The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service ("USCIS") has issued new guidance to employers regarding the employment verification and documentation process for employees with valid and pending Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival (“DACA”) applications. According to recent USCIS figures, there have been approximately 420,000 DACA applications filed and as approvals are starting to be sent out, [...]
Almost all non-US nationals who have traveled to the U.S. at least once are familiar with the little white (or green) card inserted into one's passport upon admission into the U.S. (sample) Many people do not fully realize the significance of the Form I-94 -- most importantly, it records the entry date into the U.S. [...]
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secreatary Napolitano has just announced that DHS has designated Taiwan as a Visa Waiver Program (VWP). As a result, Taiwan passport holders will be able to travel visa-free to the United States starting on November 1, 2012. The VWP will enable citizens of Taiwan to travel to [...]
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has released its report on the numbers of unauthorized immigrants residing in the U.S. as of January 2011. The report makes a notable change in the methodology and also takes into consideration the 2010 Census data. The DHS report, perhaps unsurprisingly, indicates that an estimated 11.5 million unauthorized immigrants [...]
Each year, the Department of Homeland Security is required by law to provide to Congress a report on the characteristics of the H-1B specialty occupation workers. The report for fiscal year 2009 (FY2009) which covers October 1, 2008 to September 30, 2009 was released recently. The report is interesting because it covers partially the period [...]
The Congressional Research Service ("CRS") has released two recent reports which seek to analyze the extent of undocumented aliens in the U.S. and on the permanent residency ("green card") programs. In a series of articles, we will comment on the CRS reports with this article focusing on the unauthorized aliens in the U.S.. Both reports [...]
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secreatary Napolitano announced that DHS will designate Greece as a Visa Waiver Program (VWP) yesterday, March 9, 2010. As a result, Greek nationals will be able to travel visa-free to the United States effective April 10, 2010. The VWP will enable citizens of Greece to travel to the [...]
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), in a recent symposium, has provides some useful insight into its operations and policies. We are happy to share some of DHS's disclosures. DHS Investigations on Employers to Continue and Increase Janet Napolitano, the DHS Secretary, has indicated that employer investigations will continue and, possibly, intensify. In 2009 there [...]
About the Electronic System for Travel Authorization ESTA is an electronic travel authorization that all citizens of VWP countries must obtain prior to boarding a carrier to travel by air or sea to the United States under the Visa Waiver Program (WVP). ESTA has been mandatory since Jan. 12, 2009 for all nationals of VWP [...]
H-1B Duration and Limits By law, the maximum duration of stay in any H status is six years. As a result, if a foreign employee held one or more kinds of H status, or held L status, then the total period spent in the U.S. in all of these statuses are added together to determine how [...]