The New York City Commission on Human Rights has issued new enforcement guidance on discrimination based on actual or perceived national origin or immigration status in employment, as well as in housing and public accommodations. While enforcement guidance does not have the same force of law as a statute or formal regulations, it provides significant … Continue Reading
My learned colleague, Cyrus Mehta, in his Blog “H-1B Entry Level Wage Blues”[1] posted on July 31, 2017 eloquently deconstructs the arguments made by USCIS when that agency challenges whether individuals can be qualified as participating in a “specialty occupation” or “profession” if they are classified for wage purposes as being at Level I. Cyrus … Continue Reading
On June 1st, the Washington Post reported that “Consular officers at U.S. embassies around the world have started more intensive vetting of some visa applicants, including asking for their social media handles, in an effort to block potential terrorism and other national security threats from entering the country.” In fact, a supplemental questionnaire to be … Continue Reading
We commented on all those public announcements about H-1B’s in our blog of April 5, 2017, skeptical as to whether they indicated that the program would really be restructured. Then on April 18, the President issued his Executive Order: Buy American and Hire American. The prior agency announcements coupled with this Executive Order have created … Continue Reading
As mentioned in a prior blog post, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) can conduct searches of individuals departing the United States, a fact that many are not aware of. In fact, the rule that failure to declare monetary instruments in amounts of or over $10,000 can result in its seizure is applicable to … Continue Reading
Timed to coincide with the date when thousands upon thousands of H-1B petitions, subject to the quota cap limitation are filed with Service Centers of United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, various government entities, talking tough, made announcements describing changes in how H-1B petitions would be handled. USCIS posted a notice “Combating Fraud and Abuse … Continue Reading
There has been heightened interest and concern regarding the potential for U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to search laptops and smart phones at the port of entry, due to the mention of such searches in one of President Trump’s recent Executive Orders. But, the search of these devices is not new. In fact, this … Continue Reading
Moving forward in our series of separating fact from fiction, we address the question whether Customs and Border Protection (CBP) plays any role when a passenger, even a United States citizen departs the United States. It is widely known that if an individual brings into the United States currency or negotiable monetary instruments, they must … Continue Reading
On February 21, 2017, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) released two memoranda signed by DHS Secretary Kelly addressing immigration enforcement. While a sitting President cannot independently modify laws or regulations without going through the normal rule making process, he/she can significantly alter policy and enforcement priorities. These two memoranda are a clear example of a … Continue Reading
Proskauer is pleased to launch a new blog series seeking to separate fact from fiction as the public discourse on immigration issues continues. We will address, among other topics, the actual real world impact of the President’s executive orders; how inspections at ports of entry have changed, and new developments in the trusted traveler programs … Continue Reading
On January 19, 2015, my wife and I, Global Entry participants completed our NEXUS interviews at the Pearson Airport in Ontario, Canada, and were accepted into the program. * * * * * * In an attempt to find the right balance between enforcement and service, Customs and Border Protection (CBP), part of the Department … Continue Reading
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
While it may seem early, it is a good time for employers to start preparing for the H-1B Cap for Fiscal Year 2015, which begins October 1, 2014. Demand for the H-1B has steadily increased with last year’s cap being reached in the first week of filing. Employers should expect this trend to continue and … Continue Reading
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
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
The unthinkable is happening, a U.S. government shutdown. Read this alert to learn about the impact of the shutdown on immigration matters. Read the full text of this alert.… Continue Reading
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
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
This website uses third party cookies, over which we have no control. To deactivate the use of third party advertising cookies, you should alter the settings in your browser.