Friday, November 21, 2014
BREAKING NEWS: Obama's Executive Order on Immigration Has Been Announced!
Last night President Obama unveiled a number of executive actions he will take on immigration, among them providing immigration relief for nearly 5 million illegal aliens currently in the U.S. For further details behind this Executive Order, take a look at the following DHS announcement: http://www.dhs.gov/immigration-action.
Thursday, November 13, 2014
Breaking News: Obama to Announce Executive Actions on Immigration
According to The New York Times
and Fox News,
President Obama plans to announce as soon as next week a series of executive
actions of the broad overhaul of the nation’s immigration enforcement system that will
protect up to 5 million undocumented immigrants from the threat of deportation,
as well as address other areas of immigration. Stay tuned!
Wednesday, October 15, 2014
Essential Compliance Issues for Employers: H-1B and the Requirements under the LCA
There are regulatory
obligations related to the Labor Condition Application (LCA) and the public
access file that employers must comply with when sponsoring a foreign national
for an H-1B. The LCA program was
conceived as part of the process to protect U.S. workers from foreign workers
willing to work for less money, and at less-favorable working conditions. The
LCA has a number of attestations, public posting requirements and records maintenance
obligations for employers.
Did you know that employers who fail to comply with the LCA attestations or public access requirements may find themselves faced with civil penalties in the amounts from $1,000.00 per violation to as much as $35,000.00 per violation, accompanied by an order to for back-pay of salary and fringe benefits to the foreign worker or debarment from participation in the H-1B program for one to three years? For further discussion of the key elements surrounding LCA compliance visit the TBLO website and click on the H-1B link under Services tab: http://www.batrakovalaw.com/#!h-1b---specialty-occupation-employment-/c1way.
Did you know that employers who fail to comply with the LCA attestations or public access requirements may find themselves faced with civil penalties in the amounts from $1,000.00 per violation to as much as $35,000.00 per violation, accompanied by an order to for back-pay of salary and fringe benefits to the foreign worker or debarment from participation in the H-1B program for one to three years? For further discussion of the key elements surrounding LCA compliance visit the TBLO website and click on the H-1B link under Services tab: http://www.batrakovalaw.com/#!h-1b---specialty-occupation-employment-/c1way.
Tuesday, September 9, 2014
Obama Delays Action on Immigration Reform Until After the November Elections
Reuters reports that President Obama reversed his course last week and delayed taking executive action on the immigration reform until after the November congressional elections, fearing that such action could cost his fellow Democrats control of the Senate.
The immigration reform has been a highly polarizing and political issue in the last few years. The current delay begs the question and concern that this "attempt to deny protection to desperate refugees, and the delay on
immigration action, make absolutely no fiscal or moral sense, and are built on
questionable political assumptions." For further discussion, please refer to the Reuters article: http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/09/06/us-usa-immigration-obama-idUSKBN0H10ER20140906?utm_source=AILA+Mailing&utm_campaign=7f4b627c9d-AILA8_9_8_14&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_3c0e619096-7f4b627c9d-290691581
Tuesday, August 26, 2014
DOS Alert: China EB-5 "Green Card Through Investment" Is Unavailable For Remainder of FY2014
U.S. Department
of State's Chief of the Immigrant Visa Control and Reporting Division announced last week that
as of August 23, 2014 the maximum number of immigrant visas that may be made
available for use by EB-5 Chinese applicants during FY2014 has been reached. USCIS may continue to accept China EB-5 cases,
but they will be held in the "pending demand" status until October 1,
2014.
Monday, June 23, 2014
New Polls Show Continued U.S. Support for Immigration Reform
Results of a poll
issued earlier this month by the American Action Forum, show that 78 percent of
GOP primary voters, support a step-by-step approach to an immigration
reform. The House has said that it
prefers this gradual approach, although it hasn’t taken any action beyond
passing a handful of separate bills through committees. For more information on the polls and the
current state of the immigration reform, check out this NBC News article: http://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/two-new-polls-show-continued-u-s-support-immigration-reform-n129461
Monday, April 28, 2014
Department of State Revises Visa Reciprocity Schedule for Ukraine
Effective immediately, U.S. Department of State has a revised visa reciprocity schedule for Ukraine to increase
the validity of the B-1/B-2 nonimmigrant visitor visa category from the current 60 months to
120 months, valid for multiple entries. All other visa validities for Ukrainian
nationals will remain unchanged.
Friday, April 18, 2014
USCIS Pledges to Improve the EB-5 Green Card Through Investment Program
The Huffington Post published "USCIS Works to Improve the EB-5 Visa
Program. Will Congress Follow Suit?" by EB5 Investors Magazine's CEO
Ali Jahangiri. Recently appointed program
director Nicholas Colucci at an
EB-5 stakeholders conference call pledged that USCIS will not only attempt to
process forms more efficiently, but it also aims to increase its competency in
the due diligence department. As of
September 2013, there were 7,131 petitions currently pending, pointing to a
need for increased efficiency at USCIS.
Approving projects that are well-planned and likely to succeed will
continue to strengthen the EB-5 program's image, as well as provide much needed
benefits to the U.S. economy. Click here to read the full
article.
Wednesday, January 29, 2014
H-1B Season Is In Full Swing!
U.S. employers wishing to employ
foreign national workers in the H-1B specialty occupation category starting
October 1, 2014, cannot file the H-1B applications earlier than 6 months prior
to the October 1st start date, or prior to April 1, 2014.
There is an annual quota of 65,000 visas for foreign nationals in the general
H-1B category and 20,000 for foreign nationals with an advanced degree
(Master’s or higher). Last year USCIS reached the quota for both the
general and advanced degree H-1B categories within the first week of April 1,
2013 filing deadline, with the remainder of the applications being subject to a
lottery.
With U.S. economy having improved since the recession, it is projected that more U.S. employers will be onboarding new employees this year, including foreign national workers. The demand for H-1Bs will be higher than in previous years, and the quota will probably once again be reached in the first week of April 1, 2014 for foreign national workers who wish to begin employment on October 1, 2014. It would be wise for the U.S. employers to begin the H-1B process early on to ensure that the applications are filed by April 1, 2014.
With U.S. economy having improved since the recession, it is projected that more U.S. employers will be onboarding new employees this year, including foreign national workers. The demand for H-1Bs will be higher than in previous years, and the quota will probably once again be reached in the first week of April 1, 2014 for foreign national workers who wish to begin employment on October 1, 2014. It would be wise for the U.S. employers to begin the H-1B process early on to ensure that the applications are filed by April 1, 2014.
Wednesday, January 8, 2014
Fate of Children of Deported Parents: Stark Reality
January 8, 2014
The Washington Post reports that concerns about the fate of children of deported parents are adding an emotional pitch to the call for a Comprehensive Immigration Reform. According to a study by Human Impact Partners, in 2012 an estimated 150,000 U.S. citizen children had at least one illegal alien parent deported. Advocates are urging Congress to create a path to legalization for undocumented immigrants, allowing separated family members to be reunited and to prevent children from having to lose their parent(s) to deportation. Read The Washington Post article at http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/deportations-of-parents-can-cast-the-lives-of-us-citizen-kids-into-turmoil/2013/12/29/abdf23aa-6b4c-11e3-b405-7e360f7e9fd2_story.html
The Washington Post reports that concerns about the fate of children of deported parents are adding an emotional pitch to the call for a Comprehensive Immigration Reform. According to a study by Human Impact Partners, in 2012 an estimated 150,000 U.S. citizen children had at least one illegal alien parent deported. Advocates are urging Congress to create a path to legalization for undocumented immigrants, allowing separated family members to be reunited and to prevent children from having to lose their parent(s) to deportation. Read The Washington Post article at http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/deportations-of-parents-can-cast-the-lives-of-us-citizen-kids-into-turmoil/2013/12/29/abdf23aa-6b4c-11e3-b405-7e360f7e9fd2_story.html
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