Be Aware of Your Rights When ICE Wants to Review Your I-9 Files
7/29/19
By: Ken Levine Under the current administration, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has ramped up investigations on corporate compliance with laws pertaining to the hiring of workers. The reality is that large, medium and small employers are all at risk of being subject to an ICE enforcement action. Congress has given Immigration and Customs Enforcement…
Federal Litigation and How to Turn a USCIS Denial into an Approval
7/17/19
By: Ken Levine The FMG Immigration Section was retained to prepare a green card case for one of the top chess players in Asia. Our client, Oliver Barbosa, is a chess Grandmaster who hails from the Philippines. He is currently ranked the 2nd best chess player in his country, the 60th best chess player on the Asian…
Hooray! My Employee's H-1B Visa Was Finally Approved! Now Why Am I Getting This Revocation Notice?
6/19/19
By: Ken Levine For the past two years, USCIS has ramped up revocations of approved H-1B petitions. While there are no reliable government statistics, word of mouth in the immigration legal field, as well as increased federal litigation concerning H-1B revocations, clearly underscores the existence of this trend. Under 8 C.F.R. 214.2(h)(11) USCIS must satisfy…
Did You Really Terminate That H-1B Employee?
5/21/19
By: Layli Eskandari Deal U.S. Department of Labor Awards $43,366 Back Pay to Engineer. In January, a Microfabrication Engineer, employed under the H-1B visa program by Minnesota-based TLC Precision Wafer Technology, Inc., was awarded $43,366.67 in back wages and interest after an investigation by the Department of Labor’s Wage and hour Division. The employment began…
The Door Swings Both Ways for U.S. and Israeli Investors
4/29/19
By: Layli Eskandari Deal In June 2012, Congress passed a law which authorized E-2 Investor visa classification for Israeli nationals provided that Israel’s government would establish a similar status for U.S. citizens. After a long regulatory change process, U.S. citizens can now apply for and obtain the B-5 Israeli Investor visa. In response, the U.S.…
DHS to Double Number of H-2B Visas for the 2019 Summer Season
4/8/19
By: Kenneth Levine Despite the current Administration’s two-year campaign to issue executive orders placing limits on U.S. work visas, a surprising limited expansion of the H-2B work visa program was announced by DHS this week. This development is especially welcome news for the landscaping, seafood processing, forestry and hospitality industries, all of whom depend heavily…
Latest Update on the H-1B Visa Application Process
2/11/19
By: Layli Eskandari Deal The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has issued a final rule implementing changes to the H-1B visa program for petitions filed under the H-1B cap (better known as the H-1B visa lottery). The rule reverses the order whereby USCIS selects H-1B petitions for the standard allotment of 65,000 visas and…
“Sanctuary Cities” Get a Reprieve For Now
1/10/19
By: Pamela Everett As many city, county and state attorneys are aware, in 2017 the US. Department of Justice (DOJ) added three conditions to the application process for the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant (“Byrne JAG”) program in an effort to eliminate so called sanctuary cities. The Byrne JAG program originated from the Omnibus…
No E-Verify During The U.S. Government Shutdown – What Is An Employer To Do?
1/4/19
By: Kenneth Levine The current government shutdown has ensnared the E-Verify system, which is used by numerous U.S. employers to verify the employment eligibility of new hires. While many operations of DHS and USCIS are maintained through user fees, and therefore unaffected by the shutdown, this does not apply to the E-Verify system. Functions on…
Employers Beware – Social Security No-Match Letters are Making a Comeback
12/26/18
By: Layli Eskandari Deal Like a bad penny, the Social Security no-match letters will once again turn up and wreak havoc on employers. It is anticipated that employers will once again start receiving these no-match letters, officially called the “Employer Correction Request Notice,” in the Spring of 2019. The SSA will start notifying employers if…
12/20/18
By: Kenneth Levine The FMG Immigration Group was retained in June 2018 to prepare an EB1 “Alien of Extraordinary Ability” petition on behalf of Woman International Chess Master Mariam Danelia. Mariam, who hails from the country of Georgia, was residing in the U.S. pursuant to F-1 Optional Practical Training after having earned a Master of…
Is “Birthright Citizenship” Subject To Revocation By A Presidential Executive Order?
10/30/18
By: Ken Levine During an interview by Axios on October 29, 2018, President Trump declared that he was about to sign an executive order to abolish birthright citizenship in the United States. While the President insisted that birthright citizenship, a concept enshrined in the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, could be revoked via executive order, it…