USCIS Fee Increases go into place on April 1, 2024
USCIS Fee increases will go into effect on April 1, 2024. Most immigration filings with UCSIS are increasing, though a few filings remain unchanged (or have slight decreases in fees). If you have an immigration or petition that you are working on, we encourage you to file before April 1. Also of note, work permission […]
What Happened in the 2023 H-1b Lottery – Why so many applicants?
This video discusses the very high numbers of H-1b applicants in the 2023 (fiscal year 2023) lottery.
First Video Blog – The Public Charge Ground and What Benefits Count
First I have started to create and post video content. The point is to share information and inform people about immigration law with video content. I also have created a fun, topical video series called “ChatGPT v. Immigration Lawyer”. In this series, I challenge the artificial intelligence power of ChatGPT with certain immigration questions. The […]
USCIS Announces H-1b Registration Period – March 1 – March 17
Today, USCIS announced the registration period for this year’s H-1b lottery. The registration period will run from March 1 – March 17, 2023. If you are using a law firm, you should start providing the required information in February. If you have any questions about the H-1b lottery or the registration process, contact us via […]
Published OP-ED: Christian asylum seekers waiting in limbo
On July 23, 2022, the Colorado Springs Gazette published a Guest Column by senior associate, Petula McShiras. Written with the assistance of the American Immigration Council, the column asks for the fair and equal treatment of Afghan applications for Humanitarian Parole. We applaud the administration for its efforts in Ukraine and it’s wonderful to see […]
ULP Bar Can Run in the United States!
On June 24, 2022, U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS) issued a new policy alert for the 3-year and 10-year bars. According to this alert, individuals who lawfully entered the United States after triggering the 3 year or 10 year bar can now apply for Adjustment of Status without a waiver so long as […]
Senior Associate, Petula McShiras, Begins Her Term as President of AILA (American Immigration Lawyer’s Association), Colorado Chapter
Petula McShiras begins her term as President of AILA Colorado. Petula was elected to this position by her peers and will serve in the senior leadership position for AILA for the next year. AILA is a national professional immigration lawyer’s association that does a great deal of advocacy, training and other work in order to […]
USCIS Announces that this year’s registration period opens on March 1!
USCIS has announced that the H-1b CAP (lottery) registration period begins March 1 and runs to March 18. This means that employer and applicant information should be gathered in February in order to complete the process during this period. If you are considering registering in the lottery for a H-1b visa, contact us by phone […]
SHAFTEL LAW IS HIRING – PARALEGAL POSITION
See our ad for an open position below Shaftel Law is Seeking an Immigration Paralegal TO APPLY: Please email Petula McShiras, at Petula@lawshaftel.com, the following: Cover letter, resume and a writing sample WHO WE ARE: SHAFTEL LAW is a full-service law firm, dedicated 100% to immigration law. We handle a variety of family, employment-based and […]
H-1b Lottery Will Not Change This Year, Wage Based System is Delayed
USCIS just announced that the Trump regulation that changes the H-1b lottery system to really a wage based allocation system (giving the highest wage earners in each occupation first preference) will be delayed until the end of the year, and not take effect until next year’s H-1b Cap season. HERE IS A LINK TO USCIS’ […]
President Biden’s Immigration Policy Executive Orders from February 02, 2021
Yesterday, President Biden issued three immigration related executive orders. The orders lay out new, thoughtful approaches to both address fundamental problems in our immigration system and to undo the harm caused by the Trump Administration’s immigration policies (which epitomized a complete lack of thought and humanity). One order addresses the new approach to Central and […]
Biden Immediately Begins Dismantling Trump’s Immigration Policies
The speed at which the Biden administration is committed to undoing 4 years of horrible immigration policy is exciting to say the least. Yesterday, President Biden issued an executive order that resets our immigration priorities. These priorities are exactly that, a focus on the most serious crises we currently face that affect our immigration system. […]
Final Rule Published on H-1b Lottery System Changes Based on Wage Level, But . . .
The Trump administration continues its last ditch efforts to undermine our immigration system with another final rule which would dramatically change how the H-1b lottery is conducted. I have an attached a AILA (American Immigration Lawyers Association) summary of what these changes look like and the possibility of whether they actually will take effect this […]
Full DACA Program Restored by a Federal Court
A U.S. District Court in New York ordered USCIS to fully restore the DACA program to its original Obama program version. This is fantastic news since it means that the program will once again have to accept new applicants who qualify, many of whom “aged into” the program after it was curtailed by the Trump […]
New Trump Memo on DACA, Barring New Applications, But Allowing Current Recipients to Renew in One-Year Increments
What the New DACA Memo Does The Department of Homeland Security issued a new memorandum today regarding the DACA program (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals), authored by the acting Secretary for DHS Chad Wolf. The memo is in response to the Supreme Court’s recent decision that the previous memos that attempted to end DACA were […]
Trump Suspends H-1b, H-2B, L-1, and J-1 Visas with His Latest Counter-Productive and Damaging Immigration Proclamation
Trump’s latest attack on immigration is arguably his boldest, most pretextual and most counter-productive to its stated goal (though the Travel Bans may be a close tie). In order to try and convince people of its illogical rationale, the order is clumsily titled “Proclamation Suspending Entry of Aliens Who Present a Risk to the U.S. […]
Advisal for Nonimmigrants (H-1b, L-1, O-1 and TNs) on Working from Home and Other Material Changes to Work Due to the Coronavirus
As that many workers are now working from home due to “stay-at-home” orders, it is important to understand what immigration effects there could be for nonimmigrant workers due to this change in work location, or due to other significant changes to employment such as wage and/or hour reductions, or substantial changes to job duties. H-1bs […]
Coronavirus Immigration Updates – March 18, 2020
The nature of the Coronavirus threat is changing rapidly and daily. Here are some recent updates that we wanted to share with everyone in case they were missed: LOCAL USCIS OFFICE CLOSURE – USCIS’s local Denver Office has cancelled in-person appearances until at least April 1, this includes all application related interviews (naturalization, adjustment of […]
Highlights from the October 2019 Visa Bulletin: The Start of the 2020 Federal Fiscal Year
The October 2019 visa bulletin has been released. The October bulletin shows some notable movement in a few categories, but not as much movement as we had hoped for in others. The October bulletin is a big deal since it represents the start of the next federal fiscal year when annual visa numbers are replenished. […]
Visa Bulletin Trends for April 2019 and a Review of the Employment Based Immigrant Visa System
A Review of the Employment-Based Immigrant Visa System The visa bulletin continues to have a number of unusual trends in the employment categories as we head into April of 2019. As a refresher, our employment system contains 5 categories, named employment based 1 through 5, or EB-1 through EB-5. The first three categories are the […]
USCIS Announces Two New Changes to H-1B Visa Procedures
An Effort to Increase H-1B visas Granted to Workers with a U.S. Master’s degree or Higher On January 31, 2019, United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced new changes to the H-1B process, one to take effect this year, the other to take effect in 2020. As background, USCIS gives out 65,000 H-1B visas […]
Trump Issues New Rule that Prevents Individuals Who Crossed the Southern Border Without Inspection from Applying for Asylum
General Background for Asylum Asylum refers to the process of applying for protection in order to avoid harm in one’s country of origin. Asylum (or refugee law) provides protection against human rights violations, namely being harmed in your country of origin based on one of the following protected grounds: race, religion, nationality, political opinion or membership in […]
USCIS’ NEW POLICY ON WHEN APPLICANTS ARE REFERRED TO IMMIGRATION COURT FOR DEPORTATION PROCEEDINGS
BACKGROUND The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) divides immigration related functions between three separate departments: ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) for enforcing immigration laws, CBP (Customs and Border Protection) for controlling the inspection and admission of foreign nationals into our country at our land ports of entry and at airports. Additionally, CBP is responsible for […]
October Visa Bulletin Arrives: First Bulletin for the 2019 Fiscal Year
The October 2018 Visa Bulletin was dropped today. This is the most significant visa bulletin of the year since it represents the first visa bulletin for the new fiscal year (the federal fiscal year starts on October 1). Because 2019 visa allocations are available on October 1, there are significant jumps in each of the […]
Big Changes to How Immigration (USCIS) Calculates Unlawful Presence for F, J and M Nonimmigrants
Background: The Current (soon to be old) Rule Surrounding Unlawful Presence for F, J and M Nonimmigrants F, J and M nonimmigrant status is used for students, professors, exchange visitors and other short-term categories. Because many of these programs have indeterminate end dates, or dates that can be extended directly by a school (rather than […]
EB-1 Green Card Category for India and China Retrogress Even Earlier This Year
As reported in the April 2018 Visa Bulletin, the EB-1 green card categories for India and China have retrogressed for the third straight year, but this time even earlier in the year. Last year, EB-1 China and India did not retrogress until June; this year it is retrogressing as of April 1. Another unfortunate change is […]
Cathartic Rantings on the Gun Debate
The gun issue, like the immigration debate in many ways, is so frustrating because of a refusal to establish any factual common ground from which to begin the debate. Because of this, my “ask” from those who believe in zero gun regulation has become so small. It begins with the following: Can we agree that […]
Current Status of DACA Renewals
Based on federal lawsuits challenging President Trump’s ending of DACA, the DACA program is currently back in place. This means that current DACA recipients can apply to extend their DACA status. Normally, USCIS has always advised DACA recipients to renew their applications between 150-120 days prior to expiration; HOWEVER, USCIS has stated that they will accept […]
A Dream Act, at What Price?
Last week Trump sent his “term sheet” to congressional republicans containing what he wants in exchange for a “DREAM Act” that would provide an eventual path to citizenship for Dreamers. In contrast to his earlier statements (“I will sign any Dream Act legislation that is put on my desk”), Trump is now attempting to extract […]
H-1b Math: What Are My Chances of Winning the Lottery in 2018?
When asking what are my chances of winning the H-1b lottery, most lawyers will respond with a non-scientific answer based on their own rough historic success rate in the lottery, and predictions on the upcoming number of applications. We often do not go into the math because most of us (lawyers) were scared to death […]
What are the chances of a DREAM Act in 2018?
What is Necessary for the DREAM Act to Pass? While the first proposed deadline has passed to bring the DREAM Act to a vote in 2017, we are still cautiously optimistic that we could see a DREAM Act in 2018. Our primary reason for optimism is that the majority of both houses of Congress, as […]
What is The Diversity Visa Program?
In light of the tragic attack in New York City this week by Sayfullo Saipov, Trump has called for the end of the Diversity Visa program (the immigration program that allowed Saipov to immigrate to the U.S). In typical Trump fashion, Trump continues to lead through fear, which has the terrible effect of undermining any […]
MAVNI’s new face: A Not Quite Expedited Naturalization
The Start of MAVNI After the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the question of the hour was: “how could we have prevented this?” As investigations and analysis continued, the Bush administration found a remarkable fact: we were in possession of intercepts from the hijackers, but they were not translated. The obvious conclusion was that in the ranks […]
Trump Issues a New Indefinite Travel Ban on both Previously Designated and New Countries
On Sunday, September 24th, Trump issued his third and most severe travel ban, this time calling for an indefinite ban on entry into the United States of foreign nationals from designated countries. Rather than a 90-day ban, like the previous versions, Trump has put an indefinite ban in place again on foreign nationals from countries […]
USCIS Resumes Premium Processing for Some H-1b Petitions
Premium processing is a service provided by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to ensure expedited processing of immigration petitions. For an additional filing fee of $1225, USCIS promises to make an initial decision on a case within 15 calendar days. If USCIS issues a request for evidence, they are allowed an additional […]
The Reality of “Getting in Line”
This piece is written by one of our paralegals, Maria, who as a documented immigrant, offers a perspective on the great difficulties faced by those who are undocumented. I am a documented immigrant. By some, I am praised because I “did things the right” way and didn’t “jump the line.” However, these statements are really short sighted and reflect an incomplete […]
Trump Phases out DACA: The Facts
Before I comment on the ridiculous statements of Attorney General Jeff Sessions (“the compassionate thing is to end the lawlessness [of DACA]??]) and the cowardice of ending such a benign program that extends relatively little rights to a group of young people who deserve so much more, I want to get the facts out regarding what […]
A Look at Our Broken Guest Worker Program
Most people recognize that labor shortages are a major cause of a large undocumented population in this country, but the extent to which our broken guest worker program contributes to this problem is largely unknown. Our current non-agricultural guest worker program is limited to 66,000 guest workers annually, an exceedingly small number given the size of our economy and our labor needs. The […]
Proposed Immigration Bills: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
Before our discussion below of recently proposed immigration bills, it is worth reviewing the process of how a bill (a proposed new law) becomes law. The fact of the matter is that, for better or for worse, our country’s founders made it very difficult to change the law (with few exceptions). Bills hit […]
Can CBP search my computer when I arrive in the U.S.? The Evolving Border Search Doctrine in the Age of Trump
The 4th Amendment and the Border The right to be free from “unreasonable searches and seizures” absent a judicial warrant is constitutionally ingrained in our 4th Amendment. . . but this right is not absolute. One notable exception is that the 4th Amendment does not apply at the border, which includes land […]
Misconceptions about Undocumented Immigrants
Changing Trends in Immigration Our tumultuous political climate has once again brought immigration to its forefront. The heated issue, however, involves a myriad of misconceptions further complicating a very important, and very personal, discussion. The following data, largely gathered by the Pew Institute, provides relevant information challenging various notions that have colored the immigration […]
An Overview of the US Immigration System
The Immigration and Naturalization Act (INA) is the body of law currently governing immigration policy. Though very complicated, a starting point is to understand that we grant entry on either a permanent (legal permanent resident) or temporary (nonimmigrant) basis. Currently, there is a worldwide limit of 675,000 permanent immigrant visas, with certain exceptions for […]
Despite Trump’s Stated Support for Christians from the Middle East, Iraqi Chaldean Christians Face Deportation
“Christians in the Middle East have been executed in large numbers. We cannot allow this horror to continue!” President Trump tweeted this January. Indeed, his initial commitment to the Middle eastern Christians and their unwavering support for his campaign, particularly the Chaldean community in Detroit, played a significant role in his victories in certain Michigan […]
Supreme Court Gives Trump His First Partial Victory for his Travel Ban
The U.S. Supreme Court issued a preliminary opinion today temporarily allowing part of Trump’s travel ban to take effect until a final decision is made later this year, perhaps by October. Many feared an end to the string of victories against the travel bans as the second ban worked its way up to the Supreme Court, […]
EB-1 Green Card Category for India and China Retrogress UNTIL October 1, 2017
As reported in the June 2017 Visa Bulletin, the EB-1 green card categories for India and China have retrogressed after being “current” for some time. This retrogression is based on increasingly high demand for employment-based green cards for highly skilled Indian and Chinese professionals. Read on for details relating to this retrogression. What Does the Retrogression Mean […]
Attacking H-1b Visas Spurs More of the Best to Work Overseas
Trump’s recent attacks on the H-1b visa system reflects a truly short-sighted view (at best) and represents an additional backwards step for this country as the premier country for innovation and technology. Like with any government program, it can be improved, but the idea that we are letting in too many foreign national specialized employees […]
The Real Cost of Trump’s Immigration Enforcement Plan
When it comes to deportation systems, the United States has taken the bigger-is-better approach in recent years. And by the looks of what’s mapped out in Trump’s executive order, agency memos and budget requests, the immigration enforcement plan will only get more massive. Or “wasteful and ineffective” as the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) put […]
Federal Judges in Hawaii and Maryland Block Trump’s Latest Attempt at a Travel Ban
Trump strikes out again in his attempt to ban certain foreign nationals from this country based on nothing more than their nationality. Two federal judges have issued nation-wide injunctions against President Trump’s newest travel ban, and just in the nick of time as that the second travel ban was due to begin today, March 16. While the second travel ban […]
Change is Brewing for PERM Labor Certification Minimum Requirements
On March 7, 2017, the Department of Labor (DOL) issued a dramatic policy change to the PERM labor certification minimum requirements. Three days later, the DOL removed the change as the result of stakeholder input. What does this mean for employers and employees seeking a green card through PERM? Change is brewing. The original (and […]
Trump’s Travel Ban: Take Two
On March 6, 2017, President Trump issued his new and “improved” travel ban. While this latest version is more narrow than the first ban, the fundamental xenophobic nature of the ban remains, as does the lack of evidence that such a ban will increase safety in the U.S. The Impact of Trump’s Travel Ban on […]
Trump Abandons Travel Ban Legal Fight, Vows to Issue a New Executive Order on Immigration
After a Washington federal district court granted a temporary restraining order halting the enforcement of the travel ban, Trump and the Department of Justice quickly appealed the decision to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. The Ninth Circuit sits below the U.S. Supreme Court. The Ninth Circuit reviewed the issue and agreed with the Washington […]
Washington District Court Issues a Blow to Trump’s Travel Ban
On Friday February 3, the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington issued a temporary restraining order (TRO) against Trump’s executive order travel ban. The executive order temporarily prohibits travel to the U.S. of immigrants, nonimmigrants and refugees from Iran, Iraq, Syria, Libya, Sudan, Yemen and Somalia. Trump’s travel ban was shocking in that it represents the most […]
New DHS Secretary Kelly Clarifies Order Regarding Effect on Lawful Permanent Residents
Two pieces of good news have come so far since Trump’s unconstitutional travel ban. First, a federal court has granted an injunction, barring the government from deporting individuals being held under the injunction for two weeks (while a final decision is reached on the lawsuit). Second, new DHS Secretary Kelly fixed a portion of the order, […]
Trump’s Latest Executive Action Raises Nationality Discrimination to Frightening Levels
Trump’s latest executive action, “Protecting the Nation From Foreign Terrorist Entry Into the United States”, raises nationality discrimination to a largely unprecedented level. While we are not at “Japanese internment camp” levels of discrimination yet, we are marching closer and closer to this historic pinnacle of shame. The breadth of the executive order is broader than even […]
Trump Launches First Two Executive Actions Aimed at Immigration
Five days after taking office, President Trump released his first two executive actions on immigration: Enhancing Public Safety in the Interior of the United States Interior Enforcement Executive Order These executive actions were anticipated and they certainly contain many disturbing provisions; however, it is important to remember that implementation requires several additional steps such as rule-making and […]
USCIS Finalizes New International Entrepreneur Rule Granting Foreign Startup Entrepreneurs New Pathway
Foreign entrepreneurs can start exploring a new pathway this July thanks to the finalization of the International Entrepreneur Rule by the USCIS last Tuesday. The rule aims to grant “parole” status to qualifying foreigners so they can stay in the United States to build their startups. Up until now, the U.S. had reserved this status […]
How will Trump respond to Obama’s unexpected move ending a 22-year-old exemption policy for Cuban immigrants
So far in his presidency, Trump has been quite clear about his intentions to dig up seeds sown during the Obama administration. But what does that mean for Cubans? Consider that 8 days before leaving office, Obama attempted to normalize relations by unexpectedly ending a 22-year-old policy that exempted Cubans arriving in the U.S. without […]
What does a retired general and the CEO of one of the biggest oil companies in the world have in common?
They have been nominated by Trump to lead the two most important federal agencies that deal with immigration: the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and the Department of State (DOS). Let’s take a closer look at each nominee: Rex Tillerson: Trump Nominee for Secretary of the Department of State Mr. Tillerson is the former CEO […]
On Being a Denver Immigration Lawyer Just Before Trump Takes Office
The Atlantic published a great article titled “What It’s Like to Be an Immigration Attorney in the Final Weeks Before the Trump Presidency“. People are scared and do not know what to expect, which is the most rationale reaction to a new President who specializes in anti-immigration rhetoric, but at the same time is capable […]
Why Local Law Enforcement Should Not Be Coerced To Act as ICE Agents
Why should local law enforcement in Colorado’s cities avoid being involved in immigration enforcement? Colorado Public Radio recently covered the matter in a recent piece called Sanctuary Cities in Colorado, and How They May Face Problems from Trump. The story touches on the problems with coercing local police to act as ICE agents. Below are […]
Trump and the Future of Our U.S. Employment Immigration System
So much of Donald Trump’s negative immigration rhetoric targets the undocumented population and refugees. But what about employment immigration? Trump has criticized many components of our employment immigration system as well. However, regarding actual negative changes to our employment immigration system, I believe his bark is worse than his bite for several obvious reasons. First, it makes very […]
President Trump!!?? Practical Implications to our Immigration System (Part 2)
After digesting our new reality and venting about it (see Part 1 of this blog series), let’s try to rationally analyze how President Trump may change our immigration system. Is There Any Hope for the DAPA Program and the Expansion of the DACA Program? No. Neither of these programs ever took effect because of federal […]
President Trump!!?? What Does This Mean for Our Immigration System (Part 1)
President Trump’s (I can’t believe I just wrote that) anti-immigration rhetoric has been a staple and at times the foundation of his unprecedented rise to President. From his promise to build a wall to his proposed ban on Muslims, his extreme rhetoric appealed to and rallied at historic levels his core supporters. So now the […]
Wired Magazine Points Out that Immigrants Across the Spectrum Fuel Innovation
Silicon Valley and the tech media have widely discussed the immense contributions highly-skilled immigrants make in the tech world, and consistently advocate for fixing the many problems in our employment immigration system. This focus on highly skilled immigrants sometimes is juxtaposed with lower-skilled immigrants, who often do not have immigration status. This dichotomy can result […]
Chobani Yogurt: A Leader in Job Creation for Refugees
In an era where serious corporate misconduct seems to make the news every couple of years, (from Enron’s massive accounting fraud to Merrill Lynch and friends’ implosion of the financial system to BP’s Deepwater Horizon environmental disaster) it is easy to become pessimistic and believe that many large corporations do not have a conscience. Fortunately, […]
Some Facts About Our Southwest Border
The sad irony about much of the public discourse on immigration is that their is often a complete disconnect between people’s heated opinions and actual facts. Moreover, when any segment of our economy suffers, immigrants are often unjustly blamed. Fact deficient reasoning and vitriolic opinions based on fiction are on the rise, led by the […]
USCIS Increases Fees by an Average of 21%
Effective December 23, 2016, new fees for almost all applications filed with USCIS take effect. On average, fees per application have increased by 21%. This is the first fee increase by USCIS in 6 years. Some notable fee increases are below. N-400 (Naturalization): from $595 to $640 (+ $85 biometrics fee which remains unchanged) I-129f […]
The Future of Our Immigration System: A Clintopia or a Trumpocalypse?
As we approach the end of Trump’s latest reality TV endeavor (running for President), we can only hope that this reality TV show comes to an end. While after the latest unveiling of Trump’s truly amoral and scary character, it appears that Hillary has the upper hand, this has not always been the case. Acclaimed […]
USCIS Increases Employment Authorization Validity Time for Asylum Applicants
Effective October 5, 2016, United States Citizenship and Immigration Services has announced that it will increase the validity periods of Employment Authorization Documents for Asylum applicants. This will apply to currently pending employment authorization requests by asylum applicants, as well as those who file in the future. Instead of the previous one-year validity, the documents […]
U.S. v. Texas: The Latest Chapter in the DAPA Battle
Earlier this year on June 23, 2016, the currently 8-member Supreme Court reached a stalemate in a 4-4 tie vote regarding the legality of President Obama’s and DHS’ DAPA program (Deferred Action for Parents of Citizens and Residents). Unfortunately, this tie resulted in upholding the 5th Circuit’s decision that the program was unconstitutional. Now, on October 3, 2016, the Supreme Court […]
Immigration Law Tech Tip: Avoiding Abandonment of your Greencard based on Time Abroad, The Reality Versus Common Misconceptions.
Within immigration law, there is often a conflict between the actual law and what many perceive to be the law based on enforcement or simply ambiguous legal principles. One of the most common scenarios where we see this disconnect pertains to how long a lawful permanent resident can remain outside of the United States without […]
Understanding the Roots of a Broken System
I have been involved now in immigration law for almost 16 years, first as an immigration paralegal in San Francisco before law school, next, defending foreign nationals against charges of illegal entry after deportation as a federal public defender and now as a lawyer focused 100% on immigration law. Despite this lengthy history with immigration law, […]
The Supreme Court listens to arguments in U.S. v. Texas
On April 15, 2016, the United States Supreme Court listened to oral arguments for the case U.S. v. Texas, which is the case dealing with whether are not the proposed deferred action for parents program and the expanded deferred action for children program will be implemented. The state of Texas is leading the lawsuit by taking the […]
Applying for a Greencard for my Wife or Husband: Frequently Asked Questions
Q1: What is a “One Step” immigration application? A one step application is what immigration attorneys call an immediate relative adjustment of status application because the two steps of the process can be filed together. The foundational form for Step 1 is form I-130 (petition for alien relative). During this step, we must prove the […]
A Tricky Problem: How Long Am I Authorized to Work When I Change H-1b Employers?
Many foreign nationals (“FN”) in H-1b status are aware of “H-1b Portability”, which allows a H-1b FN to transfer to a new H-1b employer upon the filing of a H-1b petition by the new employer. The genesis of this rule is in a law called AC-21 (or “The American Competitiveness in the Twenty-First Century Act […]
H-1b Season is upon us!
If you are interesting in applying for a H-1b visa this year, please review the below and give us a call. H-1b visas can only be applied for once a year (on April 1, unless you already have a H-1b visa or work for a “Cap exempt” employer) and preparations should begin now. If you […]
Lakewood, Colorado to temporarily house up to 1,000 immigrant children
In April 2016, the Federal Center in Lakewood will become the temporary home for up to 1,000 immigrant children. These children are fleeing to the U.S. from impoverished and gang infested Central American countries. The facility, a vacant office warehouse, will be the largest of its kind in the country and will be run by […]
A Survey in The Atlantic Further Confirms the Need for More Visas to Spur Innovation
In the November 2014 issue of The Atlantic (dubbed “The Technology Issue”), a piece titled “The View from the Valley” provides additional, powerful evidence of the severe shortage of talent in the U.S. and the negative effect this shortage is having on innovation. The survey is particularly potent because it is not an immigration centered […]
Will Obama Announce a New Executive Action Program?
Because of frustration with the inability of Congress to pass immigration reform, President Obama has vowed to take executive action in order to provide limited relief for a number of undocumented individuals in the U.S. President Obama had stated that he would act during the summer of 2014, but failed to do so. This decision […]
Work Permission to come for certain H-4 nonimmigrants (Spouses of H-1b nonimmigrants)??
DHS (Department of Homeland Security) is proposing to grant employment authorization to certain H-4 dependent spouses of principal H-1B nonimmigrants. The extension would only apply to H-4 dependent spouses of principal H-1B nonimmigrants who are in the process of seeking lawful permanent resident status through employment. Specifically, H-4 dependent spouses of H-1B nonimmigrants who are […]
Does Comprehensive Immigration Reform Stand a Chance in the House?
While it would be great if politicians did what they truly believed was best for our country, the reality of our representative democracy system of government is much simpler. Politicians represent only their constituents and do what the majority of their constituents want in order to be elected or win reelection. Ignore the will of […]