Earlier today, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) released a draft version of a long-awaited policy memorandum on the L1B classification. The USCIS will accept feedback regarding the memo through May 8, 2015, and, barring any changes, this policy memo will go into effect on...
President Barack Obama addressed the nation on November 20, 2014, in a televised speech to outline his proposed changes to immigration policies through executive action. These changes are part of a multi-pronged effort by the White House to make needed improvements by executive action to...
Top officials from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) participated in an October 9, 2014 meeting with an American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) committee on immigration benefits. One key topic discussed during that meeting was the current state of the H1B and L-1 Administrative...
In September 2014, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) designated fourteen ports of entry (POEs) for optimized processing of first-time Canadian applicants for admission in the TN or L-1 categories. While eligible applicants are not required to use these particular POEs, the CBP is encouraging...
The Citizenship and Immigration Services Ombudsman (CIS Ombudsman) 2014 Annual Report was submitted to Congress on June 27, 2014. The report details various deficiencies found within the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), according to the Ombudsman's office, including problems with H1B and L-1 processing...
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) hosted a teleconference on April 24, 2014, to discuss the coming expansion of the Administrative Site Visit and Verification Program (ASVVP) to include certain L1A petitions. The ASVVP program, which began in July 2009, is designed to verify...
The National Foundation for American Policy (NFAP) recently released a study that documents and analyzes the dramatic increase in the percentage of L1B petitions denied by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) in recent years. The NFAP finds that the situation is even worse...
As explained in Part 1 of this article, the Department of Homeland Security's Office of Inspector General (OIG) recently released a report with its findings and recommendations regarding the L-1 intracompany transferee program. Part 1 discussed the OIG's findings of inconsistencies in adjudications. This second...
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Office of Inspector General (OIG) released a report analyzing the current state of the L-1, intracompany transferee program. The report, entitled Implementation of L-1 Visa Regulations, addresses perceived problems with the processing of L-1 cases, and provides suggestions to make...
Under the L-1 category, certain types of employees of multinational corporations may be transferred to related companies in the United States. The L-1 classification is divided into two subcategories: the L1A classification, which is reserved for managers and executives; and the L1B, which is designated...
