Many foreign nationals who were admitted into the United States through the Visa Waiver Program (VWP) cannot leave due to the COVID-19 outbreak and the related travel restrictions announced by President Trump last week.

To remain in the United States longer than authorized through the VWP requires obtaining special permission called “Satisfactory Departure”.  Requests for

The spread of coronavirus (COVID-19) has presented unprecedented challenges for employers who hire foreign nationals. Employers must take special care to ensure compliance with immigration laws during this crisis.  Here a few of the most common scenarios, with recommendations on how to address them.

Working Remotely

Now that social distancing has become the norm, many

To slow the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19), the Trump administration has temporarily suspended entry of foreign nationals in the European Union into the United States.  The full Presidential Proclamation can be found here.

This decision comes on the heels of a similar travel restriction on foreign nationals who had been physically present in China

After 26 years, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), a component of U.S. Department of Homeland Security (USDHS), published a new rule modernizing the Immigrant Investor Program with several changes. This is the first substantial revision to the Employment-Based Immigration: Fifth Preference or EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program since the program’s enactment in 1993. This

On March 19, 2019, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced two major changes to the H-1B visa program. First, USCIS will allow a modified form of premium processing for H-1B visa petitions that are subject to the annual cap (“cap-subject H-1B petitions”). In the past two years, USCIS had suspended premium processing

It is now H-1B visa season, meaning that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is accepting H-1B visa applications from April 1st to April 5th.

The H-1B visa program has come under intense public scrutiny over the last two years. In response to perceived abuses in the H-1B program, President Trump issued the “Buy

On February 20, 2019, The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) sent the Office of Management and Budget a proposed rule that would eliminate the work authorization for those present on an H-4 visa. The proposed termination of work authorization has the potential to drastically affect the companies that employ H-4 workers.

Proactive employers can avoid a disruption

On January 31, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) will publish a final rule changing the H-1B lottery system. The final rule implements the proposed two changes discussed earlier here.

According to the DHS announcement, “The final rule reverses the order by which U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) selects H-1B petitions under the H-1B regular

The public comment period for the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) proposed changes to the H-1B lottery system has now closed.  U.S. companies filing H-1B visa petitions must typically enter a lottery because the law caps the number of H-1B visas that DHS can issue each year.

The proposed rule would make two important changes

The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has issued a policy memorandum clarifying the one-year foreign employment requirement for an L-1 visa for intracompany transferees. Previously, USCIS inconsistently applied this requirement when a foreign national was in the United States in one status but sought to change to L-1 status.

An L-1 visa permits