Corporate Immigration Law News

On February 25, 2015, under the Obama Administration, U.S. Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”) published a final rule extending employment authorization to certain H-4 dependent spouses of H-1B nonimmigrants who were seeking lawful permanent resident status based on their employment in the United States. Currently, it is estimated that approximately 91,000 foreign nationals are employed in the United States with H-4 Employment Authorization Documents (“EADs”).

On February 20, 2019, DHS moved forward with its efforts to revoke employment authorization for such H-4 dependent spouses by sending a proposed rule to eliminate eligibility for H-4 dependent spouse employment to the Office of Management and Budget (“OMB”) for review. It should be noted that the details of the proposed rule have not yet been published so we do not yet know the specifics relating to several key provisions, including the effective date of the rule and whether there will be a grandfathering clause (that will prohibit first time H-4 EAD applications, but will continue to grant extensions of work authorization to H-4 spouses who already have EADs). Read more:

If you have questions in connection with any of the foregoing, please contact Anthony F. Siliato and Scott R. Malyk of our firm’s Immigration Law Group.

Be Proactive In Tracking Form I-94 Expiration Dates For Each Of Your Foreign National Employees

Except for U.S. Citizens and green card holders, all foreign nationals who enter the United States are issued a new Form I-94 Arrival/Departure record (I-94) upon every entry. In 2013, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) chose to automate this process, and the automated process is, unfortunately, riddled with errors. For example, a CBP officer may enter an incorrect expiration date on the I-94, or input the wrong class of admission. Such errors, if undetected, may result in grave consequences for your employee and your organization and, thus, should be promptly identified and corrected. Read more:

USCIS will resume premium processing on Tuesday, Feb. 19, for all H-1B petitions filed on or before Dec. 21, 2018. If you received a transfer notice for a pending H-1B petition, and you are requesting premium processing service, you must submit the premium processing request to the service center now handling the petition. You should also include a copy of the transfer notice with your premium processing request to avoid possible delays associated with the receipt of your premium processing request. Additionally, if you received a request for evidence (RFE) for a pending petition, you should also include the RFE response with the premium processing request. If your petition was transferred and you send your premium processing request to the wrong center, USCIS will forward it to the petition’s current location. However, the premium processing clock will not start until the premium processing request has been received at the correct center.

If you have questions in connection with any of the foregoing, please contact Anthony F. Siliato and Scott R. Malyk of our firm’s Immigration Law Group.

Top-performing companies have long recognized that diversity is good for business. But the definition of workplace diversity is evolving. Typically, when one thinks of workplace diversity, characteristics such as race, ethnicity, gender, age, religion, and sexual orientation come to mind, among others. However, in today’s ever-increasing global economy, and in Corporate America’s race develop the newest innovations and best solutions, the definition of workplace diversity should be expanded to include immigration or citizenship status.

Indeed, through recruitment of a diverse workforce, including immigrants (green card holders) and nonimmigrants (temporary work visa holders) (collectively referred to as “foreign nationals”), organizations are equipped to recruit from a larger pool of applicants, thereby enabling organizations to find the best and brightest applicants across all races, ethnicities, genders and citizenships. Such a diverse workforce can also provide organizations with individuals who possess the requisite language skills and cultural experiences required to expand or improve operational outcomes in global emerging markets. A diverse workforce can also assist with achieving a true diversity of values (i.e., what motivates someone to join a company, to embody the organizational spirit and drive, and to be a productive employee for the long-term). Read more:

Anyone who has dealt with the Immigration Service or ICE over the past 2 years would agree that we are living in a fairly contentious pro-enforcement immigration environment.

In looking forward to 2019, our crystal ball tells us to expect more of the same.

The trend of deliberately voluminous and combative Requests for Evidence from USCIS is expected to continue along with a surge in worksite compliance enforcement (I-9 audits) from ICE and the reversal of rules that were once beneficial to certain foreign nationals. Read more:

There are two DOJ/OSC-approved questions that your organization should incorporate into your pre-hire screening process:

1. Are you legally authorized to work in the U.S.?
2. Will you now, or in the future, require immigration sponsorship for employment in the United States?

These questions should be asked of every candidate, applied evenly across the board.  So, best practice is to incorporate these 2 questions into the pre-hire screening process within your organization’s applicant tracking or talent management system. Read more: