Tag: Immigration

Immigration

H-1B Cap Lottery Selection Rate Drops Significantly and What’s Next?

Written by Stephen Blaker On March 30, 2021, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that it had completed its cap lottery selection of H-1B registrations for the fiscal year (FY) 2022. Employers submitted 308,613 registrations for selection in the cap lottery, of which USCIS selected 87,500 cases, or 28% of the total number of registrations. This is a significant decrease from the FY 2021 … Continue reading H-1B Cap Lottery Selection Rate Drops Significantly and What’s Next?

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Immigration

Quarantine Requirements and US Visa Applications

Written by Frida Popik Glucoft The COVID-19 pandemic continues to have a significant impact on US immigration and the visa process. In addition to the recently announced negative COVID test requirements for US travelers, some embassies are issuing specific quarantine measures as well. The U.S. Embassy in Paris has just announced that in order to protect its employees and visa applicants, anyone applying for a visa … Continue reading Quarantine Requirements and US Visa Applications

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Immigration

New Year Brings Changes To Immigration, US Travel

Written by David S. Rugendorf The new year 2021 is likely to bring many changes to US immigration and travel requirements.  A new White House administration and the evolving situation regarding efforts to contain the global pandemic assure that we should hear of many developments in policies and procedures.  For starters, here are two such developments: Negative COVID Tests To Be Required For All US … Continue reading New Year Brings Changes To Immigration, US Travel

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Immigration, Labor & Employment, Videos

From Players to Promoters: The People of Esports

In this webinar video, MSK attorneys Jeremy Mittman and Jaclyn Granet are joined by Andrew Cooke, General Counsel at Fnatic (one of the leading teams in esports globally), as the three of them discuss issues, interests and opportunities in this exciting and fast-growing industry. Specifically, they address audience engagement, trends in various platforms and especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, revenues, important labor and employment issues … Continue reading From Players to Promoters: The People of Esports

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Immigration

USCIS Announces New Fees: What Employers Need to Know

Written by Benjamin Lau The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) recently announced that it is implementing a new filing fee schedule that will take effect on October 2, 2020. USCIS is also revising numerous key employment-based immigration forms, such as new editions of the Form I-129 nonimmigrant worker petition for H-1B, L-1, O-1 and other nonimmigrant categories. The new forms are not currently … Continue reading USCIS Announces New Fees: What Employers Need to Know

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COVID-19, Immigration

USCIS: Approval Notices May (Temporarily) Evidence Authorization to Work in US

Written by David S. Rugendorf Faced with logistical difficulties in producing work authorization documents (EAD cards), a growing backlog of applications and related litigation, the USCIS announced yesterday (August 19, 2020) that it would, in limited circumstances, allow paper I-797 approval notices to suffice as evidence of employment authorization, even though these notices explicitly state that they are not valid as evidence of same. US … Continue reading USCIS: Approval Notices May (Temporarily) Evidence Authorization to Work in US

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Immigration

President Suspends Temporary Entry of Certain Nonimmigrants Due to COVID-19 Related Unemployment Rates

Written by Jaclyn D. Granet and Janice Luo After several days of extensive media coverage and speculation, on June 22, 2020, President Trump issued a new immigration-related proclamation, the full text of which is available here. Per the administration, this new proclamation was released in response to the growing American unemployment rate due to the COVID-19 global pandemic. The most notable order in this proclamation … Continue reading President Suspends Temporary Entry of Certain Nonimmigrants Due to COVID-19 Related Unemployment Rates

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COVID-19, Immigration, Videos

MSK Minute: Stephen Blaker Reviews Immigration Considerations for Reopening

In this video, MSK immigration attorney Stephen Blaker reviews the various process changes and travel restrictions that have been imposed by the federal immigration agencies in response to COVID-19. What impact could this have on your reopening plans? If you have any questions or would like to discuss further, please contact Stephen at s1b@msk.com. Continue reading MSK Minute: Stephen Blaker Reviews Immigration Considerations for Reopening

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COVID-19, Immigration

Immigration Proclamation Sets Limited Curbs

President Suspends Temporary Entry of Certain Immigrants Due to COVID-19 Economic Fallout

Written by David S. Rugendorf

On Wednesday evening, April 22, 2020, President Trump issued his highly anticipated immigration proclamation, temporarily suspending some types of immigration to the United States due to COVID-19 and its resultant damage to the domestic labor market. While the language of the order suggested that future actions may be necessary, the current order is very limited in its scope and application. Very few individuals are now prevented from entering the United States who had not previously been barred from entry. A summary of the order is as follows: Continue reading “Immigration Proclamation Sets Limited Curbs”

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COVID-19, Immigration

Employer Expectations in COVID Conditions

Written by Frida P. Glucoft

Employers should beware: even during the COVID-19 pandemic, certain employer compliance and obligations continue and others are created.

NOTICE: if your work force is working from home and you have any individuals in H1B or E3 status, there are postings and notice requirements. There are technical rules which must be followed and documents to retain for the future when we return to the worksite.

TRAVEL BAN: the travel ban for entry to the USA from abroad remains in effect. The exception is for US citizens and lawful permanent residents and their families. In addition, many countries around the globe do not permit anyone but nationals of their own countries to enter.

Be sure your employees do not make travel arrangements without advising you well in advance. Continue reading “Employer Expectations in COVID Conditions”

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