The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) issued a new policy memorandum regarding the definitions of affiliate and subsidiary for the purposes of H1B filing fee determinations. The policy is being instituted to clarify a previously ambiguous portion of the American Competitiveness and Workforce...
This morning, a federal judge in Maryland blocked the Trump Administration from enforcing the travel ban issued by executive order on September 24, 2017. This version of the travel ban was to apply to citizens of Iran, Libya, Syria, Somalia, Chad, Yemen, and North Korea,...
Following the release of a memorandum in March 2017 related to H1B petitions filed for computer programmers, the United States Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS) has been issuing requests for evidence (RFEs) on the majority of H1B petitions accompanied by labor condition applications (LCAs) that...
The U.S. Department of State (DOS) has released the November 2017 Visa Bulletin, which provides little-to-no forward movement in the heavily oversubscribed employment-based categories. There was no change at all in the dates for filing (DF) chart from last month, so only the final action...
The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) is considering regulatory changes to form ETA-9035, which is the labor condition application (LCA) used in the H1B petition process. Included in the proposal are significant changes that address offsite placement and H1B dependency. The proposed changes were issued...
U.S. Army recruiters have canceled enlistment contracts for many foreign-born military recruits recruited through the Military Accessions Vital to National Interest (MAVNI) program. Reports state that these contracts have been cancelled because of the burdensome enlistment process for these types of recruits. Recruiters are instead focusing on...
On Sunday, October 8, 2017, the U.S. Mission to Turkey announced that, effective immediately, the U.S. embassy and consulates in Turkey have suspended processing nonimmigrant visas. This action was taken in response to escalating diplomatic tensions between the two countries. The government of Turkey responded...
Just as employers and their respective attorneys were getting ready to file thousands of H1B cap subject petitions for fiscal year 2018, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) released a memorandum dated March 31, 2017 that called into question whether a position classified as...
Yesterday, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) informed the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) that it will resume the availability of premium-processing service for all H1B petitions by October 3, 2017. The USCIS is expected to issue an official announcement to this effect in...
The General Services Administration (GSA) announced that the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will move its headquarters to Camp Springs, Maryland. The USCIS currently has multiple locations for its headquarters. This location will consolidate the headquarters and the lease agreement will be valid...
