Blogs

After many years of resistance, DHS quickly moved to adjudicate same-sex marriage petitions after the U.S. Supreme Court decision in U.S. v. Windsor (2013) to strike the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA).

Last year's 16-day federal government shutdown led to significant delays and interruption in immigration services. Specifically, internet-based E-Verify, filing labor conditions applications and permanent labor certifications. As a result, delays in adjudications are...

In April, CBP implemented an electronic Form I-94 processing for foreign nationals arriving in the U.S. via air and sea. Only foreign nationals arriving at a land border are now issued paper I-94's. Foreign nationals affected by this change are receiving a passport...

After working on a suitable form for almost a year and without much warning, the USCIS released the 7th edition of Form I-9 in March, 2013.  The reformatted form is two pages and has expanded fields.   Our audits of clients' I-9 have shown that employers are...

The DOL continued to scrutinize, audit and deny a significant number of applications for permanent labor certification (PERM). Approximately 30% of cases were audited, of those 50 percent were denied. Processing times have increased  significantly.  It is taking about...

The promise of the passage of a comprehensive bill looked hopeful last June when the U.S. Senate passed bill S. 744 which included a path for legalization for unauthorized immigrants, an expansion of E-Verify, an increase in the number of temporary work visas and a...

In 2013, the H-1B cap was reached in the first five days of filing and USCIS conducted a visa lottery to select the lucky petitions. The high demand for H-1B visas is expected to continue in 2014. We are encouraging those interested in new H-1B visas to begin the...