Policy

This category displays articles relating to immigration and labor compliance policies coming from Congress or any of the executive agencies tasked with defining and enforcing the U.S. immigration policies.

DHS Report on Estimates of the Unauthorized Immigrants Residing in the US

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 [...]

By |2017-05-20T21:47:59-04:00March 29th, 2012|Articles, News, Policy|

Report Highlights Increase in USCIS Denial Rates for L-1 and H-1B Petitions

In a recent report the National Foundation for American Policy (which claims to be a non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to public policy research on trade, immigration, education, and other issues of national importance) has analyzed the USCIS rates of issuing requests for evidence (RFE) and denials of L-1 and H-1B petition over the past several [...]

By |2017-05-20T21:48:00-04:00March 15th, 2012|Articles, Employers, H-1B, L-1, News, Policy|

USCIS Ombudsman Recommends Changes to EB-1 EA Adjudication Standards

A few days ago, on December 29, 2011, the USCIS Ombudsman has issued a report and set of recommendations urging USCIS to take proactive steps to ensure clear, consistent and predictable standards are applied to immigrant visa applications under the first employment-based preference category (EB-1) for aliens with extraordinary ability (EA). Background on the Current [...]

By |2017-05-20T21:48:05-04:00January 5th, 2012|Articles, EB-1, News, Policy|

Update on H.R. 3012 – Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act Clears the U.S. House of Representatives

There has been a considerable amount of discussion, excitement and, unfortunately, some incorrect rumors over the past few weeks regarding possible changes to the way employment-based immigrant visas are allocated.   Our office has been receiving many requests to comment on and speculate on what may happen with the proposed legislation.   To avoid fueling rumors, we [...]

By |2011-12-01T12:39:05-05:00December 1st, 2011|Articles, EB-2, EB-3, News, Policy, USCIS|

Does Change in H-1B Work Location Require an H-1B Amendment, in Addition to a New LCA?

Our office handles a substantial number of H-1B work visa petitions for a variety of U.S. employers and we often share our direct experiences with the H-1B work visa program.   This article is intended to share our experience with H-1B work visa petitions where there is a change of the job location once the H-1B [...]

By |2017-05-20T21:48:08-04:00October 20th, 2011|Articles, Employers, H-1B, News, Policy|

USCIS Issues “Clarifications” for Entrepreneur Immigrants: Self-sponsored H-1B and EB-2 NIW May be Possible, EB-5 Streamlined

USCIS Director Alejandro Mayorkas just announced a number of initiatives intended to boost the ability of immigrant entrepreneurs to obtain immigrant benefits for themselves, as part of the Obama administration's goal to boost hiring and jobs. Director Mayorkas has announced a number of initiatives and "clarifications" of existing temporary and permanent work visas which should [...]

By |2017-05-20T21:48:12-04:00August 3rd, 2011|Articles, EB-1, EB-2, EB-5, H-1B, News, Policy|

Ombudsman Recommends EAD Processing Changes

The USCIS Ombudsman office has released a report and a recommendation to USCIS regarding changing policies with respect to I-765 Application for Employment Authorization Document (EAD) cases. The Problem Many employers and individuals who rely on EAD cards for employment find it frustrating that there are no reliable processing times for the EAD cards.   For [...]

By |2017-05-20T21:48:13-04:00July 20th, 2011|Articles, News, Policy, USCIS|

Report: Immigrant Workforce Now Predominantly High-Skilled

A Brookings Institution report, and a Washington Post article provide an updated overview of the composition of the immigrant labor force.   According to the Brookings report, for the first time the proportion of highly skilled immigrants exceeds that of low skilled immigrants in the United States. The report cites that 30 percent of the country's [...]

By |2017-05-20T21:48:15-04:00June 9th, 2011|Articles, News, Policy|

Can I Travel to U.S. with Valid H-1B Visa and Pending (or Approved) H-1B Transfer When Prior H-1B Petition Has Been Revoked?

Our office receives a number of inquiries from current and prospective clients, employers and individuals, as to whether an H-1B worker who is beneficiary of a pending H-1B transfer petition can be readmitted into the U.S. based on the valid H-1B visa stamp and the pending H-1B transfer petition. Reported Incidents of Refused H-1B Admissions [...]

By |2017-05-20T21:48:15-04:00June 8th, 2011|Articles, H-1B, News, Policy|

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