Cyrus Mehta and Isabel Rajabzadeh*, Apr. 19, 2021 "Although H-4 and L-2 extensions continue to be delayed since our last blog “ Coping with Delays Facing H-4 and L-2 Spouses ”, we highlight another issue, which adds further hardship for H-4 and L-2 spouses...
Stuart Anderson, Forbes, Nov. 18, 2019 "U.S. consular officers are making it extremely difficult, and in some cases nearly impossible, for U.S. companies to transfer their employees from India into America on L-1 visas. The culprit is the Trump administration...
"Social media flamed with expressions of outrage, relief and tepid optimism ever since President Obama announced on March 23, 2015 the release of long-awaited policy guidance on a key temporary worker visa category: Today, I’m pleased to announce a new...
"At first blush, the decision could be seen as limited to its unusual facts. A two-judge majority remanded the case to USCIS because the AAO categorically refused to consider whether culturally acquired knowledge could be treated as “specialized” under the...
"On October 21, 2014, the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in Fogo de Chao v. DHS , No. 13-5301, skewered the USCIS for denying the L-1B visa to a Brazilian churrasqueiro or gaucho chef. ... Although Fogo applied to...
When you pay your bill at a restaurant, you are paying for the food, the employees' wages, the real estate, taxes, and more. But when you settle up at Fogo de Chao, you are also paying for lawyers, judges and bureaucrats to fight over the visa for a chef from...
"In an April 24, 2014 stakeholder teleconference, FDNS’s Associate Director, Sarah Kendall, confirmed plans to expand the Administrative Site Visit and Verification Program (ASVVP) to include all L-1 employers. ... USCIS has provided little guidance regarding...
"L-1 filings were once familiar territory. The statute and regulations provided a useful roadmap, and practitioners were soon comfortable navigating it with ease and efficiency. As more experienced L-1 visa practitioners know, changes in the L-1 process...
Part I : "The L-1 — a veritable Clydesdale of work visas — allows executives, managers and employees with specialized knowledge, gained at an overseas affiliate, subsidiary or parent, to enter the U.S. and work in a comparable capacity for a related company...
"Years ago, the H-1B was a lightning rod for critics while the L-1 sailed on smoothly in calm seas. No longer. For the first time, the L and the H are fused in the minds of its critics. At a time when our permanent immigration model is more open to STEM...
"As director of Oracle’s ( ORCL ) U.S. immigration program, Denise Rahmani arranges work papers for foreign employees the company wants to bring to the U.S. Last year, she says, the federal government denied 38 percent of Oracle’s visa requests. ...
"As we await the promised L-1B guidance on specialized knowledge, insiders report that USCIS may buckle under the weight of this war of letters and try to restrict the category notwithstanding any relevant change in law or regulation since 1990."...
On March 22, 2012 a "Who's Who" list of IT heavyweights wrote a letter to President Obama "to express our concern that American job growth and the U.S. economy are being harmed by unprecedented delays and uncertainty surrounding L-1 visas for...
"The number of L-1 visas issued at U.S. posts in India declined by 28 percent from 2010 to 2011, according to data obtained from the U.S. Department of State in a new report by the National Foundation for American Policy (NFAP), an Arlington, Va.-based policy...
Can companies avoid civil and criminal exposure by outsourcing their hiring of foreign nationals? Cyrus Mehta has the answer .