The L-1B intra company business visa allows specialized knowledge employees to transfer from a foreign company to a U.S. parent, affiliated, or subsidiary branch to perform temporary jobs. For a foreign applicant to attain L-1B visa status, three requirements must be met. First and foremost, the petitioning U.S. company must…
The U.S. immigration system is constantly changing. At a recent stakeholders meeting, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) announced several upcoming changes to the Labor Certification and Labor Condition Application process. Expect More PERM Audits The DOL announced that with Backlog Elimination Centers (BECs) closing, the DOL will now be…
The Department of State Released its latest Visa Bulletin today. The September 2008 visa bulletin still shows employment based third preference (EB-3) visas as unavailable while the employment based second preference (EB-2) is current for all areas of chargeability except for China and India. The EB-2 priority dates for China…
The Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) permits employers to employ nonimmigrant alien workers in H-1B specialty occupations in the United States. In order to employ H-1B non-immigrants, an employer must obtain certification from the United States Department of Labor (DOL) after filing a Labor Condition Application (LCA). The LCA stipulates…
The Administrative Appeals Office (AAO) recently dismissed an appeal brought by a U.S. petitioner, a convenience store. The issue of the appeal was whether or not the petitioner had the ability to pay the proffered wage as of the priority date and continuing until the beneficiary obtained lawful permanent residence.…
The Administrative Appeals Office (AAO) recently dismissed an appeal brought by a foreign national who applied for a re-entry permit while outside of the Continental United States. The regulation at 8 C.F.R. § 223.2 (b) states in pertinent part that except as otherwise provided, an application may be approved if…
Many of our clients ask us why certain nonimmigrant visa categories allow individuals to enter the United States and apply for permanent residency while other nonimmigrant categories do not. The answer is “dual intent.” So what exactly is dual intent? The doctrine of dual intent states that even though a…
No matter what avenue you take towards permanent resident status (“green card”), whether it is family-based petition, employment-based petition, or diversity visa based, the priority date of your petition determines the order of visa availability for each particular category. Priority Dates for Family-Based Petitions For family based petitions, the priority…
In my previous blog entry, I informed you of the E-Verify program instituted by the Federal Government. The Federal Government is requiring all of its contractors to utilize this system for employment verification of their employees. Even though this is a positive first step in ensuring that employers comply with…
According to U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS), an additional seventeen (17) month Optional Practical Training (“OPT”) extension is available for current OPT F-1 students who have completed a science, technology, engineering, or mathematics degree and accepted employment with an employer enrolled in the E-verify program. Additionally, this extension will…