USCIS administers the EB-5 program, created by Congress in 1990 to stimulate the U.S. economy through job creation and capital investment by foreign investors. Under a pilot program enacted in 1992, and regularly reauthorized since then, investors may also qualify for EB-5 visas by investing through regional centers designated by USCIS based on proposals...

Most Americans take it for granted that marriage to a U.S. citizen and other family relationships entitle an immigrant to permanent residence (a green card), but there are barriers that often prevent or delay these family members from becoming lawful permanent residents, even if they are already in the United States. Among these barriers...

As our economy continues to show few signs of “predictability”, company mergers, acquisitions and restructurings ("transactions") are likely to continue. In general, since a merger, acquisition or restructuring is a "corporate transaction", the immigration issues often get left in the dust. For this reason, it is important that immigration repercussions that arise from a...

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services today announced a final rule published in the Federal Register adjusting the fees required for most immigration applications and petitions. The new fees will be effective December 23rd.

USCIS is almost entirely funded by the fees paid by applicants and petitioners for immigration benefits. The law requires USCIS to...

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) issued an interim final rule that increases significantly the monetary fines assessed against employers for violations of the federal immigration law.

Under the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 (IRCA), employers are prohibited from:

• Knowingly hiring or employing unauthorized workers;
• Failing to properly complete employee Form I-9s; and
•...

Given that it is still very early in the new fiscal year, the final action dates in the November Visa Bulletin are not surprising. If you were to compare the October 2016 against the Visa Bulletin against the November Visa Bulletin you would find that almost all of DOS's predictions have materialized, with a...

Le visa nonimmigrant E-2 pour les investisseurs a pour objectif sous-jacent d’inciter les ressortissants de pays avec lesquels les Etats-Unis ont un accord commercial d’y venir via un investissement entrepreneurial. Cet investissement peut consister dans la création d’une entreprise, l’achat d’une société existante ou d’une franchise. Une entreprise peut également faire venir un ressortissant...

As a reminder to all U.S. employers, H-1B season is almost here! United States Citizenship & Immigration Services (“USCIS”) will start accepting new H-1B petitions for fiscal year 2018 on Saturday, April 1st, 2017. As such, employers should start immediately identifying current and future employees who will require sponsorship for new H-1B petitions. By...