When Immigration Matters

For months, U.S. visa services were temporarily suspended worldwide due to the pandemic. As restrictions ease, many U.S. embassies and consulates have resumed processing immigrant and nonimmigrant visa applications, but if you’re an Indian citizen seeking to travel to the United States, you may be facing longer delays than normal.

In August of 2022, new rules were put into place for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. These changes seek to codify many of the current guidelines that were in place for the program in the past, but will also make some major reforms that could potentially have a big impact on the DREAMers who make use of the program.

H1B visas are nonimmigrant visas that give noncitizens the ability to work in a specific job for up to three years. Employees and employers must understand that a leave of absence could negatively impact an H1B visa. Whenever the worker or employer initially petitions for the visa, specific terms and conditions must be met to maintain your status. For instance, if you apply for a full-time position, you must continue to work full-time. This is commonly referred to as “maintenance of status.” Leaves of absence can disrupt this. 

The goal of the EB-5 visa program is to stimulate the United States economy by incentivizing capital investments from foreign investors. To do so, the program offers a path to permanent residence for investors and their families if they place a substantive amount of investment in U.S.-based enterprises and creates at least ten permanent full-time positions for U.S. workers. New policy updates have changed how foreign investors should apply to the program, which we will cover in detail today.

On May 4, 2022, United States Citizenship and Immigration (USCIS) announced a temporary final rule that increases the automatic employment extension on Employment Authorization Documents (EAD) from 180 days up to 540 days in certain visa categories. The primary objective for the additional 360-day  extension is to prevent gaps in work authorization due to the USCIS’ significant processing delays for work permit renewal applications. 

Congratulations! You have a visa interview scheduled and are wondering what to expect. This article will break down everything you need to know about the big day.

The hidden impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic can be seen among the frayed personal relationships that connect people across the world. Family, friends, and romantic partners have been separated by more than just oceans and borders.

American companies can often benefit from bringing over foreign talent to fill out their workforce. When finding the right employee proves difficult, experienced and knowledgeable legal counsel can help you check all the legal boxes when sponsoring a foreign worker.

Lawful permanent residence (or permanent residency), which is the legal status for green card holders, can allow non-residents and their family the freedom to travel the country, work, and send your kids to public schools. No longer will they have to worry about visa extensions and planning their lives around time periods of only a few years. 

Many employment-based visas allow a path for temporary visa holders to become lawful permanent residents by obtaining a green card. Even though H-2A and H-2B visas are temporary in nature, there are ways for these workers to obtain green cards. The H-2 visa evidences non-immigrant intent, and the green card evidences immigrant intent. If an H-2 worker evidences immigrant intent, it is unlikely their H-2 visa will be renewed. This process is quite nuanced and should be timed very carefully.