BEYOND THE BASICS HR Solutions for US Immigration By David Swaim, a 30-Year Texas Board-Certified Immigration Attorney
CIS ANNOUNCES NEW POLICY RESTRICTING ADJUSTMENT OF STATUS
CIS has just announced a new policy for immigrant visas that effectively ends the use of Adjustment of Status (AOS) for the final immigrant interview and final case processing. These steps must now take place at the US Consulate in the home country. This is called Consular Processing or CP. · Based on past practice […]
The H-1 Process Now Looks Almost Exactly Like the Labor Certification Process!!
Until recently, the only requirement for an H-1 job description (and evaluation of the education and work experience for a particular job) was simply that the position requires at least a bachelor’s degree. No discussion of additional education requirements, work experience, or skill sets for the position were required. This placed the H-1 process in […]
USCIS Attacks F-1 International Students (Again!)
F-1 International Students get one year of employment after graduation, called Optional Practical Training (OPT). For STEM graduates (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) an additional two years of OPT is available. It should be obvious to everyone that the US has a severe shortage of trained people in each of these categories. That is obvious […]
Why Are Some People Being Arrested at Green Card Interviews?
Over the past several months, ICE has arrested hundreds, if not thousands, of people at their green card interview or initial hearing with an Immigration Judge. Why is this happening? ICE has issued a list of reasons which will support such an arrest. Potential reasons for an arrest include: If you fall into any of […]
The Immigration Pause is Not as Bad as it Appears!
Recently, the Department of State (DOS) announced it is taking a “pause” with all immigrant (permanent) visa cases to engage in more intrusive and strict vetting procedures before approval. The new procedure only applies to certain countries on a list which is now common knowledge. What is important about this new program is that it only […]
Important Updates on H-1 Criteria for the Lottery
One of the most far-reaching and important H-1 changes will be seen this year during the H-1 lottery. For the first time since the current H-1 category was created in 1990, USCIS is imposing restrictions on which categories of “professional and highly skilled” employees/job offers will be favored during the selection process. Under the recently […]