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The optional practical training (OPT) program allows students here on an F-1 visa (who have either graduated or been pursuing a degree for 9 months) to work in their chosen field of study for one year. Continue reading “Proposed New Rule May Save the STEM OPT Program”
On August 12, 2015, Judge Ellen Segal Huvelle of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia dealt a blow to employers by vacating the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) 2008 interim rule expanding the optional practical training (OPT) program for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) students in Washington Alliance of Technology Workers v. U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Civil Action No. 14-529 (D.D.C. Aug. 12, 2015). Continue reading “Immigration Alert: Decision Overturning 17-month OPT/STEM Extensions is stayed as USCIS scrambles to cure deficiencies”
As of today, U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS) will resume accepting premium processing requests for H-1B extensions. Any premium processing request for H-1B extensions received prior to July 13, 2015 will be rejected. Continue reading “USCIS Resumes Premium Processing Service for H-1B Extensions”
While a lawsuit challenging President Obama’s executive action has garnered headlines recently, another lawsuit that could negatively impact the labor supply and increase the cost of doing business for employers has largely managed to escape the media’s attention. Continue reading “OPT Program Under Attack”
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”