On December 3, 2018, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued a notice of proposed rulemaking that would establish a registration requirement for cap-subject H1B petitions (i.e., petitions filed in the H1B "lottery"). The proposed rule is intended to reduce the costs associated with...
Most federal agencies will be closed on Wednesday, December 5, 2018 for a national day of mourning to commemorate the death of former President George H.W. Bush. Few specifics have been provided, but this closure appears to apply to all federal offices and non-essential federal...
The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has made several changes to the ETA form 9035 labor condition application (LCA). The changes primarily impact employers who place workers at offsite locations and employers that are H1B-dependent. Background on LCAs An approved LCA from the DOL is necessary in...
On Monday, December 3, 2018, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is scheduled to publish a notice of proposed rulemaking in the Federal Register that, if enacted, would require employers filing cap-subject H1B petitions (i.e., petitions filed in the H1B lottery) to pre-register. The...
The U.S. Department of State (DOS) Chief of the Visa Control and Reporting Division, Charles Oppenheim, provides visa bulletin explanations and predictions. This month, Mr. Oppenheim provides some updated predictions regarding the employment-based categories, including a sobering long-term prediction for the employment-based, second preference (EB2)...
As stakeholders are no doubt aware, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) under the Trump Administration has taken a narrow view of the educational requirements that are permitted for a position to be considered a specialty occupation for H1B purposes. Specifically, the USCIS has...
The dates for filing (DF) chart is to be used for all family- and employment-based categories in the December 2018 Visa Bulletin, per the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) update to its adjustment-of-status filing charts webpage. This is the third month in a row...
The U.S. Department of State (DOS) has released the December 2018 Visa Bulletin. There is a bit of movement for most of the oversubscribed categories, including in the employment-based, first preference (EB1) category. All cutoff dates referenced refer to the dates in the final action...
President Donald Trump recently announced that he intends to revoke birthright citizenship through an executive order. However, this appears to be little more than political posturing, as legal experts nearly all agree that the President has no ability to alter this legal right provided by...
This evening, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that, effective November 19, 2018, implementation of the policy memorandum on the issuance of notices to appear (NTAs) is being expanded to include various additional categories of foreign nationals. More specifically, the NTA memo may...
