GOING, GOING, GONE! USCIS’ FY 2015 H-1B CAP
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced on April 7, 2014, that it had received a sufficient number of H-1B petitions to reach the statutory cap for fiscal year 2015, which begins on October 1, 2014. USCIS also received more than the limit of 20,000 H-1B petitions filed under the U.S. advance degree exemption. Approximately […]
DOMA is DEAD
On June 26, 2013, the Supreme Court unequivocally affirmed there is no legitimate reason for the federal government to discriminate against married couples based on sexual orientation. The Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) of 1996 defined marriage as a legal union between a man and a woman. The implication of the Supreme Court’s historic decision […]
Fiscal Year 2015: H-1B filing date coming up quickly
The H-1B visa category is used by employers hiring a foreign national in a professional level position (“specialty occupation”) requiring at least a Bachelor’s degree or the equivalent. The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) will begin accepting H-1B petitions on April 1, 2014 , with a start date of October 1, 2014 (FY 2015). […]
OSC electronic I-9
An 8/20/13 Technical Assistance Letter (TAL) from the Department of Justice’s (“DOJ”) Office of Special Counsel, Deputy Special Counsel Seema Nanda, discourages pre-population of employee information in Section 1 of the I-9 Form by electronic I-9 programs due to potential discrimination concerns. Similarly, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (“ICE”) has indicated that pre-population of Section […]
H-1B Deadline Fast Approaching!
The H-1B visa category is used by employers hiring a foreign national in a professional level position (“specialty occupation”) requiring at least a Bachelor’s degree or the equivalent. This year, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) will begin accepting H-1B petitions on April 1, 2010, with a start date of October 1, 2010 (FY […]
DS-160, The New Non-Immigrant Visa Application
The Department of State (“DOS”) will require that all U.S. Embassies and Consulates abroad use the new online DS-160 for nonimmigrant visa applications by April 30, 2010. The DS-160 will replace the paper based application, form DS-156. Many posts have already begun using form DS-160, although technical problems persist. Nonimmigrant visa applicants with upcoming appointments […]
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Launches ‘I-9 Central’ on USCIS.gov
Since 1986, U.S. employers have been required to verify the identity and employment authorization of every worker hired, regardless of the employee’s immigration status. To comply with the law, employers must complete form I-9, available at www.uscis.gov . In the past few years, there has been an increased focus on enforcement of immigration related documents […]
U.S. Department of Sate Passport and Consular Consolidated Database (CCD) Crash update as of August 4th, 2014
The Department of State (DOS) continues to work and make progress to restore the visa system to full capacity and functionality. It is anticipated it will take weeks to resume full visa processing capacity. Visa applicants are advised they might still experience delays of up to one week in addition to normal processing times. Applicants […]