On Friday, July 31, 2020, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced an increase in the filing fees for various application and petition forms the public use to apply for immigration benefits. Initially proposed in November 2019, the new USCIS filing fees will go into effect on October 2, 2020, and broadly constitute a… Read more »
The American Competitiveness and Workforce Improvement Act (ACWIA) was signed into law on October 21, 1998, and contained several provisions affecting the employment of H-1B workers. The law increased the annual cap on new H-1B visas issued each year, and required U.S. employers to make several attestations regarding wages and benefits offered to the H-1B… Read more »
Discretionary travel, for tourism and recreations purpose, has been extended for countries other than the United States until August 31, 2020. The current discretionary travel ban from the United States has been recently extended to August 21, 2020. There are exemptions for travel to Canada for matters of national interest, essential work, and family visits… Read more »
Effective July 27, 2020, the Australia and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations (ANZSCO) will no longer be used to assess the skill level of jobs for essential skills work visas. Immigration New Zealand (INZ) will instead use a simple remuneration threshold to determine whether a job is ‘high’ or ‘low’ paid. Work visa applications… Read more »
In the last thirty days, there have been several developments in U.S. immigration policy and practice, which are attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic, the unemployment rate in the U.S., agency budgetary shortfalls, and policy changes issued by the Trump Administration. These recent developments may impact visa applications, visa petitions, and various applications filed to obtain… Read more »
On Friday, July 17, 2020, attorneys with the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA), the Justice Action Center, and the Innovation Law Lab, representing twenty-three (23) plaintiffs, filed the first lawsuit to challenge the entirety of the Trump Administration’s immigration bans. The plaintiffs include family-based immigrant visa petitioners, diversity visa lottery winners, and U.S. employers sponsoring… Read more »
The closure of the Migration Offices has been extended until September 18, 2020. The DIMEX of foreign nationals with permanent residence will be automatically extended until September 30, 2020. The DIMEX of foreign nationals with temporary residence and special categories that have already expired after December 18, 2019 have also been extended until September 30,… Read more »
The online Registration Renewal System for immigration registration has been extended to all Dublin-based non-EEA nationals seeking to renew their immigration registration. The renewal registration process will involve completing an online form, uploading supporting documents, paying a fee and then submitting the passport and current Irish Residence Permit (IRP) Card via registered post to Immigration… Read more »
Effective July 30th, the Swedish Work Environment Authority (SWEA) has announced some changes to the rules on posting workers from abroad. All postings must be notified to the SWEA no later than thedate the posting begins. Previously, employers only had to notify postings that lasted longer than 5 days. If a posted worker is working… Read more »
DHS Extends Form I-9 Requirement Flexibility The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) extended until December 31, 2020, flexibility in complying with requirements related to Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification, due to ongoing precautions related to the COVID-19 pandemic. The temporary guidance was set to expire November 19, 2020…. Read more »
Our team is eager to help your organization navigate the complexities of immigration law & relieve any visa processing frustrations that you are experiencing.
