By Yasmin Blackburn, Esq. I think about the most important woman in my life. The woman who gave birth to me, the woman who raised me, the woman who was an excellent role model for me and our family. She always, always tried to do the right thing. She was a beautiful soul who [...]
By Yasmin Blackburn, Esq. As a first-generation immigrant from Panama, Black History Month was hard to understand. Why was it relegated to the shortest and coldest month of the year? For instance, at home, we “celebrated” black history all the time! Every day, every month, every year! My parents and grandparents were active in [...]
Be it a Republican administration, or one led by Democrats, a common theme appears to be the raw deal handed to non immigrant professionals. While the Biden administration halted midnight regulations including scrapping a wage-based lottery for the H-1B CAP, it has refrained from revoking the ban on the entry of professionals. This ban, imposed [...]
The registration process for the H-1B FY2022 lottery begins shortly and we have some tips and general guidelines for those looking to file this year. Our office is happy to assist you with these filings at no charge (except the $10 registration fee charged by USCIS). Registration Period is from March 09th to March [...]
The October Visa Bulletin has been released and there is significant movement in priority dates, especially for EB3 India and China. See figure below. For those with pre-approved I-140s in the EB2 category, the possibility of filing a second application under the EB3 category and concurrently filing an Application to Adjust Status is both [...]
I am writing to provide you with update on what started as a sensational Tweet two days ago – the plan to “suspend immigration” to the United States. We now know what the plan entails, and I am providing you with a short summary offering a bit more clarity and a way to plan for [...]
As the COVID-19 crisis evolves, several businesses and employees have been impacted. Several questions arise in this context regarding status, unemployment benefits and the all-important question as to whether seeking and receiving unemployment benefits would be considered a public benefit under the public charge rule. To address the possibility that some aliens impacted by [...]
In order to be proactive and ensure H-1B CAP petitions are filed on time and with the least amount of disruption, it may be prudent and certainly proactive to commence processing of H-1B petitions as in previous years. I believe it is better to be prepared than find oneself in a situation like the Democrats did in Iowa on Monday night
“Yes, we did process your friend’s case and yes, his petition was approved. But even though you appear to have the same background, your current circumstances do not warrant a successful petition.” A recent conversation I had with a prospective client ended along these lines. I was just not comfortable accepting the case even though [...]
On September 27, 2019, Immigration and Customs Enforcement updated and provided policy guidance on how to determine whether a student’s practical training is in an area “directly related” to the student’s major area of study. This is in keeping with the regulations at 8 CFR 214.2(f)(10)(ii)(A) and is applicable to both CPT and OPT employment. [...]