Author: Jeff MacArthur

The State Department is anticipating a surge in passport demand this year and officials hope to avoid delays for Americans who may not get their passports renewed in time for upcoming travel. The department is expecting more than 17 million new passports and renewals this year, about 1.5 million more than 2015. The Department plans […]

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services have released draft guidance on how it will consider evidence supporting O-1 immigration applicants, which cover people with extraordinary abilities in science, education, business, athletics, and the arts, by clarifying how it will weigh supporting information for an application. The new guidelines should eliminate some ambiguity on O-1 applications by […]

The Visa Waiver Program (“VWP”), created to allow individuals of certain pre-approved countries to enter the U.S. without first obtaining a visitor visa, was amended by Congress on December 18, 2015 as a part of the overall omnibus spending bill, H.R.2029. In response to the November 2015 terrorist attacks in Paris, a portion of the […]

Yvonne Grist currently holds the position of Visa Services Coordinator with Berardi Immigration Law.  She originally joined the firm in 2010 as Administrative Assistant, and was quickly promoted to Office Administrator.  Her attention to detail and the individual needs of our clients made her an obvious choice to fill this quickly growing area of our […]

The U.S. Supreme Court agreed on Tuesday to hear an argument on President Obama’s recent executive action on immigration. Twenty-six states secured a preliminary injunction against the President’s initiatives from a Texas judge in November, putting a halt on the program. The Obama administration then appealed, petitioning the U.S. Supreme Court on November 20th for […]

Maintaining a public access file is an integral part of complying with H-1B laws. The purpose of a public access file is to create a singular file in the employer’s place of business that contains documents that prove the employer is satisfying the minimum legal H-1B requirements. Once a public access file compliance system is […]

In the hopes of drawing people to the country for the 2016 Summer Olympics, Brazil is temporarily waiving visa requirements for certain travelers from June 1 to September 18. U.S. tourists, as well as Japanese, Australian, and Canadian passport holders, will be allowed to enter the country for up to 90 days without a visa. […]

“H-1B” is a term you’ll be hearing frequently in the coming months. If you’re a novice on the H-1B, we hope that we can provide you with some helpful tips on this complicated nonimmigrant visa category. Foreign workers may enter the United States through several different kinds of nonimmigrant (temporary) employment-based visas. If a foreign […]

If you work in the entertainment business, take note of the following HIFA visa pilot program in Hawaii.  There are stringent requirement rules, but if those requirements are met, participants will be able to be admitted to the U.S. on ESTA (Electronic System from Travel Authorization) instead of by filing an O petition.  The application […]

Immigration law is always a hot topic here at Berardi Immigration Law, and it was an especially hot topic in 2015 in regard to new developments in the business immigration field. We’ve been keeping track on our blog; as 2016 begins, here’s a look back at some of the highlights: USCIS Issues Final H-1B Simeio […]