Immigration Blog

DACA is a program instituted in 2012 that allows young undocumented immigrants, who came to America as children in circumstances beyond their control and have lived here since at least 2007 to request consideration for deferred action and receive work authorization and sometimes advance parole for short trips outside the United States. The fee to...

If you are thinking of opening a business or working in the United States but are still prospecting, you may be eligible for a B-1 visa to participate in business activities of a commercial or professional nature in the United States. This includes but is not limited to: Consulting with business associates Traveling for a...

(Updated 02/25/2021) For the past several years we have been publishing articles with the intent of keeping the Immigration Community fully informed.  However, for most of these articles we have had to be the bearer of bad news.  Under the Trump administration every change or measure was an attempt to restrict Immigration in some way,...

On January 15 DHS released the text of a new rule which will change the way USCIS will determine whether an Employer/Employee relationship will exist.  Furthermore, on the same day, DOL also released a memo that now interprets the regulations to require end-clients to also file an H-1B petition. USCIS had previously relied on two...

The United States Government can grant the O visa classification to a non-immigrant temporary worker who possesses extraordinary ability in the sciences, arts, education, business, or athletics, or who has a demonstrated record of extraordinary achievement in the motion picture or television industry and has been recognized nationally or internationally for those achievements. The classification...

Employers filing H-1B petitions need to be aware of the 240- day rule as it applies to filing H-1B extensions, as this rule allows employees to continue to work beyond the expiration of their authorized stay. This rule is particularly important when an Employer is filing an H-1B extension either when premium processing is unavailable...

DOL is publishing its Prevailing Wage Rule on January 14, 2021.  This rule previously went into effect on October 8, 2020, without any notice and significantly increased the DOL wages.  For further details of this rule please refer to our previous article, published on October 9, 2020. https://patel-law-group.local/dols-interim-final-rule-implements-higher-prevailing-wage-rates/ After the above rule was published, we...

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is releasing a final rule changing the next lottery for H-1B specialty occupation visas from the current random selection process to one based on an individual’s wages. The final rule is to be published on 01/08/2021 and will be effective 60 days from the date of publication. Per USCIS...