Timely and consistent I-9 compliance which is frequently referenced to on this blog and multiple other immigration resources, acquired new significance for a small staffing company in Minnesota. Upon receipt of a Notice of Inspection (NOI) requiring to present all of its I-9 forms for current and former employees, the business turned over a number
The July 2017 DOS Visa Bulletin “Final Action” chart for employment-based preference cases contains some important updates as we head into the tenth month of FY2017. The DOS maintains the January 1, 2012 cut-off date EB-1 Priority Workers for China and India. EB-2 “Members of the Professions Holding Advanced Degrees or Persons of Exceptional Ability”
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has completed its Fiscal Year (FY) 2018 H-1B visa lottery and mailed out receipt notices for the petitions accepted for processing under the H-1B visa cap. Petitioners that have not received H-1B petition receipt notices for the filings under the cap by the current date should check on the
The June 2017 DOS Visa Bulletin “Final Action” chart for employment-based preference cases contains some important updates as we head into the ninth month of FY2017. As discussed in last month’s newsletter, the DOS will impose a cut-off date of January 1, 2012 for EB-1 Priority Workers for China and India. The DOS predicts that
On April 7, 2017, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) reached the congressionally mandated 65,000 H-1B visa cap for the government’s Fiscal Year (FY) 2018. USCIS also confirmed it had reached the cap under the 20,000 H-1B petitions allocation for U.S. advanced degree holders. The agency has not yet indicated the anticipated timelines of the
CBP recently released statistical data regarding the migration at the U.S. Southwest border. The data suggests a drastic decline in traffic, evidenced by a significant (i.e., nearly 40 percent) decline in arrests. The number of border apprehensions from January to February usually increases by approximately 10 to 20 percent, thus making the current decrease highly
The May 2017 DOS Visa Bulletin “Final Action” chart for employment-based preference cases indicates slight movement as we head into the eighth month of the government’s FY2017. EB-2 “Members of the Professions Holding Advanced Degrees or Persons of Exceptional Ability” category for China advances only 3 weeks to a cut-off date of February 8, 2013.
Starting April 3, 2017, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will temporarily suspend premium processing (i.e., 15-day expedited processing) for all H-1B petitions for up to 6 months. Importantly, since April 3, 2017 marks the start of the cap-subject H-1B petitions acceptance for the Fiscal Year 2018 (FY18), the suspension will affect all petitions filed
On March 6, 2017, President Trump signed a new Executive Order (EO), once again suspending U.S. entry for nationals of Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen for a minimum of 90 days, among other things. The new order is to take effect on March 16, 2017. Of note, Iraq has been removed from the
H-1B Season is Nearing! April 1, 2017 marks the beginning of the new H-1B petition filing season with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). As in prior recent years, the filing season is likely to be brief (i.e., most likely, limited to the first week of April) and, if more petitions are received than