Law and the Workplace

Category Archives: Immigration

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Fourteen States and Four Governors Sue the President on His Immigration Executive Orders – The Battle Begins

By David Grunblatt on Posted in Immigration
It didn’t take long.  Fourteen states and four governors, led by Texas, filed a complaint in the Federal Court in Brownsville, Texas seeking to nullify the President’s Executive Order relating to immigration.  Texas has sued the Obama Administration thirty-one times.  The complaint hits all the “fear” buttons.  It includes a lengthy discourse on how the … Continue Reading

E-Verify Keeps Getting in the News – That is the Way USCIS Wants it

By David Grunblatt on Posted in Immigration
United States Citizenship and Immigration Services is heavily invested in the success of the E-Verify program, which it sees as the core for all future employer compliance programs.  “E-Verify is an internet-based system that compares information from an employee’s Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification, to data from U.S. Department of Homeland Security and Social Security … Continue Reading

The President’s Immigration Announcement: One Small Step for Business, One Giant Leap for the Undocumented

By David Grunblatt on Posted in Immigration
While the press and the public focuses on the titanic battle between Congress and the President as to his Executive power and directives that might impact the status of millions of undocumented aliens, the business community is parsing through the series of initiatives that the President has proposed to assist in legal immigration and unfortunately, … Continue Reading

The United States and China Agree: Visa Reciprocity

By David Grunblatt and Erica Loomba on Posted in Immigration
Perhaps there is not a lot that China and the United States can agree upon, but this week the President of the United States and the Prime Minister of China were able to agree upon a revision of the visa reciprocity rules, allowing Americans to obtain visas of greater duration to enter China and Chinese … Continue Reading

Is Immigration Reform Really Possible Now? Let’s Make Some Predictions

By David Grunblatt on Posted in Immigration
All the pundits are now making their educated guesses as to whether immigration reform is finally possible or even remotely likely.  If there is a consensus on any one point, it is that Republican leadership, Democratic leadership and the President are looking forward to the 2016 elections when thinking about immigration reform.  The question is … Continue Reading

U.S. Diversity Visa Lottery Registration Dates Announced

By David Grunblatt on Posted in Immigration
The Diversity Visa (DV) Lottery Registration for 2016 opens Wednesday, October 1, 2014. Qualified applicants are strongly encouraged to register as early as possible. Heavy demand may result in system delays in the final days of the registration period. The DV Lottery is administered annually by the Department of State, and provides for a maximum … Continue Reading

Delays at US Consulates Globally

By David Grunblatt on Posted in Immigration
The Department of State (DOS) Bureau of Consular Affairs nonimmigrant visa system suffered an outage last week. Working over the weekend, DOS has made progress restoring the database and is now able to print visas. As such, DOS has resumed visa processing, giving priority to processing of immigrant visa cases. However, foreign nationals awaiting nonimmigrant … Continue Reading

DHS Announces New Rules To Facilitate Employment for Professionals in Efforts To Attract and Retain Highly Skilled Foreign Workers

By David Grunblatt on Posted in Immigration, Workplace Policies and Procedures
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced two major advancements today to help businesses attract and retain professionals working in the U.S. The first proposed rule change extends employment authorization to spouses of certain H-1B visa beneficiaries. The second change would include workers from Chile and Singapore (H-1B1) and Australia (E-3) in the list of … Continue Reading

USCIS Reaches H-1B Cap for FY 2015 and Conducts Lottery

By David Grunblatt on Posted in Immigration
The FY 2015 H-1B Cap has been reached. USCIS has announced it received approximately 172,500 petitions filed between April 1, 2014 and April 7, 2014 that were subject to the FY 2015 H-1B cap. It has conducted a lottery of all those petitions to select the 85,000 eligible under the general cap and U.S. advanced … Continue Reading

H-1B Cap Reached for FY 2015

By David Grunblatt on Posted in Immigration
USCIS announced today that the FY 2015 H-1B cap has been reached. USCIS will be conducting a lottery of all those petitions properly filed between April 1, 2014 and April 7, 2014. This alert addresses this important development. Read the full text of this alert.… Continue Reading

Employee Reveals Identity Fraud On Form I-9

By David Grunblatt and Valarie McPherson on Posted in Immigration
What should an employer do when an employee updates her personal information and it reveals that false information as to legal immigration status was previously submitted?  It may depend upon where she works.   Since the passage of the Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA) in 1986, employers have been “deputized” by the U.S. government … Continue Reading

USCIS Site Visits – Expanding to L-1 Petitioners

By David Grunblatt on Posted in Immigration
  The United States Citizenship and Immigration Service plans to begin conducting unannounced, post-approval site visits of L-1 petitioners under its Administrative Site Visit and Verification Program (ASVVP) in the beginning of 2014. This new phase of site visits comes in response to a recent report released by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Office … Continue Reading

Immigration News Flash: United States Diversity Visa Lottery Registration Opens Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2013 at Noon EDT and Will Close on Saturday, Nov. 2, 2013 at Noon EDT

By David Grunblatt on Posted in Immigration
The Diversity Visa Lottery Registration for the next cycle of this popular program opens Tuesday, October 1, 2013. Entries must be submitted electronically at https://www.dvlottery.state.gov/ between noon on October 1, 2013, and noon on November 2, 2013, Eastern Standard Time. Read this alert to learn more about the registration process and which applicants are encouraged to … Continue Reading

United States State Department Announces Visas for Same-Sex Spouses Are Now Available

By David Grunblatt on Posted in Immigration
On Friday, August 2nd, the U.S. Department of State announced its implementation of the U.S. Supreme Court’s Windsor decision, confirming that effective immediately “U.S. Embassies and Consulates will adjudicate visa applications that are based on a same-sex marriage in the same way that we adjudicate applications for opposite gender spouses.” This alert addresses this important … Continue Reading

DOMA Overruled: Milestone for Applicants of Immigration Benefits

By David Grunblatt on Posted in Immigration, Litigation and Arbitration, Workplace Policies and Procedures
On June 26, 2013, the U.S. Supreme Court in United States v. Windsor struck down Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) as unconstitutional, allowing for the recognition of same-sex marriages and making way for same-sex married couples to receive benefits under federal law. This alert looks at the immigration law implications of … Continue Reading
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