L-1 Visa
New USCIS Requirements: Valid Signature
Last week, USCIS released a memo outlining stricter requirements for petitioners and applicants seeking immigration benefits. The memo outlines that a petitioner or applicant must provide a “valid signature” to receive approval from a USCIS. A valid signature is defined by USCIS as any handwritten mark or sign by an individual to signify his or…
Read MoreMultiple H-1B Cap Petitions for Same Beneficiary
In matters of multiple H-1B petitions filed for the same beneficiary, last month the Administrative Appeals Office (AAO) ruled, in a non-precedent decision, that “related entities” shall be interpreted beyond legal relations. Although the decision is not legally binding for USCIS, the case indicates that USCIS intends to crack down on petitioners attempting to beat…
Read MorePublic Charges Must Go: Changes to FAM
While the debate over immigration continues in Washington, a lot of questions have emerged regarding “public charge” non-citizens. Last week, the White House released proposed guidance for DACA recipients in which “Status is subject to revocation for criminal conduct or public safety and national security concerns, public charge, fraud, etc.” The announcement comes in addition…
Read MoreTravel during Administrative Processing
If your visa application is held by a consulate office for administrative processing, your case could be delayed for up to 60 days. Typically, the US consulate reviewing an application in administrative processing will not reveal the estimated period of delay nor will a consular officer reveal the reasons for the delay. For those with…
Read MoreOptions if Petition Approval is not in the PIMS
Prior to the issuance of an H, L, O, P or Q visa, a US consular officer must verify that a petition approval is legitimate through the Consular Consolidated Database (CCD) in a “PIMS” report. According to the US State Department, the CCD is a “data warehouse that holds current and archived data from the…
Read MoreGovernment Shutdown: What it means for your visa application
In the early morning of January 20th, officials in Congress and the White House announced that the federal government would shut down. The shutdown came after the Senate failed to pass legislation approving federal spending for the next year. To enable the operations of the federal government, including major bureaucratic agencies like the Department of…
Read MoreBuilding Walls: Canadian Immigration in Trump Era (BAHA)
Over the last couple of days, news of President Trump’s disparaging comments about immigration from Caribbean and African nations has swept through the country. The justified outrage over the racist comments follows a year of anti-immigration sentiments from the executive and members of the Republican Party. Although the Trump Administration failed largely over the last…
Read More“Irrevocable” Proxy Votes Necessary for L-1 Qualifying Relationships: (New USCIS Guidance)
USCIS released policy guidance for officers adjudicating “qualifying relationships” for L-1 visa petitions. The new policy guidance requires an irrevocable, or irreversible, proxy vote to establish the “requisite control of a company in an L-1 visa petition.” The petitioner must now show that the proxy votes, which are votes used by owners of entities to…
Read MoreDistrict Court Reinstates “Start-up Visa”
On December 1st, United States district judge James Boasberg ruled the Trump Administration’s delay of the Obama-Era International Entrepreneur Rule an unlawful use of administrative power. The ruling effectively reinstates the “start-up visa” program until further response from the administration. Ruling In NVCA v. Duke, the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA), a group of entrepreneurs…
Read MoreUSCIS Defines Function Manager for EB-1 Category
In a Policy Memorandum released November 8th, USCIS defined “function manager” in terms consistent with the Administrative Appeals Office (AAO) decision in Matters of G- Inc. In the case, the Director of the Nebraska Service Center denied the petitioner’s Form I-140 on grounds that the beneficiary, a function manager for the company, was not eligible…
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