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News & EventsNEWS ON PRESIDENT TRUMP’S ENTRY BAN
On Friday January 27th, 2017 President Donald J. Trump signed an executive order that suspends the entry of foreign nationals from the following seven countries; Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen to the United States for a period of 90 days, or...
FEBRUARY 2017 VISA BULLETIN ISSUED
The Department of State (DOS) has issued its February 2017 Visa Bulletin. For the categories that are not current, there continues to be slow advancement for EB-2 and EB-3 categories. Notably, EB-2 India has had no advancement since the January 2017 Visa Bulletin....
USCIS ESTABLISHES NEW CRITERIA FOR NATIONAL INTEREST WAIVERS
In Matter of Dhanasar, 26 I&N Dec. 884 (AAO 2016), USCIS announced a new analytical framework for adjudicating National Interest Waivers (“NIW”), explicitly overturning the controlling framework laid out in Matter of New York State Dep’t of Transp., 22 I&N...
USCIS Establishes New Criteria for National Interest Waivers
In Matter of Dhanasar, 26 I&N Dec. 884 (AAO 2016), USCIS announced a new analytical framework for adjudicating National Interest Waivers (“NIW”), explicitly overturning the controlling framework laid out in Matter of New York State Dep’t of Transp., 22 I&N...
JANUARY 2017 VISA BULLETIN DOS & USCIS
DEPARTMENT OF STATE JANUARY 2017 VISA BULLETIN FOR EMPLOYMENT-BASED CATEGORIES EB-1 REMAINS CURRENT WORLDWIDE EB-2 WORLDWIDE REMAINS CURRENT EB-2 Slow ADVANCEMENT FOR INDIA AND CHINA EB-3 ONE MONTH ADVANCEMENT WORLDWIDE EB-3 SLOW ADVANCEMENT FOR CHINA AND THE...
SOME GOOD NEWS IN A SEA OF BAD NEWS
USCIS has announced the publication of new rules, to take effect January 17, 2017. In general, the new rules will establish grace periods for non-immigrant workers before and after their employment, and provides automatic work authorization extensions to adjustment...
President-Elect Trump and Immigration
The immigration laws in the United States are clearly going to undergo some important changes and be a key issue in President-Elect Donald Trump’s administration. There have been some iterations of support for skilled immigration, but most of Mr. Trump’s rhetoric to...
Revised I-9 form
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) published today, November 14, 2016, a revised version of Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification. By January 22, 2017, employers must use only the new version, dated 11/14/2016 N. Until then, employers may...
H-1B CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT AGAINST WALT DISNEY AND IT COMPANIES DISMISSED BY FEDERAL JUDGE
A class action lawsuit led by two former Walt Disney IT department employees against Walt Disney World, HCL America Inc. (HCLA) and Cognizant Technology Solutions (CTS) recently was dismissed by the United States District Court in Orlando, Florida. The two former...
NEW USCIS FILING FEES TAKE EFFECT ON DECEMBER 23, 2016
On December 23, 2016, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) will increase the fees of certain U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) applications. Fee increases generally range from 8 to 60%. However, as we previously mentioned, filing fees related to...