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 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 […]
On September 14, 2017, California lawmakers passed bill AB 450, dubbed the Immigrant Worker Protection Act, which would imposes various requirements on public and private employers with regard to federal agency immigration worksite enforcement actions. See here. This includes, for example, prohibiting an employer from providing voluntary consent to a U.S. Immigration and Customers Enforcement […]
In his first 100 days in office, President Trump has entrenched himself in a battle against the federal courts to enforce his now-infamous travel bans. Just over a year ago, the then-candidate Trump called for a ban of all Muslims from entering the US. After taking office, the President signed two executive orders designed to […]