Your resource for all things immigration.
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”
This week the U.S. Departments of Labor and Homeland Security announced an interim final rule to reinstate and make improvements to the H-2B Visa program, and a final rule to establish the prevailing wage methodology to be utilized for the H-2B program. Continue reading “DOL and DHS Release Joint New Rules for H-2B Visa Program”
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”
On January 30, 2015, Los Angeles Dodgers relief pitcher Joel Peralta faced what many business immigration practitioners would refer to as an avoidable immigration nightmare. Continue reading “Avoiding an Immigration Nightmare: The Importance of Knowing When a Work Visa is Necessary”