On January 13, 2022, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced clarifying guidance on how they determine whether an O-1B beneficiary will be evaluated as a person of extraordinary ability in the arts or as a person of extraordinary achievement in the motion picture or television industry when a case has elements of both. Individuals of…
Continue reading ›The Supreme Court on Thursday blocked the Biden administration from enforcing its vaccine-or-testing mandate for large employers, dealing a blow to a key element of its plan to address the pandemic. However, the court approved a more modest mandate mandating vaccination of health care workers in facilities that receive federal money. The emergency temporary standard,…
Continue reading ›In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services is extending the flexibilities it announced on March 30, 2020, to assist applicants, petitioners, and requestors who are responding to certain: Requests for Evidence; Continuations to Request Evidence (N-14); Notices of Intent to Deny; Notices of Intent to Revoke; Notices of Intent to Rescind;…
Continue reading ›At the beginning of last year 2021, the Trump administration published a “final” regulation to end the H-1B visa lottery. By getting rid of the lottery system, they wanted to replace it with a system that awards H-1B petitions by the highest salary. H-1B petitions are essential as they are the only practical way for…
Continue reading ›California’s protections for Employee rights at the workplace have been expanded to include more workplace protections, new criminal liabilities for wage theft, and requirements in response to COVID-19. 1) SB 331: The “Silenced No More Act,” which prohibits confidentiality clauses relating to sex-based discrimination and harassment, is amended to impose further restrictions for Employers concerning…
Continue reading ›Consular officers may waive, for certain replacement immigrant visa applicants, their personal appearance and interview requirements under a new Temporary Final Rule. This is effective immediately and expires on December 13, 2023. This Temporary Final Rule (TFR) provides consular officers the flexibility to waive the personal appearance of certain immigrant visa applicants who were approved…
Continue reading ›The Court of Appeal in Gamboa v. Northeast Community Clinic, 2021 S.O.S. 6372, held today that a defendant employer must prove that a plaintiff employee has not only agreed to the signing of the arbitration agreement, but also remembers signing it. The Court explained that a former employee’s declaration that she did not recall signing…
Continue reading ›From June 14 to September 29, 2021, USCIS erroneously rejected Form I-765, Application for Employment Authorization, from petitioners for U nonimmigrant status that were filed without a fee or request for fee waiver. USCIS also erroneously accepted fees for certain U nonimmigrant petitions that unnecessarily submitted a fee with their Form I-765. USCIS is trying…
Continue reading ›The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced that for Afghan nationals who were paroled into the United States for humanitarian reasons on or after July 30,2021, will streamline application processing and be exempt from filing fees. Streamlining the processes for work authorization, green cards, and associated services will better help in their resettlement in the…
Continue reading ›H-1B visas are dual intent visas, meaning an H-1B holder, who entered as a nonimmigrant, can have legal immigration intent to permanently reside in the U.S. The H-1B visa category is for highly educated foreign professionals to work in “specialty occupations” that require a minimum of a bachelor’s degree or its equivalent. Due to the…
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