Posted October 4, 2024 with Tags Corporate Immigration, Immigration Law Everything You Need for the 2026 Diversity Immigrant Visa Program (DV-2026) At the beginning of each federal fiscal year (October), the Department of State conducts a lottery called the Diversity Immigrant Visa Program. If a person is selected, they are eligible to submit an application for permanent residence (i.e., a green …
Posted April 9, 2024 with Tags Corporate Immigration, Immigration Law Department of Homeland Security Increases Automatic Extension Period for Certain Employment Authorization Documents from 180 Days to 540 Days On April 8, 2024, the Department of Homeland Security issued a Temporary Final Rule increasing the automatic extension period for expiring Employment Authorization Documents (EADs) of renewal applicants who have filed Form I-765, Application for Employment Authorization, from up to …
Posted January 11, 2024 with Tags Corporate Immigration, Immigration Law The Department of State has Expanded the Authority of Consular Officers to Waive Interviews for Certain Nonimmigrant Visa Applicants On December 21, 2023, the U.S. Department of State announced the expansion of consular officer authority to waive interviews for certain nonimmigrant visa applicants. When nonimmigrant visa applicants are applying for a visa to enter the United States, the final …
Posted December 29, 2023 with Tags Corporate Immigration, Immigration Law Stateside Visa Renewals for H-1B Applicants – a Welcome Start! On December 21, 2023, the U.S. Department of State (DOS) announced a pilot program to implement limited stateside visa renewal processing for certain qualified H-1B visa applicants. The application period begins January 29, 2024 and will go through April 1, …
Posted August 22, 2023 with Tags Corporate Immigration, Immigration Law Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) in the Workplace In July 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court gravely restricted the use of affirmative action in college admissions when it handed down its decision in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard. Since that decision, many questions have arisen over how the …
Posted July 28, 2023 with Tags Corporate Immigration, Immigration Law Important Changes to the I-9 Process There are several important changes to the I-9 process that all employers should be aware of. The immigration team at Nilan Johnson Lewis has prepared the following summary below. DHS TO PUBLISH NEW FORM I-9 On August 1, 2023, U.S. …
Posted July 19, 2023 19 NJL Attorneys on 2023 Super Lawyers and Rising Stars Lists Super kudos to our 10 Super Lawyers and 9 Rising Stars for 2023: 2023 MN Super Lawyers (given to no more than 5% of state attorneys) Heidi Neff Amanda Cialkowski Kathleen Curtis Doug Elsass Brian Johnson Judy Langevin Don Lewis …
Posted June 5, 2023 with Tags Immigration Law, Corporate Immigration Florida Passes Strict Employer Compliance Law On May 9, 2023, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed Senate Bill 1718 (FL 1718) into law. FL 1718 is described on Governor DeSantis’ website as the “Strongest Anti-Illegal Immigration Legislation in the Country.” The law, among other things, requires private …
Posted May 8, 2023 with Tags Corporate Immigration, Immigration Law Employers Beware: COVID-19 Flexibilities To Form I-9 to End On July 31, 2023 WHAT IS THE COVID-19 FLEXIBILITY POLICY? With the onset of COVID-19, in March 2020, ICE began providing flexibility to the in-person verification of identity and employment eligibility documentation for completing Form I-9. Under that COVID-19 Flexibility Policy guidance, employers were allowed to verify I-9 …
Posted November 28, 2022 with Tags Immigration, Corporate Immigration, Immigration Law Let’s Be Real: Managing Immigration Sponsorship Requirements During Company Layoffs Over the course of the past few months, several major tech companies in the United States have announced large-scale layoffs. Major companies announcing such layoffs include Meta (formerly Facebook), Amazon, HP, Google, and Twitter. While we cannot comment on the …
Posted October 27, 2022 with Tags Corporate Immigration, Immigration Law I-9 Remote Document Inspection Flexibility Policy Extended to July 31, 2023 UPDATE: The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has granted an additional extension of the I-9 remote document inspection flexibility policy until July 31, 2023. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services is encouraging employers to begin, at their discretion, the in-person verification …
Posted October 13, 2022 with Tags Corporate Immigration, Immigration Law Form I-9 Alert: Continue to Use Current Form I-9 Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification Expires on October 31, 2022. Employers should continue to use the current Form I-9 after its expiration date of October 31, 2022, until further notice. DHS will publish a Federal Register notice to announce the …
Posted October 4, 2022 with Tags Immigration Law, Corporate Immigration Everything You Need for the 2024 Diversity Immigrant Visa Program (DV-2024) At the beginning of each federal fiscal year (October), the Department of State conducts a lottery called the Diversity Immigrant Visa Program. If a person is selected, they are eligible to submit an application for permanent residence (i.e., a green …
Posted October 3, 2022 with Tags Corporate Immigration, Immigration Law Corporate Compliance and Retention of Immigration-Related Documents Sponsoring foreign talent is a worthwhile venture for any employer who wishes to remain competitive, both domestically and internationally. This is particularly true for highly skilled positions for which demand outpaces supply. The process for sponsoring a foreign national is …
Posted September 20, 2022 with Tags Corporate Immigration, Immigration Law, The Equal Pay Advisor Pay Transparency and PERMs: An Immigration/Pay Transparency Conundrum States, municipalities, and other local regulatory entities continue to impose additional pay transparency requirements upon employers hiring in various jurisdictions throughout the United States. In some locations, employers are required to provide a position’s pay ranges to job applicants upon …
Posted July 11, 2022 Fifteen NJLers on 2022 Rising Stars, Super Lawyers Lists Eight lawyers from Nilan Johnson Lewis (NJL) have been listed on the 2022 Minnesota Super Lawyers list. No more than 5% of lawyers in Minnesota are selected by Super Lawyers. Amanda Cialkowski Brian Johnson Don Lewis Doug Elsass Joe Schmitt …
Posted November 14, 2021 with Tags Corporate Immigration, Immigration Law Update: E-2 Spouses are Now Also Deemed Employment Authorized Incident to Status On November 10, 2021, the parties in Shergill, et al v Mayorkas reached an important settlement that now affords an automatic extension of employment authorization for up to 180 days in narrowly defined circumstances for H-4 and L-2 dependent spouses. In addition, …
Posted November 10, 2021 with Tags Corporate Immigration, Immigration Law DHS Settlement Provides Long-Awaited Changes for H-4 and L-2 Spouse Work Authorization Spouses of H-1B and L-1 workers have long faced protracted delays by the U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS) in processing their work authorization (EAD) renewals. The wait has sometimes exceeded more than a year, resulting in the existing EAD …
Posted October 27, 2021 UPDATED: Biden Administration Announces Plans to Rescind COVID-Related Travel Restrictions For All International Travelers to the United States Updated 10/27/21 with new information from the Biden Administration The Biden Administration recently provided details regarding its plans to lift COVID-related travel restrictions for all international travelers to the United States. Implementation of the changes depends on the manner of …
Posted October 25, 2021 with Tags Corporate Immigration, Immigration Law PERMission to Hire Foreign Workers: New Factors to Consider in PERM Recruitment Obligations in light of Facebook Settlement Last week, the U.S. Department of Justice and Facebook settled a U.S. worker discrimination lawsuit involving the recruitment practices of the social media giant in its sponsorship of foreign workers for permanent residence. At the same time, the U.S. Department …