In January 2019, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) passed a rule that amended the regulations governing the H-1B cap-subject selection process. This rule resulted in two major changes. The first change requires employers seeking to file an H-1B cap-subject petition for a foreign national to register the foreign national with the U.S. Citizenship… Read more »
Introduction In January 2019 the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) passed a rule that amended the regulations governing the H-1B cap-subject selection process. This rule resulted in two major changes. The first change requires employers seeking to file an H-1B cap-subject petition for a foreign national to register the foreign national with the US… Read more »
The USCIS recently issued its annual statistics report, confirming a continuing downward trend in approvals for both the H-1B and L-1 categories. For the fifth consecutive year, the approval rate for initial H-1B petitions across all industries have declined, from 95.7% in 2015 to 84.8% in 2019; a decline of 11 percentage points. H-1B RFE… Read more »
The Office of Management and Budget(OMB) has completed its review of the proposed H-1B registration fee rule. The proposed registration fee, titledFee for Registration Requirement for Petitioners Seeking To File H-1B Petitions on Behalf of Cap Subject Aliens, will allow USCIS to charge a nominal fee for each registration that is submitted to USCIS for… Read more »
A temporary rule jointly issued by the Departments of Homeland Security (DHS) and Labor (DOL), effective May 8, 2019, increases the H-2B cap for fiscal year (FY) 2019 by 30,000. The H-2B visa permits a foreign worker to fill temporary nonagricultural jobs in the United States. The purpose of the rule is to aid U.S…. Read more »
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has updated its Adjudicators Field Manual to emphasize that, under current regulations, the periods of initial authorized stay are different for individual athletes (P-1A visa) and their essential support personnel (P-1S visa). The P-1S classification is for “Essential Support Personnel” who are an integral part of the performance of… Read more »
In Matter of Huitt-Zollars, Inc. (2015-PER-671, January 24, 2019), the Board of Alien Labor Certification (BALCA) has come down on the side of the Employer by ruling that there is a lack of clarification about licensing on Form 9089 and that a Perm application should not be denied for failure to state the alien’s acquisition… Read more »
In Matter of NCS Pearson, Inc., (2015 PERM 110, January 24, 2019), BALCA reversed the decision of the CO who denied the PERM labor application because the employer did not specify the exact combination of education, training, and experience equivalent to a bachelor’s degree that would be acceptable. BALCA held that the language used by… Read more »
On April 29, 2019, President Trump issued a memorandum to the Attorney General and Secretary of Homeland Security titled, “Additional Measures to Enhance Border Security and Restore Integrity to Our Immigration System.” This is a follow-up measure to the president’s Proclamation 9844 of February 15, 2019 that declared a national emergency to address the security… Read more »
SUMMARY OF NEW PRESIDENTIAL BORDER SECURITY AND IMMIGRATION MEMORANDUM Written by: Rami D. Fakhoury / Managing Director / Fakhoury Global Immigration On April 29, 2019, President Trump issued a memorandum to the Attorney General and Secretary of Homeland Security titled, “Additional Measures to Enhance Border Security and Restore Integrity to Our Immigration System.” This is… Read more »
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