On March 24, 2015, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) issued a long-awaited L1B draft guidance memorandum that outlines the elements of the L1B category and primarily focuses on a discussion of the "specialized knowledge" requirement. The L1B category has been plagued by very...
A group of former employees of Southern California Edison have filed suit against the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to try to block the new regulation that is scheduled to allow qualifying H-4 spouses to apply for employment authorization documents (EADs). While news of...
Beginning May 1, 2015, stakeholders must begin using a revised version of the H classification supplement (form I-129), which specifically asks whether the beneficiary of the H1B petition has an ownership interest in the petitioning employer. This disclosure requirement is related to U.S. Citizenship and...
On April 9, 2015, the Administrative Appeals Office (AAO) issued a precedent decision that is expected to prompt many H1B employers to change some long-held practices. The case, Matter of Simeio Solutions, LLC, addresses the issue of relocating an H1B worker to a worksite not listed...
On April 13, 2015, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced the completion of the H1B random lottery process for fiscal year 2016 (FY16). As previously noted, the total count of about 233,000 greatly exceeded the cap limits, and was substantially higher than the approximately...
On April 13, 2015, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced completion of the H1B cap lottery selection processes. The USCIS reported receipt of almost 233,000 H1B petitions, well in excess of the limits of 65,000 for the regular cap and 20,000 advanced-degree exemptions...
The Administrative Appeals Office (AAO) released a precedent decision today, April 9, 2015, requiring employers to file amended H1B petitions for changes in employment location. The AAO determined that amended H1B petitions are required when employers move H1B workers to locations not listed in their...
Historically, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has been available to make corrections on I-94s issued at U.S. ports of entry that contain errors. Many such requests for correction are addressed during in-person visits to CBP deferred inspection units (DIUs). Now, the Houston Field...
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced today, (April 7, 2015) that the H1B cap has been reached for fiscal year 2016 (FY16). The USCIS confirms receipt of filings in excess of both the 65,000 regular cap as well as the 20,000 advanced-degree exemptions...
President Obama has announced a program, known as TechHire, which will apply $100 million collected from the H1B training fees toward technical training for the U.S. workforce. As explained by the White House, the United States has "[o]ver half a million of those job openings …...
