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Earlier this month, Major League Baseball eliminated a burdensome requirement that made it difficult for MLB franchises to sign Cuban nationals. Until last month, a Cuban national wanting to sign with a MLB franchise as a free agent was required to obtain a specific license from the United States Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). Continue reading “Cuban Baseball Players Are No Longer Required to Obtain a License to Play Ball”
While many immigration practitioners wait anxiously for a resolution to the judicial challenges faced by DAPA and expanded DACA, others let out a sigh of relief at the announcement made today by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Director León Rodríguez. Continue reading “Mark Your Calendars: DHS Extends Employment Authorization Eligibility to Certain H-4 Dependent Spouses Effective May 26, 2015”
Last December, President Barack Obama announced a series of changes to the United States’ policy toward Cuba. The most significant changes, from a foreign policy perspective, included restoring diplomatic relations with Cuba and opening a U.S. embassy in Havana. But the announced changes also included easing the restrictions on the ability of Americans to travel to and do business with Cuba. Recently, the current administration promulgated amended regulations implementing the policy changes President Obama announced in December. Continue reading “Bridging the Gap to Cuba”
If it’s not bad news, it won’t get good ratings? When Nightline recently reported on the EB-5 program, “Whistleblowers: US gave visas to suspected Forgers, Fraudsters, Criminals,” alleging that it is prone to fraud, they were looking for good ratings. Why not report on what the EB-5 program does for the U.S. economy? Why not report about foreign nationals bringing large amounts of money to the U.S. to invest in businesses with the requirement that they create full time jobs for TEN U.S. WORKERS? Continue reading “Come on, Nightline?!”
On February 11, 2015, U.S. Immigration & Citizenship Services released an updated EB-5 Processing Report reflecting average processing times for the Immigrant Investor Program Office as of December 31, 2014. Continue reading “USCIS Updates EB-5 Processing Time Information”
Judge Andrew Hanen, a federal judge in South Texas, temporarily blocked President Obama’s executive actions on immigration this past Monday, February 16. The lawsuit was brought by 26 states and Judge Hanen ruled that the President lacked the authority to carry out the initiatives announced on November 20, 2014. Continue reading “Temporary Injunction Issued Against DAPA And Expanded DACA”
USCIS announced that, as of January 26, 2015, it has received a sufficient number of petitions to reach the congressionally mandated limit, or “cap” on the total number of foreign nationals who may seek a visa or otherwise obtain H-2B status for the first half of fiscal year (FY) 2015. Continue reading “USCIS Announces H-2B Cap Reached for the First Half of Fiscal Year 2015”
The National Visa Center (NVC) recently informed the American Immigration Lawyers Association that appointment notices for Chinese EB-5 applications may indicate that applicants must bring original documents, even if NVC already had original documents. Continue reading “National Visa Center Experiencing Glitch in Processing of Chinese EB-5 Immigrant Visa Applications”
Bipartisan legislation? Does such a thing exist anymore? Well, on January 28, 2015, Congressmen Jared Polis (D-CO) and Mark Amodei (R-NV) introduced The American Entrepreneurship & Investment Act of 2015 in an effort to permanently authorize the EB-5 Immigrant Investor visa program, which is now set to expire on September 30, 2015. Continue reading “Bipartisan Legislation Seeks to Make the EB-5 Program Permanent”
On January 8, 2015, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) Office of Special Counsel for Immigration Related Unfair Employment Practices (OSC) issued a technical assistance letter (TAL) in response to an employer’s request for guidance. The TAL primarily serves to provide guidance on how to address the instance where an employee admitted after the fact that the documents presented during the Form I-9 process were not genuine and whether the employer would face any liability for discrimination if it chose to terminate the employee. Continue reading “What Happens When An Employee Admits I-9 Documents Were Fraudulent”