With the increased focus on foreign language programs-particularly the popularity of immersion programs in which the foreign language is used for instruction rather than as the subject of instruction-schools districts are increasingly turning to foreign nationals in order to fill employment needs. There are other hard-to-fill positions in school districts where foreign national hires are more prevalent as well. While positions such as teachers normally qualify for H-1B visas, the uncertainty surrounding whether a petition will be selected in the annual 85,000 H-1B visa ...
The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) continues to take action in its efforts to deter fraud. Lawful Permanent Resident cards, more commonly referred to as "Green Cards," have undergone at least 5 changes since their post-World War II debut, and Employment Authorization Cards ("EADs") have borne at least as many. On May 1, 2017, USCIS began issuing redesigned cards with enhanced graphics and fraud-resistant security features that should be generally agreeable to HR staff, yet an impediment to would-be scammers.
The new features on the cards include the ...
USCIS has concluded the H-1B lottery and data entry operations for FY2018. Many hopeful petitioners and beneficiaries have already received the coveted I-797C Receipt Notice confirming their selection; however, some do not yet know their fate. Students on F-1 visas who have neither received a Receipt Notice nor a rejected petition may feel they are at an impasse. For these cases, qualifying students may continue to benefit from the automatic "Cap-Gap" extension until a rejection notice, or, more hopefully, a Receipt Notice, is received.
The Cap-Gap rule allows F-1 students for ...
Each year, thousands of employers file H-1B visa petitions for foreign nationals seeking to obtain temporary work authorization in professional jobs which requires at least a Bachelors' Degree in a specific field. On April 7, 2017, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced it reached the congressionally mandated cap for H-1B visas for the 2018 fiscal year and would institute a lottery to select petitions for adjudication. The number of H-1B petitions filed in 2017 declined for the first time since 2013, but the number of filings were still more than double the number of ...
On March 3, 2017, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced it would suspend premium processing, often referred to as fast tracking, for all H-1B petitions. The suspension takes effect on April 3, the start date of the new fiscal year filing period.
What has changed
The H-1B visa program is one of the most popular and scrutinized visa classifications used for professionals. This fiscal year, the USCIS received nearly 233,000 H-1B petitions for 65,000 available H-1B slots.
The program enables U.S. companies to tap into a global network of foreign ...
While the Executive Order ("the Order") issued by President Trump on January 27, 2017, and temporarily halted by the District Court in the Western District of Washington and subsequently by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, has been highly publicized for temporarily banning certain foreign nationals from the United States, it could also could impact business travelers from a variety of countries in a number of ways. Foreign nationals often use the business visitor (B-1) visa to enter the United States for short periods to engage in business activities that do not rise to the level of ...
Advocates, employers, and employees are in a state of suspense in anticipation of potential changes to the H-1B program. The H-1B visa allows foreign workers to be employed in certain "specialty occupations," which are generally defined as positions requiring, at a minimum, a U.S. Bachelor's degree (or the foreign equivalent) in a specific academic field. Congress has established a limit of 65,000 H-1B visas per fiscal year, with an additional 20,000 H-1B visas reserved for candidates with U.S. advanced degrees (such as a Master's degree or higher). This does not include H-1B ...
One of the biggest drawbacks for employers trying to utilize the H-1B visa program is the numerical cap. The current law limits the number of H-1B visas available to 65,000 annually with an additional 20,000 available to those with a U.S. Master's Degree. USCIS regularly receives more than triple the cap number in H-1B petitions each year, resulting in the implementation of a random lottery system to determine who receives a visa. Despite the odds, the H-1B continues to be the visa classification of choice for many employers due to the advantages it provides for foreign national ...
One of the first things that may come to mind when thinking about the Trump Immigration Plan is the promise to build a Mexican-financed physical wall on the southern border of the United States. While the wall was certainly the President-elect's most publicized immigration stance during the campaign, he has proposed a number of other actions that could directly affect employers. Here is a quick synopsis of five (5) immigration policy changes which could significantly impact U.S. employers.
- Canceling the Deferred Action Executive Orders (DACA & DAPA)
In June 2012, President Obama ...
The United States is facing a monumental physician shortage. According to The Washington Post, our aging population may need as many as 90,000 additional physicians by 2025.
In an effort to ameliorate the problem and combat the shortage of physicians in Medically Underserved (MUA) and Health Professional Shortage Areas (HPSA), Congress passed the Conrad 30 Program. Conrad 30 makes it easier for foreign nationals with foreign medical degrees, also known as foreign medical graduates (FMG), to stay and work in the United States after completing their medical residency.
Every year ...