Recently, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) submitted a proposed rule to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), titled "Weighted Selection Process for Registrants and Petitioners Seeking to File Cap-Subject H-1B Petitions." While the text of the proposed rule has not yet been...
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced today that the H1B cap limit for fiscal year 2026 (FY26) has been reached. This applies to both the 65,000 regular H1B cap limit as well as the 20,000 advanced degree (masters) cap exemptions.The USCIS only had...
President Trump signed a spending bill, dubbed the “Big Beautiful Bill,” into law on 04.Jul.2025. While the bill does not fundamentally change who is eligible for U.S. immigration benefits or create new, legal pathways, it dramatically increases funding for immigration enforcement and increases the financial...
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has updated its Policy Manual regarding how and when the agency may disclose derogatory information to benefit requestors before making adverse decisions. The new guidance does not represent a significant shift in policy. Rather, it mainly serves to...
This morning, the U.S. Department of State (DOS) released the July 2025 Visa Bulletin. As with recent months, movement remains limited in the employment-based categories. All cutoff dates listed below refer to the final action chart (i.e., Chart A), unless otherwise specified. Visa Bulletin Summary Employment-Based, First...
The PERM labor certification is the first in a three-step process in the majority of employment-based, permanent resident (commonly referred to as “green card”) cases. The PERM process is long and complex, and it can be overwhelming for a company pursuing the process for any...
Given President Trump’s immigration directives, which focus heavily on enforcement efforts, there is growing concern surrounding possible increases in site visits and audits by various agencies involved in immigration enforcement. This article gives a non-exhaustive list of areas where employers can audit themselves or seek...
Under the PERM labor certification process, supporting documentation is not submitted to the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) with the PERM application. Instead, the employer must retain the required documents and produce them for the DOL in the event of an audit. The requirements for...
The L1A intracompany transferee classification is designed to allow a qualifying multinational company to transfer a foreign national executive or manager to a related entity in the United States. For an L1A petition, the employer typically must demonstrate to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services...
Recent regulatory changes have reinforced the long-standing position of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) that a certified labor condition application (LCA), in itself, does not establish that the position qualifies as a specialty occupation or that the LCA properly supports the H1B petition....
