If a petitioner filed an FY16 H-1B cap petition in a timely manner for the fiscal year 2016 and has received notification from the delivery service used suggesting that there may be a delay or damage to the package, the petitioner may file a second H-1B petition. The second H-1B…
Visa Lawyer Blog
Do you want to live in the United States; forever?
By Lupe Lopez It was 1984 and I was meeting a friend at the Immigration office in San Francisco. My friend was running late and asked that I wait for her in the courtroom. She gave me the number of the room and as I walked into the courtroom I…
Update on the H-2B Program
On March 4, 2015, the federal district court in the Northern District of Florida ruled in Perez v. Perez that the Department of Labor (DOL) lacks authority under the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) to issue regulations in the H-2B program. This decision vacated and permanently enjoined DOL from enforcing…
Are you a Victim of a Crime?
By Lupe Lopez Inez made the dangerous journey from Guatemala to the border in Tijuana. She believed that she had been lucky. She was able to make it to Tijuana without incident. When she arrived in Tijuana she kept to herself just as she had been warned. Within a few…
DHS Receives Funding Through September
The power of the purse has spoken and the Democrats have come out on top. On Tuesday March 3rd the Republican led House of Representatives passed a bill funding the Department of Homeland Security up until September of this year. The bill passed by a vote of 257 to 167,…
Next Step in Fighting the Injunction Over Expanded DACA and DAPA
As a refresher for our readers, earlier this week the federal government filed an expedited emergency motion to stay (prevent execution) of the injunction issued by the federal judge in Texas stopping implementation of expanded DACA and DAPA programs. The federal government warned in its motion that if judge Hanen did…
H-4 Dependent Spouses to Receive Employment Authorization
Today, on February 24, 2015, USCIS announced that effective May 26, 2015 it will extend eligibility for employment authorization to certain H-4 dependent spouses of H-1B nonimmigrants to allow them to accept employment in the U.S. Finalizing the H-4 work authorization was an important step toward implementation of the President’s…
IMPORTANT UPDATE: Federal Government is Fighting to Revive Expanded DACA and DAPA
By Ekaterina Powell, Esq. As you may already know from reading our prior posts, on February 16, 2015, the Texas federal district court issued a preliminary injunction to stop expanded DACA (expanded guidance concerning deferred action for certain individuals who came to the United States as children) and DAPA (deferred…
Update on California AB 60 driver’s licenses
Earlier this year, California DMV has started issuing AB 60 driver licenses, which are available to California residents regardless of their immigration status. This change became effective on January 1st, 2015. AB 60 driver’s license can be used for personal identification and gives the right to legally drive in California…
BREAKING: Injunction Temporarily Halts Acceptance of Expanded DACA applications and Suspends DAPA Plans
On Monday February 16, 2015 Judge Andrew Hanen of the U.S. District Court in Brownsville, Texas issued a preliminary injunction temporarily preventing President Obama’s executive actions on immigration (expanded deferred action) from going forward. The injunction does not make Obama’s executive actions illegal, however it does prevent the Obama administration…