USCIS Reverses Course – STEM OPT Students May Now Work At 3rd Party Client Sites
9/18/18
By: Ken Levine On August 17th U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) posted an announcement on their website to publicize the agency’s decision to once again allow STEM OPT F-1 students to engage in training programs at a third-party client worksite. This update supersedes the Agency’s policy change in April 2018 which disallowed STEM OPT students…
8/9/18
By: Layli Eskandari Deal A lawsuit filed by thousands of detained immigrants held at the Northwest Detention Center (NWDC) in Tacoma, Washington alleges systematic wage theft by GEO Group, Inc. The Plaintiffs seek to recover wages under the Washington Minimum Wage Act, as well as other damages allowable under State law. GEO Group, Inc. has…
USCIS Creates Another Roadblock for Legal Immigrants
8/8/18
By: Kenneth Levine A proposed Trump administration change to the “public charge” regulations, expected to be issued within the next few months, will dramatically alter the process for how Immigration Officers determine eligibility for citizenship or permanent residency. USCIS designates an applicant as a “public charge” if they are likely to become predominantly dependent on…
A Contradiction In Terms – Recent Developments On 3rd Party Placement Of STEM Opt Students
7/13/18
By: Kenneth Levine In April 2018, USCIS issued official guidance that precluded the assigning of a U.S. employer’s STEM OPT employees to off-site third-party locations. A STEM OPT employee is a foreign national who is pursing “practical training” through a U.S. employer after having received a degree from a U.S. college/university in a science, technology, engineering or mathematics program. This…
U.S. Supreme Court Upholds President Trump’s Travel Ban
6/27/18
By: Layli Eskandari Deal The U.S. Supreme Court, in a 5-4 decision, upheld President Trump’s latest travel ban. The Court dismissed the anti-Muslim statements of President Trump and other administration officials when evaluating the legality of the ban. The decision stated that the ban is neutral and advances the national security of the United States. …
DOJ and USCIS Join Forces Creating a Tougher Road for Employers
5/18/18
By: Layli Eskandari Deal On May 11, 2018, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) and Department of Justice (DOJ) entered into a Memorandum of Understanding regarding information sharing and case referrals. USCIS and DOJ state that this effort is meant to improve the way the agencies share information and collaborate on cases “to better detect and…
Foreign Students and Exchange Visitors Beware!
5/15/18
By: Layli Eskandari Deal On May 10, 2018, USCIS published a Policy Memorandum to provide guidance on how the agency will be calculating unlawful presence for F-1, J-1, and M-1 nonimmigrant visa holders and their dependents. Generally, foreign students and exchange visitors are admitted to the United States for “Duration of Status”. This means that…
What Should I Do If The Government Invites Our Company To Participate In A Program?
4/25/18
By: Kenneth S. Levine The FMG Immigration Section was recently asked to address a client’s question on how they should respond to an emailed “invitation” by the USCIS E-Verify Unit for their company to participate in a quality control program. First, it is extremely important for clients to be aware that USCIS or ICE agency…
H-1B Visa Lottery: More Than One Ticket to the Jackpot?
4/5/18
By: Layli Eskandari Deal The answer is No. U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS) has adopted a ruling made by the Administrative Appeals Office (AAO) to prohibit multiple H-1B visa request by related entities on behalf of the same beneficiary for the same fiscal year. Under the H-1B visa cap, employers are only allowed to…
Supreme Court on Prolonged Detention and Bond for Immigrants
3/27/18
By: Layli Eskandari Deal Immigration has been a hot topic in the news lately due to the various issues being litigated in the Courts. Recently the Supreme Court made a ruling on the issue of prolonged detention by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) of immigrants who are in removal (deportation) proceedings. In Jennings v. Rodriguez,…
Planning To File Your 2018 H-1B Cap Case Under Premium Processing? Not So Fast…
3/27/18
By: Kenneth S. Levine On March 20th USCIS announced an indefinite suspension of the premium processing program for H-1B visa petitions that are subject to the 2018 statutory cap. The annual statutory cap limits the total of H-1B visas that can be approved in any one year to 85,000, 20,000 of which are set aside…
2/19/18
By: Kenneth S. Levine On 2/15/2018 four (4) separate legislative bills that sought to address the March 5th termination of the DACA program, border security, family-based immigration and the Diversity Lottery were put up for a vote in the U.S. Senate. None of the bills garnered the necessary 60 votes to overcome a filibuster threshold…