The International Exchange Center issued a practice guide regarding J1 visas for Trainees and Interns. New final rules became effective Sept. 9, 2010 for J trainee and intern programs 22 C.F.R.§ 62 (2010). With few exceptions, the final rule will produce little change to the way J trainee and intern…
Love it or hate it – it works! The people have spoken! President of AILA, David Leopold said it well: I worry that Rep. Lamar Smith, the expected chair of the House Judiciary Committee, will use his gavel not to fashion an historic overhaul of the broken immigration system, but…
It is election day in San Diego and all 1,466 polling locations in San Diego County opened on time today, and no major voting problems have been reported, the Registrar of Voters said. How will this election results affect Immigration will remain to be seen. The Republican class set to…
So many times a client will come to the office and ask for an extension to stay longer in the United States. Many times we will determine that the client is already out of status, and an extension can not be filed. When I inform the client of the news,…
U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron said Monday his government would do everything possible to prevent a planned immigration cap from depriving U.K. companies of skilled workers from overseas. In a speech to the Confederation of British Industry on Monday, Mr. Cameron signaled the government was rethinking how the cap on…
According to a recent USCIS guidance an employer may not hire an H-1B worker prior to USCIS approving the H-1B petition unless the employee (i) is currently in H-1B status, or (ii) is the beneficiary of a timely filed H-1B extension of status petition. If the employee is in another…
This is an important update for all Religious Workers filing for Permanent Residency. On October 13, 2010, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit issued a mandate overturning the permanent injunction ordered by the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington allowing special immigrant religious workers…
USCIS has updated the H-1B Cap Count recently: H-1B Cap Count Cap Type – H-1B Regular Cap Cap Amount – 65,000 Cap Eligible Petitions – 44,300 Date of Last Count – 10/22/2010 Cap Type – H-1B Master’s Exemption Cap Amount – 20,000 Cap Eligible Petitions – 16,200 Date of Last…
USCIS announced the launch of a redesigned Certificate of Naturalization (Form N-550) with new security features that will reduce fraud—part of USCIS’ ongoing efforts to enhance the integrity of the immigration system. USCIS began using redesigned certificates at all offices last week, and the agency anticipates that over 600,000 new…
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) today announced it has begun issuing a redesigned, more secure Certificate of Naturalization (Form N-550) as part of its ongoing efforts to enhance the integrity of the immigration system. The agency anticipates that over 600,000 new citizens will receive the enhanced certificate over the…