Immigration Insights & Issues Blog
Key legal insights into modern immigration challenges.
The new and much anticipated United States, Mexico and Canada Agreement (USMCA) replacing and modernizing the 25 year old North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) has been in the headlines for a couple of years. The USMCA has officially made its debut after President Trump signed the trade deal into law on January 29, 2020. …
Continue reading “USMCA: Immigration Chapter and TN Visas Unaffected by New Law”
The H-1B process for fiscal year 2021 presents employers and their legal counsel with a variety of new timing and process challenges in addition to potential cost savings. The major change of note will be the insertion of a new registration process, which will be imposed starting on March 1, 2020 and ending on March …
Continue reading “Employer Tips: Preparing for FY 2021 H-1B Season and Pre-Lottery Registration”
Change is a constant in immigration visa adjudications and drastic changes can be implemented from one day to the next without much, if any, notice. For example, the reciprocity fees for the nonimmigrant visas for Australian citizens changed drastically on December 23, 2019.[1] For example, for E-1 and E-2 treaty trader/investor visas, the application fee …
Continue reading “Visa Reciprocity Fees and E-2 Visa Adjudications – Targets for Change in 2020”
All applicants for a U.S. nonimmigrant visa at a consular post quickly become familiar with the DS-160, online nonimmigrant visa application form, which is available on the Consular Electronic Application Center (CEAC) website. The form may seem fairly innocuous and many employers leave employees to fend for themselves to obtain their “visa stamp” from the …
Continue reading “Consular Application Challenges – Be Wary of the DS-160”
On November 14th, the US Citizenship and Immigration Services agency (“USCIS”) is expected to formally publish proposed fee changes in the Federal Register for the applications and petitions it processes. Public comments about the regulatory fee changes should be due 30 days later, but it appears that the new fee levels may start to be …
Continue reading “Just in Time for Thanksgiving: The USCIS Implements Large Filing Fee Increases”
Labor Condition Applications must be filed under the new DOL’S FLAG System As part of the U.S. Department of Labor’s (“USDOL”) technology modernization initiative, the FLAG System (Foreign Labor Application Gateway) was developed to replace the legacy iCert system with the USDOL’s stated goal of improving customer service, and modernizing the administration of foreign labor …
Continue reading “Recent Changes to the H-1B Specialty Worker Program”
What is the VWP? The VWP is administered by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in consultation with the State Department. Currently, the program permits citizens of 38 countries[1] to travel to the United States (U.S.) for business or tourism purposes for up to 90 days without a visa, which is a major convenience. In …
Continue reading “Visa Waiver Program (VWP) Travel Challenges – Don’t Forget!”
USCIS is moving forward with a plan to implement a preliminary registration system for cap-subject H-1B petitions that will drastically change the H-1B visa filing process employers have used for years. On September 3, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) posted a notice about its proposed rulemaking for its electronic H-1B implementation tool, which would …
Keeping it simple is often a key goal in any compliance policy for a company, but sometimes it may not be a best practice and indeed could cause a company to incur liability. Employers should consider onboarding personnel products carefully and it is important not to overlook if such products attempt to address the conundrum …
Continue reading “The Risks of Auto/Pre – Population and the Form I-9”
New Zealand and the KIWI Act Recently, Mission New Zealand for the U.S. Department of State posted the announcement that as of June 10, 2019, citizens and businesses of New Zealand will be able to apply for E-1 Treaty Trader and E-2 Treaty Investor visas to invest in and trade with the United States (U.S.). …
Continue reading “Welcome New Treaty Trader and Investors from New Zealand and Israel”