Beginning February 19, 2016 certain nonimmigrant Caribbean residents seeking admission to the United States as H-2A agricultural workers, will be required to obtain a valid passport and valid H-2B visa in order to be admitted. Spouses and children traveling with an H-2A agricultural worker will also be required to present…
For this month’s staff spotlight, we invite you to learn more about Legal Assistant, Reagan Volkman. Ms. Volkman was born and raised in San Diego, California. She pursued her studies at Cuyamaca and Grossmont College graduating in December 2014 with degrees in History, the German language, and Paralegal Studies. She is…
On January 21, 2016 the Department of Homeland Security confirmed that the Visa Waiver Program Improvement and Terrorist Travel Prevention Act would begin to be implemented. As a result of the recent terrorist attacks in San Bernardino county and abroad, Congress passed the Act in an effort to protect Americans…
On January 23, 2016 a Federal District Court Judge for the District of Columbia granted the federal government an extension for the STEM Optional Practical Training (OPT) program to resume, giving the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) more time to issue a new replacement rule. The STEM OPT program had been in…
Beginning December 18, 2015, H-1B and L-1 filing fees will increase for H-1B/L-1 dependent employers, employing 50 or more employees, with more than 50% of those employees in H-1B or L nonimmigrant status. This increase in fees comes with the passage of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2016 recently signed into…
This morning, the Supreme Court announced that it would hear arguments for and against the extended Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program and the new Deferred Action for Parents of U.S. Citizens and Lawful Permanent Residents (DAPA) program. If the government succeeds in its appeal, millions of undocumented immigrants…
The Supreme Court justices are currently in deliberations, to decide the fate of Barack Obama’s expanded Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and Deferred Action for Parents of U.S. Citizens and Lawful Permanent Residents (DAPA) announced November 2014, as part of the President’s executive actions on immigration. At issue is…
Following a recent surge in apprehensions of undocumented immigrants at the Southwest border, the Department of Homeland Security announced that, beginning January 1st Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) engaged in a concerted nationwide crackdown, taking adults and some children into custody, who have evaded their orders for removal. In a…
As previously reported, the STEM Optional Practical Training (OPT) rule that had been in place since 2008, was invalidated following a court order requesting the Department of Homeland Security to issue a new replacement rule. The court gave the DHS until February 12, 2016 to come up with a replacement…
District Court Denies Request for Temporary Restraining Order to Halt Syrian Re-Settlement Program in Texas First Family of Syrian Refugees Arrives in Canada In their December suit, Texas Health and Human Services Commission V. United States, et, al., the state of Texas alleged that the United States government and the…