BEYOND THE BASICS HR Solutions for US Immigration By David Swaim, a 30-Year Texas Board-Certified Immigration Attorney
USCIS Has Announced New Tracking Information for Service Centers
The article below is an announcement by USCIS that new tracking information is available for service centers. This information includes transfers of cases from one service center to another, as well as an update system that issues notifications of service center or lockbox transfers. USCIS also includes a short explanation as to why some cases […]
Layoff of US Workers in the Perm Context
The American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) has announced some new rules from the US Department of Labor regarding how to handle employee layoffs in the context of a labor certification case. These rules are relatively simple and align with the same rules we have used in the past in this situation. Employers should nonetheless be […]
USCIS Updates OPT Information
The United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (UCIS) has issued some very helpful tips for applying for post-graduation Optional Practical Training (OPT). The goal of this information is to avoid delays with the issuance of the Employment Authorization Document (EAD). F-1 students cannot work with OPT after graduation unless they physically have the EAD. It […]
Update on I-9 Electronic Documents
The American Immigration Lawyers’ Association has issued one of its frequent updates on which documents are acceptable for I-9 compliance. This article addresses recent issues with Employer Compliance and will be of interest to employers that use an electronic system as opposed to a hard copy system. AILA Doc. No. 23042000 | Dated April 20, […]
Do Undocumented Foreign Nationals Really Pay Taxes in the US?
The article linked below is from CNN and addresses the federal income taxes paid by millions of undocumented workers, and the unclaimed FICA funds paid by employers. These are complicated issues and deserve thoughtful consideration rather than just knee-jerk reactions. For example, in Texas, public schools are funded almost entirely by personal real estate property […]
Attention Family and Adoption Law Attorneys!
One of the most perplexing new areas of US immigration law, which for many years was very well-settled, is the requirements of the “Hague Protocols†(HPs) for most US adoptions or adoptions in foreign countries for children that will enter the US as children of permanent resident and US citizen parents. In addition to being […]