In January, the government began collecting DNA from detainees at the border to ensure that families are who they say they are. This new procedure prompts us to consider how this act of security could encroach on our privacy. In this week's Immigration Nerds podcast, we ...
Singapore | As the Coronavirus epidemic continues to affect people traveling around the world, the Singaporean Ministry of Health (MHO) have passed on their recommendations for all travelers to abandon all travel plans to Hubei province China and also to only travel to mainland China ...
Beginning on February 24, 2020, prospective H-1B CAP petitioners and their legal representatives (“petitioners”) may begin creating H-1B registrant accounts on the online USCIS website. Subsequently, between 12:00 PM (EST) of March 01, 2020, and March 20, 2020, petitioners may create and complete H-1B registrations ...
In January, the government began collecting DNA from detainees at the border to ensure that families are who they say they are. This new procedure prompts us to consider how this act of security could encroach on our privacy. In this week's Immigration Nerds podcast, we ...
On February 7, U.S. District Judge George J. Hazel of Maryland issued a ruling that would protect Maryland residents who are seeking their green card from arrest or deportation while their case is ongoing. The judge's decision also required Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents ...
In this week's Immigration Nerds podcast, EIG Managing Director/Attorney Hiba M. Anver joins the conversation to explain the latest iteration of the Travel Ban released by the Trump Administration on Friday, January 31. The new ban would include six additional countries; citizens from Nigeria, Eritrea, ...
On January 27, 2020, in a 5-4 decision, the Supreme Court temporarily upheld the Trump Administration's "Inadmissibility on Public Charge'' rule. The high court's conservative majority will allow the rule to go into effect pending the appellate process in the lower courts. Under the rule, ...
On January 31, 2020, USCIS released the new version of Form I-9, used to verify the identity and employment authorization of individuals hired for employment in the United States. The specific changes to the form can be found on the government website, and the form itself is ...
The United Kingdom will exit the European Union on January 31 at 11 PM GMT (6 PM EST), bringing an end to the process that began with the 2016 Brexit Referendum. On January 24, 2020, Prime Minister Boris Johnson signed the Withdrawal Agreement, witnessed by ...
President Donald Trump signed an order for the U.S. to deny entry to all foreign nationals who have traveled to China within the past two weeks, aside from the immediate family of U.S. citizens. This order goes into effect on February 2nd at 5 pm. ...
The Trump Administration has expanded the travel ban to include six additional countries. Citizens from Nigeria, Eritrea, Myanmar, and Kyrgyzstan will not be allowed to apply for visas to immigrate to the U.S., and the U.S. gov't will suspend the issuance of visas that can ...
On January 30, 2020, the World Health Organization declared that the Coronavirus constitutes a Public Health Emergency of International Concern. As a response, the US State Department upgraded its China travel warning to Level 4: Do Not Travel. Several countries, including the UK, Canada, France, and ...
The Immigration Nerds talk about this busy week in immigration and give updates on the ongoing and revisited topics of "birth tourism," the public charge rule, and the possibility of another travel ban.
The Bay Area Mobility Management (BAMM), which uses education, networking, and community outreach to support the development of HR Global Mobility professionals in the San Francisco Bay Area, has announced that Alejandra Zapatero, Director Attorney, Client Relations and Managing Director of Erickson Immigration Group (EIG), a global immigration law firm, ...
On Monday, the Supreme Court voted 5-4 to lift the nationwide injunction on the Trump administration's "public charge" rule while the case plays out in the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) proposal makes it more difficult for immigrants who rely on, ...
On January 24, 2020, the US State Department (DOS) issued a Level 4 Alert: Do Not Travel to Hubei Province. On January 23, 2020, DOS ordered all non-emergency US personnel and their family members to leave the province. Emergency services for US citizens are limited in the ...
For this week's Immigration Nerds podcast, we revisit last year's Lunar New Year Celebration conversation with EIG attorneys Stephanie Tan and Dora Wang. With Stephanie and Dora, we explore the history and centuries-old lore behind the New Year as well as their family traditions during ...
On Thursday, the Trump Administration announced a new policy to further impede a process known as "birth tourism." According to a State Department cable sent to embassies around the world, this policy will go into effect tomorrow, Friday, January 24. Starting Friday, the State Department "will ...
With the upcoming Lunar New Year, an estimated 3 billion trips will be taken to areas in and around China over the 40-day holiday period. In light of the recent Coronavirus outbreak, EIG provides the following guidance regarding travel to these areas: Following an emergency meeting ...
The U.S. Department of State (DOS) released the February 2020 Visa Bulletin. As reported in item E of the earlier January Visa Bulletin (number 37), the final action date for the "Rest of World" Family Fourth Preference (F4) had been advanced at a very rapid pace during ...
As of January 2020, the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) of Singapore has raised penalties for workplace discrimination cases. These measures are part of a plan to strengthen the Fair Consideration Framework, especially with the aim to give equal and fair consideration to local workers by ...
On Friday, January 17, over one hundred technology companies jointly filed an Amicus Brief challenging the Trump administration's "public charge" rule. These companies joined a nationwide lawsuit to assert that the proposed policy would adversely affect U.S. employers. The brief argues that the proposed rule will: Discourage ...
On Wednesday, January 15, U.S. District Judge Peter Messite issued a preliminary injunction against President Trump’s latest executive order, which allows state and local officials to deny the resettlement of refugees in their communities. Trump argued this executive order was put in place due to ...
EIG’s Senior Attorney and Liberian native Jowanda Jones joins the podcast to explain the latest in the Liberian Refugee Immigration Fairness Act. She explains how one would qualify for the act that now allows a direct pathway to citizenship. In addition, we unravel Liberia's inseparable ...
In a document scheduled to be published on Thursday, January 9, USCIS has released additional details outlining how the FY2021 H-1B cap registration process will work. New information includes: Before the initial preregistration window opens on March 1, employers and their representatives may set up their ...
Foreign nationals with a recognized university degree are eligible to work in Germany under the European Union (EU) Blue Card system. The minimum salary for EU Blue Cards has increased. Effective January 1, 2020, Blue Card holders in Germany must be paid an annual salary ...
For applications that require a labor market test, the position must now be advertised for 28 days before the application can be submitted. (The previous rule required only 14 days.) The advertising requirement reflects the government’s policy that an employment opportunity should be offered to ...
For certain immigration benefits, including naturalization, a good moral character must be proven. On December 13, USCIS announced updates to its policy manual on good moral character determinations. The updated guidance includes implementation of recent case law regarding applicants with two or more DUI convictions.
USCIS has announced that its new electronic registration has completed pilot testing and will be used for the upcoming 2021 H-1B Cap Season. In this new process, from March 1 – March 20, 2020, employers or their representatives must first register with basic information about the company and ...
The U.S. Department of State (DOS) released the January 2020 Visa Bulletin. Final Action Dates for all employment-based categories see little movement for the month of January. In Section F of the Visa Bulletin, the DOS predicts potential monthly movement for employment-based categories. For the EB-1 category, rapid forward ...
In this week's Immigration Nerds podcast, Saadia Khan, executive producer and host of the "Immigrantly" podcast joins us at our mic. Immigrantly is a weekly podcast that captures the honest and unfiltered accounts of first and second-generation immigrants in America. In today's episode, Saadia talks ...
