President Trump has issued an “Executive Order on Aligning Federal Contracting and Hiring Practices With the Interests of American Workers”. The Executive Order (“EO”) seeks to review the federal contracting and hiring practices in relation of use of foreign workers in the U.S. and abroad in government contracting and subcontracting. EO lays the policy objective[Read More]
Legal Alerts
SEVP plans to modify temporary exemptions for international students taking online courses during fall 2020 semester
[Updated July 24, 2020]. Good news! In response to Harvard/ MIT lawsuit, government has agreed to rescind SEVP’s July 6, 2020 policy which had proposed to limit online study from the fall semester by intl students in the U.S. and the incoming students would not have been able to come to study in the U.S.[Read More]
Section 212(f) Suspension of entry or imposition of visa restrictions by President
June 24, 2020. President Trump has issued the Executive Order temporarily suspending the entry of nonimmigrant workers (H-1B, H-2B, L-1, certain J-1 and their dependents) who are outside the U.S. and do not have valid visa at the time of this Order. The suspension will last until December 31, 2020 and may continue as Administration[Read More]
USCIS Rescinds memo on Employer-employee relationship, and Contracts and Itineraries Requirements for H-1B Petition Involving Third-Party Worksite
USCIS has issued a Policy Memo rescinding two of its policy memoranda (ITServe Settlement Policy Memo, June 17, 2020) regarding the adjudication of certain petitions for H-1B nonimmigrant classification. See memo here on USCIS website. Background USCIS has rescinded the following policy memoranda and has issued updated policy guidance in their place: Determining Employer-Employee Relationship[Read More]
Trump administration suspends the entry of Certain Students and Researchers from China
Trump administration suspends the entry Nonimmigrants of Certain Students and Researchers (graduate level in F and J visa, undergrads are not affected) from the People’s Republic of China (PRC). This restriction is narrow but the practical impact is going to be felt by others and those already in the U.S. too. Those studying or conducting[Read More]
Federal judge has permanently struck down admin’s policy that would have exposed international students to harsh immigration penalties if they accidentally fall out of status
Adhikari Law, Washington, DC, Jan 7, 2020. U.S. District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina held that U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) had violated rulemaking procedure under Administrative Procedure Act (APA) when it issued a policy memorandum on August 7, 2018 which substantially changed existing immigration regulations. USCIS new policy would have penalized[Read More]
USCIS’ Online registration system for H-1B cap cases
For 2020 H-1B cap cases (FY 2021), USCIS requires an online registration between March 1st through March 20th, 2020. The government has published Final Rule for the H-1B registration requirement. Here are the important applicable procedures: (1) Electronic registration requirement: The regulations requires H-1B Petitioners to register online at www.uscis.gov before filing a cap-subject H-1B[Read More]
USCIS Announces Implementation of H-1B Electronic Registration Process for the Cap Season in 2020 (Fiscal Year 2021)
Dec 6, 2019, Washington, D.C. USCIS announced today that it has completed a successful pilot testing phase and is implementing the registration process in the next H-1B lottery. Earlier we had posted a news article about the USCIS proposal to implement H-1B registration process. Employers seeking to file H-1B cap-subject petitions for the fiscal year[Read More]
H-1B Employees are subjected to Federal Insurance Contributions Act (FICA) tax withholding
Employees in F-1, J-1, M-1, Q-1 or Q-2 non-immigrant status are exempt from FICA therefore no withholding has to be made. However once these nonimmigrant change their visa status to H-1B, generally beginning from Oct 1st, then they are no longer exempt from FICA. So the employer should review payroll procedures and update tax withholding[Read More]
FAQ about Automatic re-validation of an expired non-immigrant visa based on valid status: What is re-validation of a nonimmigrant visa?
What is re-validation of a nonimmigrant visa? Generally, the nonimmigrant visa is valid until the duration given on the visa itself. The validity of an expired nonimmigrant visa issued under Immigration and Nationality Act (“INA” or “Act”) may be considered to be automatically extended to the date of application for readmission in cases where the[Read More]