On January 19, 2012, President Obama signed an Executive Order aimed at improving U.S. visa and foreign visitor processing, and promoting travel to the United States. Highlighting the importance of travel and tourism to the U.S. economy and job creation, the President charged several government agencies, including the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Department of State (DOS), with leading new initiatives and identifying strategies...
Read MoreThe U.S. Department of State (DOS) has published the February 2012 Visa Bulletin. The priority cut-off dates for China and India in the employment-based, second preference (EB-2) category advanced one year, to January 1, 2010. Foreign nationals having a priority date before the established cut-off date are eligible to file immigrant visa or adjustment of status applications. As a result of this advancement, many foreign nationals previously...
Read MoreOn January 1, 2012, new laws took effect in five (5) states, requiring employers to register for and use the otherwise voluntary federal E-Verify system. Many of these laws were passed following the U.S. Supreme Court’s May 2011 decision upholding Arizona’s right to mandate the use of E-Verify, an online employment authorization verification tool administered by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security in cooperation with the Social Security...
Read MoreWe recently reported that on November 29, 2011 the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act (H.R. 3012) by a vote of 389-15. If enacted as passed by the House of Representatives, H.R. 3012 would eliminate the per-country limit, currently 7%, on employment-based green card allocation for any given country during the government’s fiscal year. However, the bill would only reallocate visas and would not...
Read MoreThe U.S. Department of State (DOS) has published the January 2012 Visa Bulletin. The priority cut-off dates for China and India in the employment-based, second preference (EB-2) category advanced more than nine months, to January 1, 2009. Foreign nationals having a priority date before the established cut-off date are eligible to file immigrant visa or adjustment of status applications. As a result of this advancement, many foreign nationals...
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