Tag: US Citizenship and Immigration Services

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USCIS COVID-19 Response: An Overview of the Resumption of In-Person Services

On March 18, 2020, United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) temporarily suspended in-person services at their field offices, asylum offices and application support centers (ASCs) in response to the coronavirus (COVID-19).  USCIS, however, continued to accept petitions, applications and requests while the offices were closed, and continued to perform all work not requiring in-person …

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The DACA Decision – Supreme Court’s Ruling Provides Temporary Uncertain Relief

The Trump administration has already announced its goal to end the Deferred Action for  Childhood Arrivals (DACA) policy commenced on June 15, 2012 by President Obama within the next six months post the decision of the U.S. Supreme Court on June 18 finding that the decision of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to end …

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Premium Processing Resumes This Month for Desperate Employers and Their Employees

On March 20th, US Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) announced the temporary suspension of premium processing for all Form I-129 and I-140 petitions, ostensibly due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Although the Administration’s true motives are often difficult to assess, on its face, the announcement was not all that different than we have …

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Expired State Identity Documents Temporarily Accepted for Form I-9 List B and the Case-by Case Remote Form I-9 Completion Risk

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) recently issued a follow-up Question and Answer sheet   (Q&A Sheet) to the  March 20 announcement of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) related to a limited relaxation to physical proximity requirements associated with Form I-9 completion due to COVID-19.  While the acceptance of an expired state identity document …

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Critical COVID-19 Guidance for Certain Foreign Workers

The ever-changing impact of the evolving COVID-19 pandemic is making it extremely difficult for employers to plan what to do with their foreign worker populations right now. DW Immigration stands ready to help! Here below we summarize some critical pieces of immigration information from the various government agencies and our related guidance, as it stands …

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Employer Tips Part 2: Updates on the FY 2021 H-1B Cap Registration Process

Kathleen Campbell Walker’s January 21, 2020 article titled, “Employer Tips: Preparing for FY 2021 H-1B Season and Pre-Lottery Registration,” introduced employers to the new H-1B cap process for fiscal year 2021.  Since then, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) conducted several webinars and provided additional insight on the H-1B registration tool and electronic registration process. …

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New Form I-9 Version Announced – Must Be Used May 1

US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced in the Federal Register on January 31, 2020, that the new version of Form I-9 (rev.10/21/2019) would be available for use on January 31, BUT employers can still continue to use the prior effective version of the Form I-9 (rev. 07/17/2017N) through April 30, 2020.   This announcement basically …

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Employer Tips: Preparing for FY 2021 H-1B Season and Pre-Lottery Registration

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 …

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Visa Reciprocity Fees and E-2 Visa Adjudications – Targets for Change in 2020

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 …

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Consular Application Challenges – Be Wary of the DS-160

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 …

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