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On February 25, 2016, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Ombudsman hosted a public teleconference on issues related to Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) benefits for certain nonimmigrant workers, including H and L nonimmigrants. Individuals whose employers timely file for extension of nonimmigrant status receive an automatic 240-day extension of work authorization while the… Read More

Between 2009 and 2014, nearly one million Mexican nationals (including their U.S.-born children) left the United States for Mexico of their own accord. That number is higher than the number of legal Mexican migrants who came to the United States. This increased tendency for repatriation from Mexico to the United States began to take shape… Read More

The Department of Labor’s Office of Foreign Labor Certification (OFLC) continues to experience significant delays in processing employers’ H-2B applications for certification and is therefore extending the availability of emergency procedures through April 29, 2016. OFLC explained that the delays have been generated by several factors, the most significant of which was a 17-day certification… Read More

Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Jeh Johnson recently announced that effective April 1, 2016, Visa Waiver Program (VWP) participants must have an e-Passport to travel to the United States. Under the Visa Waiver Program Improvement and Terrorist Travel Prevention Act, VWP travelers who do not have an e-Passport from a participating VWP country must… Read More

The Department of State’s Visa Bulletin for May 2016 reflects a final action date of January 1, 2010, for EB-4 visas for special immigrants from El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras. This means that starting in May, an applicant from any of these countries who filed a Form I-360, Petition for Amerasian, Widow(er), or Special Immigrant… Read More

As expected, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has quickly reached the congressionally mandated H-1B cap for fiscal year (FY) 2017. USCIS also received more than the limit of 20,000 H-1B petitions filed under the U.S. advanced degree exemption.  On April 9, 2016, USCIS completed the computer-generated process (“lottery”) to randomly select the petitions needed… Read More

Twenty-one brokers, recruiters, and employers were arrested on April 5, 2016, who allegedly conspired with more than a thousand foreign nationals to fraudulently maintain student and foreign worker visas through a “pay-to-stay” New Jersey sham college set up as a sting operation. The arrests resulted from an extensive probe led by U.S. Immigration and Customs… Read More

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced on April 5, 2016, that until further notice, employers should continue using the current Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification. The agency said this current version of the form continues to be effective even though the Office of Management and Budget control number expiration date of March 31, 2016,… Read More

On March 18, 2016, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) finalized guidance, effective March 21, on determining whether a new job is in the “same or similar” occupational classification with respect to job portability. The policy memorandum instructs USCIS employees on how to use the Department of Labor’s Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) codes and other… Read More

On March 21, 2016, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that it has received a sufficient number of petitions to reach the congressionally mandated H-2B cap for the first half of fiscal year (FY) 2016. March 15, 2016, was the final receipt date for new H-2B worker petitions requesting an employment start date before… Read More