Category: US Immigration For Canadians

COVID-19 is having a vast impact on immigration operations across all government agencies. To help navigate these challenges, Berardi Immigration Law is providing a summary with the most recent updates from US Citizenship and Immigration Services, Customs and Border Protection, the Department of State, and the Department of Labor.  Updates from USCIS  Premium processing suspended […]

Recent Coronavirus-Related Posts Please note that the information below may be out of date. Please consult our more recent blog posts above for the most up-to-date information. We know that there is much worry and uncertainty for our clients during this time, especially for businesses with foreign national workers and cross-border employees. We’ve taken the […]

Every fiscal year, approximately 140,000 employment-based immigrant visas are made available to qualified applicants under the provisions of US immigration law. Employment based immigrant visas are divided into five preference categories. These five preference categories include priority workers and persons with extraordinary ability, professionals holding advanced degrees and persons of exceptional ability, skilled workers, professionals, […]

If you are currently working in the U.S. on one of many non-immigrant visas, it is important to know whether your category imposes any restrictions on your activities while present here. The general rule of thumb is that you must remain in compliance with the purpose for which your visa was originally issued for the […]

Holiday travel can be stressful if travelers do not plan ahead of time. With the holiday season in full swing, it is important to be prepared before you depart for your holiday travel destination. Everyone arriving at a port of entry to the US is subject to inspection by Customs and Border Protections officers for […]

USCIS has recently published a final regulation changing the EB-5 Program that awards permanent resident status to certain investors who create at least ten new jobs for U.S. workers. This new EB-5 rule will be effective for I-526 filings arriving at USCIS on or after November 21, 2019. The new EB-5 investments must be at least $900,000...

On November 14, 2019, United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) issued a proposed regulation, which would substantially increase the filing fees for many types of immigration benefits. The agency’s notice of proposed rulemaking, which is published in the Federal Register, explains that the proposed regulation would increase costs for most petitioners and applicants...

On Tuesday, November 12, 2019, U.S. District Judge Denise Casper in Boston ruled suspicionless searches of traveler’s electronic devices without a warrant is unconstitutional. Judge Casper held U.S. border agents need “reasonable suspicion” to search travelers’ smartphones and laptops at airports and other U.S. ports of entry...

The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) just recently announced it will be modernizing the way NEXUS members are processed at Canadian airports. The existing NEXUS kiosks that use iris recognition technology will be replaced with new, modernized NEXUS kiosks that use facial verification technology. This new process will first launch in fall 2019 at Vancouver […]

The H-1B classification provides temporary permission for employers to hire qualified foreign nationals in specialty occupations. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) typically accepts a limited number of H-1B cases during each of the federal government’s fiscal years due to the annual cap. There are 65,000 H-1B cap slots, with 20,000 additional H-1B slots that may be allocated...