USCIS Fee Hikes Effective April 1 – 4 Key Takeaways for Employers

On January 31, 2024, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) published a Final Rule to announce new filing fees for immigration and naturalization benefit requests. The rule is set to take effect on April 1, 2024. As a predominantly fee-funded agency, USCIS justifies the fee increase – the first since December 2016 – as essential …

Coming January 29: 20,000 H-1Bs for Visa Renewal – What You Need to Know!

As outlined in an earlier Immigration Insights & Issues blog post, the U.S. Department of State (DOS) posted a proposal to resume the renewal of limited visas in the U.S. after almost 20 years via a pilot program. Finally, on December 21, 2023, the requirements for the pilot program were announced by DOS. What are …

H-1B Principals Pilot Program for Stateside Visa Reissuance – Early 2024

The Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and Budget (OMB), posted on October 17, 2023, the long-awaited proposal by the Department of State (DOS) to proceed with a pilot program to resume the renewal of nonimmigrant visas in the United States (US) for certain qualified non-citizens. It is expected that the program …

3 Tips for a Successful National Interest Waiver Petition for the STEM Worker

The U.S. immigration system poses significant hurdles for foreign nationals seeking employment within the United States. With few exceptions, employer sponsorship is generally required. For many, the sole avenue to obtain temporary work authorization is through the H-1B category, which is subject to an annual cap. Due to the restricted number of H-1Bs available each …

Not Selected In The Lottery? 5 H-1B Alternatives To Consider

On March 27, 2023, USCIS announced that it had received enough electronic registrations to reach the H-1B annual cap FY2024, including the advanced degree exemption (Master’s cap). While official statistics regarding the number of registrations submitted vs. that selected have yet to be released, reports across the board indicate a much lower selection rate than …

The 4-1-1 on Telecommuting: 3 Tips to Avoid Immigration Hang-Ups

The federal government has announced that on May 11, 2023, it intends to permit the Public Health Emergency for COVID-19—declared more than three years ago—to expire. As we look back over the last few years, it is difficult to understate the pandemic’s impact on the working culture within the United States. In 2021, 34.5% of …

10 Hot Tips for Employers to Consider This H-1B Cap Season

March Madness is around the corner, and we are not talking about basketball! For the immigration aficionado, the much-anticipated annual H-1B cap season for Fiscal Year (FY) 2024 is gearing up to start. While many will make bold predictions for their NCAA basketball brackets, HR professionals will have a bracket of their own, tracking employees …

Employer Tips for the Fiscal Year 2023 H-1B Cap Registration Process

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) introduced a new H-1B cap registration process for fiscal year (FY) 2021. This process was continued for the FY 2022 H-1B cap lottery, and it will be substantially the same for the FY 2023 H-1B cap lottery. For FY 2021, USCIS received 274,237 registrations and initially selected 106,100. USCIS …

Corporate Immigration Compliance: Dealing with Document Retention

Any corporate immigration program must consider what documents to retain, how long to retain them, and where to store them. In an era of increased inter-agency cooperation, a heightened focus on compliance, and an increasingly mobile workforce, it is important for a company to review its document retention practices. There are three primary types of …