-agricultural work visa) visa petitions. The suspension of processing follows a Florida federal district judge’s decision to void the 2008 regulations the Department of Labor followed to determine prevailing wages for H-2B labor certification applications. Both the Department of Labor and the immigration service are searching for solutions so that they can continue to process H-2B cases.
In a recent liaison meeting, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) addressed concerns about commonly occurring “implied departure” errors in the I-94 arrival/departure system and offered suggestions on how to correct them. “Implied departure” may be registered when a traveler books an outbound flight but then changes plans and does not actually leave the United States. Even though the traveler never physically left, the I-94 arrival/departure system often incorrectly records a departure. This may seem like a minor and inconsequential matter – after all, the government is eager to ensure that visa holders do not overstay and leave the United States on time so a fictional departure may not appear too bad. However, incorrectly recorded departures may have very serious consequences and it is important to recognize their significance and know how to address them.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has finalized the long anticipated amendment to the Federal Regulations to allow certain spouses of H-1B workers to apply for employment authorization. Who…read on
In years past, Nashville residents who wanted to enroll in Global Entry had to fly to Atlanta for the required interview. Now, the CBP office near the Nashville airport can accommodate the interview.
On February 20, 2015, the Department of Justice announced it would seek an emergency stay of the temporary injunction. The Department of Justice actually filed the motion for a stay on February 23, 2015. The federal government argues they are likely to win on appeal and will be forever harmed by the nationwide injunction if it is allowed to stand. In the alternative, the federal government asks for the injunction to be stayed as to all states except Texas, the lead state in the deferred action lawsuit.
Experts agree that the courts of appeal are very likely to allow DAPA and expanded DACA to continue. The question now is how long we will have to wait.
This is part two in a series of articles on deferred action. (Part one covered timing considerations for deferred action renewals.) You may have heard that a federal judge…read on
The March 2015 Visa Bulletin is up and we see some major developments with the employment based categories. Here is the latest in the cut-off date movement along with our analysis and projection of…read on
The U.S. Treasury and Commerce Departments have jointly announced that, effective January 15, 2015, certain groups of U.S. citizens may now freely travel to Cuba without the need to…read on
The Immigration Innovation Act of 2015 (I-Squared) was re-introduced in the United States Senate on January 14, 2015. This bill, already introduced without success in last year’s Congress, is…read on
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security is considering testing a “Known Employer” program aimed at expediting the adjudication of certain employment based nonimmigrant visa cases filed by pre-approved U.S….read on
