Employers wishing to sponsor foreign national workers for permanent residency, commonly referred to as a green card, must generally follow the permanent labor certification process (PERM). This process requires employers to test the job market for any U.S. workers who are able, willing, qualified, and available to fill the offered job opportunity. In order to…

On July 30, 2024, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that it will be conducting a second random selection from previously submitted H-1B electronic registrations for the fiscal year 2025 H-1B regular cap. This follows the initial selection that took place in March, which allowed eligible petitioners to file H-1B cap-subject petitions for selected…

On June 28, 2024, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a landmark ruling in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, overturning the long-standing precedent established in Chevron, U.S.A., Inc. v. Natural Resources Defense Council. Since 1983, Chevron had guided courts to afford deference to federal agency interpretations of ambiguous sections within parts of statutes, effectively allowing agencies…

On June 18, 2024, President Biden unveiled new policies through the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) aimed at keeping American families together and easing the visa process for U.S. college graduates, including Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients and other undocumented noncitizens.

It is important to note that these processes have not yet…

On January 24, 2024, USCIS issued updated policy guidance to address when USCIS may excuse untimely filed extensions of stay and change of status requests.

The guidance reminds employers and employees that USCIS generally does not approve an extension of immigration status or change of immigration status when the status expired before the filing date…

On December 21, the State Department released the long-awaited details of a previously announced pilot program that will allow qualified noncitizens to renew their H-1B nonimmigrant visas within the United States. This program aims to assess the technical and operational feasibility of domestic visa renewals and reduce wait times for visas worldwide.

In 2004, the…

On October 30, 2023, in a recent executive order titled “Executive Order on the Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy Development and Use of Artificial Intelligence,” the President of the United States emphasized the importance of responsible AI development and outlined various initiatives.

One crucial aspect of this order focuses on immigration initiatives aimed at attracting and…