Tag: work visa

In accordance with President Trump’s Buy American Hire American Executive Order, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is reviewing employment-based immigration programs in an effort to eliminate fraud and ensure adjudications are consistent. As a part of this effort, USCIS recently published clarifications for the L-1 nonimmigrant classification foreign employment requirement...

In an effort to make the H-1B visa program more effective and efficient, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced a new notice of proposed rulemaking. This proposed rule is also prompted by the Buy American and Hire American Executive Order, which specifically suggested reforms to the H-1B program to ensure that these visas are […]

the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) California Service Center (CSC) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Blaine, Washington, port of entry (POE) announced a new pilot program for Canadian citizens seeking L-1 nonimmigrant status under the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). The program was designed to evaluate how long USCIS needs to adjudicate these petitions and...

The Department of State (DOS) recently updated the Foreign Affairs Manual (FAM). This update is intended to provide additional guidance to U.S. consular officers in terms of what role they should play regarding confirming the validity of a petition being used to apply for a visa. The update encourages officers to take a more active […]

A proposed rule could result in major changes in the H-1B visa category. This rule would change the H-1B visa lottery process and could also alter the educational composition of visa holders. Currently, USCIS offers 65,000 standard H-1B visas for skilled workers. Additionally, USCIS offers another 20,000 visas for workers with a U.S. master’s degree […]

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) recently announced that it will be expanding and extending the temporary suspension of H-1B premium processing. According to USCIS, these suspensions will continue until February 19, 2019. This is an effort to clear the backlog of H-1B visas in the application system. All Request for Premium Processing Service forms […]

The Department of Homeland Security is increasing the Form I-907 premium processing fee from $1,225 to $1,410 beginning September 30, 2018. The final rule is scheduled to be published in tomorrow’s Federal Register. Applications postmarked on or after September 30, 2018 must include the new fee. Premium processing is an optional fee that allows employers […]

The employment-based second preference visa (EB-2) is reserved for individuals holding advanced degrees or its equivalent, or foreign nationals who possess exceptional ability. Generally, EB-2 petitions must be accompanied by an approved labor certification from the Department of Labor. That lengthy process, however, can be waived by requesting a National Interest Waiver (NIW). A NIW […]

Once again, Berardi Immigration Law had a busy month representing our clients at the Peace Bridge port-of-entry between Buffalo, N.Y. and Ft. Erie, Ontario. Summer is an extremely busy season for CBP, and our firm was able to facilitate the L-1 and TN adjudication process for 16 clients successfully in the month of August.  Two of […]

In an effort to create a “smart” version of the Form I-9 to reduce user error and make the form easier to complete, USCIS has proposed several changes to the form. These include new drop-down menus, field checks, and real-time error messages to ensure data integrity by employers. After USCIS reviews the comments on the […]