United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that it’s implementing changes to the H-1B lottery system. For more information, click here.
USCIS released a message that employers for now should continue to use the current Form I-9 for employment eligibility verification, even after the expiration date has passed. The current form came into effect on July 17, 2017 and is set to expire on August 31, 2019. USCIS has indicated they will publish a new edition […]
The government’s interpretation and enforcement of this country’s immigration laws and regulations continue to change at a dizzying speed, leaving many employers scrambling to keep their foreign national employees in status and able to continue working for them. This is the first in a series of updates on some of these important changes. Collecting Social […]
On April 5, 2019, USCIS reached the 65,000 H-1B visa cap and the 20,000 visa U.S. advanced degree exemption (the “master’s cap”) for fiscal year 2020. The agency will reject and return filing fees for all unselected cap-subject petitions that are not prohibited multiple filings. USCIS will continue to accept and process petitions that are […]
The first edition of the Workplace Word for 2019 has been published! In this edition, we take a look at three critical issues for employers during the hiring process – Form I-9 Compliance; Disability Inclusion and ADA Compliance; and What Not to Ask in Interviews. The Workplace Word is a quarterly publication from Snell & Wilmer’s […]
Happy New Year from Snell & Wilmer’s Labor and Employment Blog! In case you missed them, here are some of the highlights from 2018: Employment Do you have a “100 percent healed” policy? You may reconsider it after reading this. Does your employee handbook need a makeover? Here are tips to help your policies and […]
On April 1, 2019, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will start accepting H-1B visa petitions for the next fiscal year with a start date of October 1, 2019. The H-1B program allows companies in the United States to temporarily employ foreign workers in specialty occupations that require the theoretical and practical application of a […]
H.R. 7164, passed by the House of Representatives recently, proposes to provide Irish workers with access to the coveted E-3 visa program. The bipartisan Bill seeks to provide Irish citizens with access to any unused E-3 visas from the prior fiscal year. Currently, E-3 visas are only available to Australian citizens. The Bill is a […]
Despite rumors that the TN visa category would be eliminated when the North America Free Trade Agreement (“NAFTA”) was replaced, the new US-Mexico-Canada Agreement (“USMCA”) appears to preserve the status quo. Consensus over the replacement trade agreement was announced on the evening of September 30, 2018. Notably, the text of USMCA’s Chapter 16 – granting […]
Employers may want to consider reminding their foreign national employees to formally notify USCIS of any change of address. USCIS announced that beginning immediately, the agency will destroy permanent resident cards (“green cards”), employment authorization cards (EADs) and travel documents (including advance parole) returned as undeliverable by the post office after 60 business days if USCIS […]
