Immigration Articles  |
| Useful articles on a variety of immigration topics. |
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| EB-1 Green Card for Multinational Managers & Executives on L-1 |
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| With the continued growth of a global economy, many companies are moving their senior personnel around the world to where they are needed the most. This includes transferring managers and executives to the U.S. to lead their company’s U.S. operations. Many of these managers and executives contemplate obtaining U.S. permanent residence, a “Green Card,” either to minimize the hassles associated with having to renew their nonimmigrant status or simply because they intend to remain in the U.S. and eventually become U.S. citizens. Those that are coming to the U.S. using the L-1A Intracompany Transferee Visa for managers and executives are on a direct track to qualifying for the EB-1C (Multinational Executives & Managers) employment-based Green Card. The EB-1C closely resembles the L-1A nonimmigrant visa in its basic requirements; therefore many people who qualify for an L-1A visa also qualify for EB-1C status without having to undergo the labor certification process. |
| Optional Practical Training for 29 Months: Are You Eligible? |
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| The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) recently released good news for students who are studying in the U.S. or intending to do so. They released an interim final rule that extends the period of Optional Practical Training (OPT) for qualified F-1 non-immigrant students from the current 12 months to a maximum of 29 months. The extension will be available to F-1 students with a degree in science, technology, engineering, or mathematics and who are employed by businesses enrolled in the E-Verify program. |
| A Rendezvous with India: The journey continues |
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| This month we finalize our attorneys’ travelogue describing their journey through India that we started in last month’s newsletter. As you probably already know, during these events, the VisaPro legal team traveled to five different cities in India to present substantive and comprehensive information on business immigration issues to a wide-ranging audience. |
| Opening a New Office in the U.S. Using an L-1 Visa |
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| U.S. has long been considered a country of opportunities - a place that encourages entrepreneurship with a highly dynamic economy and a large wealthy consumer base. For these reasons, many successful companies consider starting operations in the United States after their success in the home country. For companies looking to expand to the U.S., one viable option is the use of a New Office L-1 visa to start their operations and move key personnel to the U.S. regulations define New Office as an organization which has been doing business in the United States through a parent, branch, affiliate, or subsidiary for less than one year. Since the new office needs to be "doing business" the "mere presence of an agent or office" is not enough to satisfy even the new office requirement for an L-1. |
| A Rendezvous with India: Immigration Seminars and Training |
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| This month and next, Attorneys Thomas Joy and Jan Krasny will share some of the experiences related to their travels in India for the VisaPro workshops and training session. During these events, the VisaPro legal team traveled to five different cities in India to present substantive and comprehensive information on business immigration issues. |
| Setting up a new business: Choosing between L-1 or E visa |
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| Setting up a new business can be quite exciting. But there are also many challenges. In-depth market research and planning can minimize the risks. Foreign nationals setting up a business in the U.S. face another challenge – which visa do they use to be able to enter the U.S. to operate the business once it has been established? Generally L-1 visas are used to set-up a new entity in the U.S. when it is a subsidiary, parent, branch, or affiliate of an overseas company. However, foreign nationals from countries with certain treaty with the U.S. have the choice of using E-1, E-2 or L-1 visa for establishing a new entity in the U.S. Let us first understand the situations under which each of these visa options can be used. |
| Don’t Lose Your Opportunity to File an H-1B Visa - Start Now! |
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| The clock is ticking and every day that important date in immigration - April 1, 2008 comes closer. As many of you already know, April 1 marks the first day that USCIS accepts H-1B petitions for the federal government’s fiscal year beginning on October 1. Per regulations, employers can file H-1B petitions no earlier than six months in advance of the anticipated start date, which makes April 1 beginning of the race for obtaining an H-1B visa before the cap is reached. |
| Form I-9 Compliance - Follow Now or Pay Later |
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| If you are a U.S. employer hiring new employees, it is essential you complete Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification Form, for each new employee. Employers who don’t adhere to the I-9 requirements can anticipate civil and or criminal penalties. On November 7, 2007, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that a revised Form I-9 is now available. Subsequently, the USCIS announced on November 26, 2007, that all employers must transition to the revised Form I-9 no later than December 26, 2007 and employers who fail to use the revised form will be penalized. |
| My Nonimmigrant Status is Expiring - Help! |
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| We understand that you may wish to remain in the U.S. for a period longer than originally planned. Nonimmigrant visas are issued to foreign nationals who intend to remain in the U.S. for, depending on the particular nonimmigrant classification, a temporary or otherwise less than permanent period of time. You may be able to continue doing the same types of activities for which you were initially admitted by applying for an extension of your period of nonimmigrant stay in the U.S. Let us analyze the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) extension requirements and see how they may apply to your situation. |
| New H-2B Visa Provisions: Senator Mikulski Leads the Pack |
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| It’s November and the sunny days of summer may seem far away, but the businesses that comprise Maine’s hospitality industry are already preparing for the tourist season. In Maine alone, 87,000 jobs are tied directly to the success of tourism, an industry that generates $13.9 billion annually for Maine’s economy and $556 million in state tax revenue. Likewise, the seafood and cannery industries in Maryland and Virginia, seasonal hospitality industry in Rhode Island and New Hampshire, the fishing industry of Alaska, and the logging industry in Maine have one thing in common: they desperately need seasonal workers so their businesses can survive. |
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