The U.S. Department of Justice announced May 1, 2008, that it has imposed a civil fine of $45,000 to iGate Mastech, Inc., a Pittsburgh computer consulting company in connection with the company's alleged discrimination against United States citizens in its employment practices and advertisements. Please read the full article for details on this civil fine settlement.
The House Subcommittee on Immigration, Citizenship, Refugess, Border Security and International Law held a hearing yesterday, April 30, 2008, on the topic of "Wasted Visas, Growing Backlogs." Michael Yates from USCIS and Stephen Edson from the State Department testified in front of the Committee. Please read the full article on details of their testimony.
The Department of State has published a final rule which, effectively April 29, 2008, eliminates the paper visa application and requires that all non-immigrant visa applications to be submitted electronically. Please read the full article for details on the new visa application.
In the height of the political season, we have been asked numerous times by foreign citizens, "Can I contribute money to a political candidate's campaign?" The short answer, is 'Yes, you can, but only if you are a legal permanent resident (green card holder).' This comes from the Federal Election Campaign Act and the definition of "foreign person" which excludes green card holders. See this article for more details and on what election-related activities by foreign citizens are permitted.
We are in the peak of the Democratic Party primary season and we are very close to have the general Presidential election campaign under way. Some of the candidates have expressed opinions on immigration, in connection with the campaign, or previously, and it is natural for some foreign citizens, both living in the U.S. and abroad, to be interested in contributing money and/or services to a candidate's campaign. However, there are strict rules that govern what a foreign citizen can do during an election campaign. Please read the full article on analysis on what can foreign nationals do in connection with U.S. election campaigns.
The USCIS has released an updated version of Form I-765, Application for Employment Authorization. The form now includes additional eligibility codes in connection with the recent interim rule regarding Optional Practical Training (OPT) extension. Please read the full article for more details about this form revision.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has released a report about the green cards obtained by foreign nationals during 2007. The report provides breakdown by preference category and sub-category, by type of petition, by country of origin, and by U.S. state of residence. Please open the full article to read the report.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has proposed a new rule which would require airlines and certain ships to collect biometric information from departing non-U.S. citizens. This proposed rule comes to supplement the already established entry biometric procedures. The main difference would be that while the current entry biometrics are taken by the U.S. border agents, the departure biometrics would be taken by the airlines and then transmitted within 24 hours to DHS. Read the full article for more details on this new rule.
Today, April 22nd, is Earth Day. It may be interesting to note that offices in United States consume enough paper every year to build a 10-foot high, 6,815 mile-long wall of paper (this is enough to build a paper fence between New York and Tokyo). We, at the Capitol Immigration Law Group, are committed to being environmentally friendly office and are working on eliminating unnecessary paper from our practice. Please read the full article to learn what we do to be a "green" law office.
The USCIS announced late last week that it would permit F-1 students who have properly filed H-1B petitions in April and have their petition selected during the random lottery to request a change of status processing in lieu of consular notification. Please read the full article for details on the procedure.