2015 Old Blog

Due to the uncertainty of H-1B cap season, U.S. employers can’t control whether or not their foreign nationals’ petitions are selected in the lottery. However, there is one controllable factor that can negatively affect companies this cap season — how early the visa application is prepared.

The VISANOW Inc. immigration management platform recently migrated to “the cloud” and, while the improvements to our system may not be visible, the differences are a big deal to you.

Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) now requires Canadian employers requesting work permits that are exempt from the Labour Market Impact Assessment, such as NAFTA, intra-company transferees, C10 Significant Benefit and others, to submit FORM IMM5802 via its newly established Employer Portal.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) published a proposed rule in response to an August court decision that invalidated the 17-month extension of the F-1 Optical Practical Training (OPT) program for science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) students.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) implemented an additional step to the green card process. Beginning with the November 2015 Visa Bulletin, if there are more immigrant visas available for the fiscal year than known applicants, USCIS will issue an update. It will inform applicants that they may use the Dates for Filing Visa Applications chart to ascertain if they may file Form I-485 (Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status). This determination will be published one week after the Department of State (DOS) releases the Visa Bulletin.

On Sept. 30, Congress failed to renew Public Law 111-230 (the 50/50 fee). Enacted in August 2010, the 50/50 fee mandated companies with more than 50 employees based in the United States and more than 50 percent of workers employed under a nonimmigrant visa status to pay an additional fee — $2,000 for H-1B and $2,250 for L-1 applicants.

President Obama signed a Continuing Resolution that extended the EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program (also called regional center program) and funded the government through Dec. 11. The program, which was scheduled to expire Sept. 30, allocates green cards for investors in regional centers designated by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services based on proposals for promoting economic growth.

Note: The October Visa Bulletin was revised on Sept. 25 by the U.S. Department of State. As a result of this unforeseen change, some employment-based green card petitioners no longer have a "current" application filing date and can't file Form I-485 (Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status) in October. Review the "Dates for Filing of Employment-Based Visa Applications" table to view the changes, displayed in bold.

Happy Citizenship Day! Today marks the 228th anniversary of our Founding Fathers signing the U.S. Constitution. As we look back to that historic day, people across the country are preparing to take the naturalization test and become new U.S. citizens.

Due to the long wait times faced by many foreign nationals seeking legal permanent residency, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has revised its procedure for determining visa availability. Beginning in October, USCIS will start accepting Form I-485 (Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status) from foreign nationals with an approved I-140 (Immigrant Petition) application to apply for their green card sooner than previously allowed.