Corporate Immigration Law News

Yesterday, September 24, 2017, the Trump Administration announced enhanced national security measures aimed at creating a minimum set of requirements for international cooperation to support visa and immigration vetting and adjudications for individuals seeking entry to the United States.  The announcement, effective immediately, is described by the White House as “a critical step toward establishing an immigration system that protects Americans’ safety and security in an era of dangerous terrorism and transnational crime.”  Countries that do not currently meet these new minimum requirements include Chad, Iran, Libya, North Korea, Syria, Venezuela, Yemen and Somalia.

Additional information, including details on the phased implementation, is available from the U.S. State Department (DOS) web site which provides an overview of the various travel restrictions for nationals of the eight countries outlined in the September 24 Presidential Proclamation.  See DOS link.

On September 5, Attorney General, Jeff Sessions, announced that Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) would be phased out in six (6) months if Congress fails to act on its own to pass immigration legislation. As initially designed, the DACA program provided administrative relief from removal/deportation to eligible immigrant youth (also known as Dreamers) who entered the United States when they were children. As part of the DACA petitioning process, an applicant was required to demonstrate, inter alia, that he/she had entered the U.S. as a child, that he/she met the education requirement (completed school or attending school) and had no arrests or criminal record of any significance. Approved DACA applicants were granted a temporary employment authorization document (EAD), typically valid for a period of two years, which EAD allowed them to work legally in the United States. Such document is also a stepping stone to obtaining a valid driver’s license, a social security number, and, ultimately, seeking college and graduate-level education. Continue reading:

If you have any questions in connection with the foregoing, please contact our firm’s Immigration Law Group at (973) 602-3455.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) resumed premium processing today for all H-1B visa petitions subject to the Fiscal Year year (FY) 2018 cap. The FY 2018 cap has been set at 65,000 visas. Premium processing has also resumed for the annual 20,000 additional petitions that are set aside to hire workers with a U.S. master’s degree or higher educational degree.

H-1B visas provide skilled workers for a wide range of specialty occupations, including information technology, academic research, and accounting. When a petitioner requests the agency’s premium processing service, USCIS guarantees a 15-day processing time. If the 15- calendar day processing time is not met, the agency will refund the petitioner’s premium processing service fee and continue with expedited processing of the application. This service is only available for pending petitions, not new submissions, since USCIS received enough petitions in April to meet the FY 2018 cap. Continue reading:

If you have any questions in connection with the foregoing, please contact our firm’s Immigration Law Group at (973) 602-3455.

On Tuesday, September 5, Attorney General, Jeff Sessions, announced that Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) would be phased out in six months if Congress fails to act on its own to pass immigration legislation. As initially designed, the DACA program provided administrative relief from removal/deportation to eligible immigrant youth who entered the United States when they were children (also known as Dreamers). As part of the DACA petitioning process, an applicant was required to demonstrate, inter alia, that he/she had entered the U.S. as a child, that he/she met the education requirement (completed school or attending school) and had no arrests or criminal record of any significance. Approved DACA applicants were granted  a temporary employment authorization document, typically valid for a period of two years, which allowed them to work legally in the United States, such document is also a stepping stone to obtaining a valid driver’s license, a social security number, and, ultimately, seeking college and graduate-level education. Continue reading:

If you have any questions in connection with the foregoing, please contact our firm’s Immigration Law Group at (973) 602-3455.

On June 15, 2012, then-Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano issued a memorandum entitled “Exercising Prosecutorial Discretion with Respect to Individuals Who Came to the United States as Children,” creating a non-congressionally authorized administrative program that permitted certain individuals who came to the United States as juveniles and meet several criteria—including lacking any current lawful immigration status—to request consideration of deferred action for a period of two years, subject to renewal, and eligibility for work authorization.  This program became known as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA).

The Obama administration chose to deploy DACA by Executive Branch memorandum—despite the fact that Congress affirmatively rejected such a program in the normal legislative process on multiple occasions. The constitutionality of this action has been widely questioned since its inception. Read more:

If you have any questions in connection with the foregoing, please contact our firm’s Immigration Law Group at (973) 602-3455.