“IMMIGRATION LAW CONNECTION”

Under the new, recently enacted Public Law 111-230,  certain U.S. employers of H-1B and L-1A workers, will have to submit an additional fee, for petitions postmarked on or after August 14, 2010.
Petitioners /Employers subject to this new fee include employers with 50 or more employees in the U.S., for which more than 50% [...]

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In recent weeks, the Florida Department of State’s Division of Corporations, who is the governing body of companies registered in Florida, has had its usual annual rush in late Spring, as Annual Report Filings were due by May 1.
Until recently, “Sunbiz” as the agency frequently is referred to (in reference to its website URL), had [...]

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Are you an owner, shareholder or member of a Florida-registered business?  If it is registered as a Corporation or Limited Liability Company, you are required by law to file an “Annual Report” between Jan 1 and May 1.
Due to technical issues, the FL Division of Corporations has extended the usual filing deadline to May 4.
Visit [...]

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H-1B Employers/Petitioners who have received TARP-funds (”economic stimulus” funds) are subject to certain disclosures and restrictions with regard to hiring certain H-1B workers.
Under EAWA, any company that has received covered funding and seeks to hire new H-1B workers is considered an “H-1B dependent employer.” An H-1B dependent employer must make additional statements to the U.S. [...]

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International students currently in the United States on F-1 (who may or may not have OPT), who are the Beneficiary of a pending or approved, cap-subject H-1B worker petition (which will become effective on or after October 1, 2010), can bridge the time in between their old status expiring and the start date of their [...]

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In a development not seen in recent years, it took USCIS nearly 9 months to reach the sufficient number of cap-subject H-1B petitions to fill the annual quote for Fiscal Year 2010.
In recent years, it only took USCIS anywhere from 1 week to only 1 day, to receive sufficient H-1B petitions, when the annual filing [...]

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According to unofficial sources, U.S. immigration officials will be taking to the field to conduct 25,000 on-site inspections of H-1B employers over the course of Fiscal Year 2010, which began October 1.  This would essentially amount to a 400% increase over inspections conducted the previous fiscal year.
In an ever-increasing effort to combat immigration benefits fraud, [...]

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After lengthy efforts, it appears that Congress is about to finally pass a 3-year-extension of the EB-5 program, which is usually subject to annual or semi-annual renewal via legislative action.
House and Senate conferees completed their negotiations on the final version of the FY 2010 Department of Homeland Security appropriations bill (H.R. 2892).  Included is a [...]

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USCIS announced that effective June 29, 2009, it will resume Premium Processing Service for Form I-140, Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker.
After an evaluation of its I-140 backlog reduction efforts and increased I-140 adjudicative efficiencies, USCIS has concluded that it is now able to provide Premium Process Service for this benefit.
USCIS will accept Premium Processing requests [...]

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The EB-5 Regional Center Investment Program has been the focus of a lot of attention, in large part because this portion of the EB-5 Green Card category requires ongoing repetitive congressional action about every 6 months to keep the program from “sunsetting”.
Just a few weeks ago in early May, the Senate Judiciary Committee held [...]

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