BEYOND THE BASICS HR Solutions for US Immigration By David Swaim, a 30-Year Texas Board-Certified Immigration Attorney
An Immigration Attorney Represents Both the Employer and the Employee
There is a common misconception that an immigration attorney who has been retained to prepare and file an employment-based immigration case only represents the employer. That is not true. The attorney actually represents both the petitioning employer and the employee beneficiary, a concept known as “dual representation.†For example, prior to 1992, the change of […]
Major Settlement Changes How USCIS Adjudicates Work Permits for Nonimmigrant Spouses
Shergill, et al. v. Mayorkas class action settlement makes beneficial changes to USCIS’s policy on work authorization rules for spouses of high skilled workers in the United States. H-4 visa holders will qualify for automatic extension of their Employment Authorization Document (EAD) for up to 180 days with a timely filed EAD renewal application. L-2 visa […]
U.S. Entry Restrictions Have Now Been Lifted for Vaccinated Individuals
For the past couple of months, we have been tracking updates on the U.S. government’s plan to lift the travel restrictions that had been placed on entries to the U.S. The day we have been waiting for has finally arrived! Effective today, November 8, 2021, U.S. land borders have reopened for nonessential travel and the […]
Delays with Immigrant Visas at the US State Department (DOS)
During the pandemic there has been an understandable delay with immigrant visas (permanent residence) but these delays are now stretching well past a reasonable time frame to get back to normal processing and normal processing times. The American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) has submitted to DOS an analysis of the problems we are seeing with […]
Air Travel COVID-19 Vaccination Requirements for Non-Citizens
Information from the Center for Disease Control: Pursuant to Presidential Proclamation and an order from the Centers for Disease Control, beginning on November 8, 2021, non-U.S. citizens who are nonimmigrants (i.e., not a U.S. citizen, U.S. national, lawful permanent resident, or traveling to the U.S. on an immigrant visa) will be required to show proof […]
Update on COVID-19 Vaccination Requirement for U.S. Entry
Last month, we informed you that the COVID-19 related U.S. travel restrictions would be lifted sometime in November and would be replaced with a requirement of full vaccination before entry to the U.S. and a negative COVID-19 test within 72 hours entry, but the effective date for that change had not been announced. This week, […]