New Washington State Laws Affecting Employers Nationwide with Job Postings!
Equal Pay and Opportunity Act In a recent judgment, the Superior Court of the State of Washington held employers like Insight Global LLC liable for violating the “Pay Transparency” requirements. The court awarded $5,000 in damages plus attorney fees to each applicant who applied to a non-conforming posting. Effective January 1, 2023, Washington State’s “Pay Transparency” Law requires all employers with more than 15 employees, including at least one Washington-based
Read More
H-1B Workers Won’t have to go out of the United States to get a visa anymore!
Domestic Visa Renewal Pilot Program, starting Jan 2024. A limited number of H-1B specialty occupation workers will be able to renew their visas in the US. The rollout of the H-1B domestic visa renewal pilot will be limited to just 20,000 participants at first. This would allow those H-1B holders to renew their visas by mailing them to the State Department rather than travel outside the US and face uncertain wait
Read More
The Holiday Shopping Season and Rising Shoplifting Concerns
The Impact of Shoplifting Charges on Foreign Students and H-1B Workers in the U.S. Sunila Bali, Esq. As the holiday season approaches, shopping malls and stores become bustling centers of activity, filled with excitement and the spirit of gift-giving. However, this period also sees a notable rise in shoplifting incidents, a trend that carries significant legal and immigration implications, particularly for foreign students and H-1B workers in the United States.
Read More
EMPLOYERS: Have you complied with the new I-9 requirements effective November 1, 2023, yet?
Here are the top 10 things to consider Streamlined Form: The new Form I-9 has been streamlined and shortened. Employers must start using this new form from August 1, 2023. Transition Period: The older Form I-9 (Rev. 10/21/19) could only be used through October 31, 2023. After this date, penalties apply for using the older form. You need to do the new form for ALL employees, old and new. Alternative
Read More
Top 10 reasons why students fall out of status and what to do
Failure to Enroll Full-Time: F-1 students are generally required to be enrolled as full-time students. Falling below the minimum credit/course load without proper authorization can lead to a loss of status. Unauthorized Employment: Working off-campus without the required authorization or working more hours than allowed on-campus can result in status violations. Failure to Extend I-20: If a student’s program end date on their Form I-20 is approaching, and they haven’t
Read More
Top 10 take aways from the proposed H-1B Modernization
Federal immigration authorities recently published long-awaited revisions to the H-1B visa process intended to modernize the H-1B visa process and tighten the annual lottery system. The notice was published by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, and the proposed rule will be available for public comment until December 22, 2023. We expect that the resulting regulations will be finalized and implemented in the coming months. 1. H-1B CAP Registration process: The
Read More
US Supreme Court Justices Refuse Challenge To H-1B Spouses’ Work Permits (H-4 EADs)
The U.S. Supreme Court rejected a lawsuit from tech workers who said a policy from when Barack Obama was President, allowing some highly skilled foreign workers’ spouses to work, was not approved by Congress. This is good news for many H-4 spouses. This decision means that the previous ruling by a judge in Washington, D.C., stays in place. That judge said the workers’ concerns that they were losing jobs to
Read More
USCIS Launches Online Appointment Request Form
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has launched a new online form for individuals, attorneys, and accredited representatives to request an in-person appointment at their local field office without having to call the USCIS Contact Center. This online appointment request form allows individuals or legal representatives to request an in-person appointment at a field office only, for ADIT stamps, Emergency Advance Parole, Immigration Judge Grants, and more. It is not a
Read More
Former F-1 Students from India File Lawsuit Against DHS for Visa Denials Based on Employers’ Fraud
The plaintiffs, a group of former F-1 students from India, filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington alleging that DHS unlawfully made a blanket finding of inadmissibility against them because they had sought employment or had worked on Optional Practical Training (OPT) for one of four fraudulent companies—Andwill Technologies, AzTech Technologies LLC, Integra Technologies LLC, and WireClass Technologies LLC—while on a student visa.
Read More
Practice Pointer: Physical Inspection of Form I-9 Documents for Forms Prepared during Temporary Virtual COVID I-9 Flexibilities Must be Completed by August 30, 2023
U.S. employers are required to verify the identity and employment authorization of individuals they hire using the Form I-9. After being offered employment, on or before the first day of employment, employees complete Part 1 of Form I-9. Within three business days of the start of employment, employees provide original documents to prove their identity and authorization to work. Employers review the employees’ documents and complete and sign Part 2
Read More
Compelling Circumstances Employment Authorization Document (EAD)
1. What is a compelling circumstances EAD? A Compelling Circumstances Employment Authorization Document (EAD) is a special type of work permit issued by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). It allows certain non-U.S. citizens with approved I-140; specifically, those on H-1B/L-1/E-3/O status from countries like India/China that have an extensive backlog of Employment based Immigrant visas, to work in the United States temporarily. If granted, these workers do not
Read MoreIf you are an entrepreneur and an Investor looking to pursue your dream of doing temporary
What is an E-2 Visa? E-2 Visa is a non-immigrant visa that allows a national of Treaty country(a country with which the United States maintains a treaty of commerce and navigation, or with which the United States maintains a qualifying international agreement, or which has been deemed a qualifying country by legislation) admission in the United States when investing a substantial amount of capital in a bona fide business in
Read MoreP3 ARTISTS OR ENTERTAINERS COMING TO BE A PART OF A CULTURALLY UNIQUE EVENT IN THE UNIT
1. What is a P-3 Visa? The classification applies to people coming temporarily to perform, teach or coach as artists, entertainers, individually or as a part of group, under a program that is culturally unique. The recipient of the visa can also develop, teach, a unique or traditional, ethnic, folk, musical, theatrical, or artistic performance which is culturally different and local to their region or country. Additionally, the individual or
Read More
USCIS Announces new procedures for obtaining Alien Documentation, Identification and Telecommunication (ADIT) Stamp
On March 16, 2023, USCIS announced a new procedure to obtain ADIT stamps, which constitute temporary evidence of permanent residence, typically issued while Form I-90, I-751, or N-400 applications are pending. This new procedure is due to USCIS’s delays in processing these applications. Under the prior procedure, residents were required to call the USCIS Contact Center, request an InfoPass appointment, wait for that appointment to be scheduled, and then attend the appointment
Read More
USCIS Announces End of COVID-Related Flexibilities
Release Date: 03/23/2023 U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services today announced that certain flexibilities it first announced in March 2020, to address the COVID-19 pandemic will end on March 23, 2023. USCIS previously notified the public in its Jan. 24, 2023, announcement that barring any changes presented by the pandemic, the extension of these flexibilities announced on Jan. 24 would be the last. You must respond to any notices or requests from USCIS
Read More