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News & EventsThe Latest News on E-Verify
What is E-Verify? E-Verify is a free service provided by the U.S government for designated agents and employers to access U.S. employment-eligibility records via the Internet. E-Verify evolved in 2006 from the Basic Pilot Program established by the Social Security...
Recent U.S. Supreme Court decision is a major setback to principles of family reunification
In Scialabba v. Cuellar de Osorio, a divided Supreme Court ruled last week that young immigrants who were included in their parents’ visa petition, but “aged out” – that is, turned 21 – before their visas became current, would not be able to retain the original...
Visa Bulletin Retrogression for June 2014
The U.S. Department of State has released the Visa Bulletin for June 2014, and unfortunately, for some categories the priority dates have retrogressed. The Priority Date cut-off for Employment-Based Third Preference workers (except India and Philippines) is currently...
Quick Update: Revalidation of L-1 Blanket Visa Stamps
Currently, when an L-1 Blanket Visa is approved by the U.S. Consulate, a five (5) year visa stamp is issued. However, while the visa stamp (in the passport) is valid for a five-year period, the visa petition (I-129S) must be revalidated after three (3) years in order...
H-1B Cap Reached for FY 2015 – Need for a Plan B
As predicted, more than half of the H-1B petitions filed during the first week of April 2014 will be returned without ever being reviewed by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). On April 7, 2014, USCIS announced that the fiscal year (FY) 2015 H-1B cap...
Travel Restrictions for H-1B Applicants
Please be advised that there are travel restrictions while your H-1B petition is pending (and until approval period start date of Oct. 1, 2014). This is because immigration law is overseen by multiple government agencies with overlapping jurisdictions. Therefore,...
HOT TOPIC: L-1B Denial Rates Increase
Today, our office received information from the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) which reported that (pursuant to a Freedom of Information Request) on February 26, 2014, the USCIS released statistics regarding the number of L-1B nonimmigrant petitions...
Provisional Waivers for Unlawful Presence: One Year Later
Last year, on March 4, 2013, USCIS began a new provisional unlawful presence waiver program for certain relatives of U.S. citizens. This program is for individuals who are not eligible to adjust their status to lawful permanent residence (also known as a “green...
2015年度新規H-1B申請に向けての注意点
皆さんの多くがご存知でしょうが、2014年度（2013年10月1日～2014年9月30日）の新規H-1Bビザ申請は受付開始日の2013年4月1日から5日間で申請数が新規H-1B年間発給上限数に到達したことから正式に申請書類を受け付けるランダム抽選が実施されました（実際、移民局は、この5日間を初日受付期間と設定し、この期間に申請された書類はすべて抽選の対象となりました）。次回は2014年4月1日から申請受け付けが開始される2015年度（2014年10月1日～2015年9月30日）で、今年も早々の受け付け締め切りが予想されています。そこで...
USCIS Worksite Visits for L-1 Employers Now a True Reality
As we have mentioned in previous articles, it has come to our attention that USCIS officers have begun to make unannounced workplace visits to L-1 employers. The USCIS has a program known as the Fraud Detection and National Security (“FDNS”) site inspection program,...