Adhikari Law has been open for business despite public health measures. During Coronavirus pandemic our staff are working remotely with occasional office visits, and this will continue until the Covid-19 guidance is in effect (https://coronavirus.dc.gov/). Please send us an email info@adhikarilaw.com or call us 202-600-7742 to speak with us. You can schedule attorney consultation for[Read More]
News and Alerts
GENERAL NATURALIZATION REQUIREMENTS- CONTINUOUS RESIDENCE AS PER USCIS POLICY
A. Continuous Residence Requirement An applicant for naturalization under the general provision[1] must have resided continuously in the United States after his or her lawful permanent resident (LPR) admission for at least 5 years prior to filing the naturalization application and up to the time of naturalization. An applicant must also establish that he or she has resided in the state or service district having[Read More]
U.S. Government’s H-1B and L-1 regulations have been challenged at World Trade Organization (WTO) by India
February 25, 2020. Washington, D.C. Back in March 2016 India had brought a WTO challenge (DS503) against certain measures involving the U.S.’ non-immigrant temporary working visas, filing a request for consultations on Thursday 3 March, 2016. As of today U.S. has not heeded to India’s request for Consultations (see case history). Next steps should have been the[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]
USCIS Proposes to Increase Fees for various Applications
Nov. 8, 2019, Washington DC, Adhikari Law PLLC. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has posted a 314 pages public notice on Federal Register for public inspection about increase on fees (about 21%) for various types of immigration applications including H-1B ($100), L-1 ($355), TN ($245), changing Premium Processing limit to 15 Business Days in[Read More]
USCIS plans to Implement e-registration process for the fiscal year 2021 H-1B Cap Cases (to be filed in 2020) Pending completed testing of the System
Nov. 7, 2019, Washington DC, Adhikari Law PLLC. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has announced today a final rule that will require a non-refundable small fee of $10 for each H-1B e-registration submitted by petitioning employers, once it implements the electronic registration system. The pre-registration was previously announced by the agency. The H-1B program allows[Read More]
SEVP Policy Guidance on Practical Training: Determining a Direct Relationship Between Employment and a Student’s Major Area of Study
Student and Visitor Exchange Program (SEVP) of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) within U.S. Department of Homeland Security issues a Policy Guidance which addresses both OPT and science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) OPT extension opportunities and explains that students are responsible for providing a description of how their job relates to their major[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]