Miller Mayer Attorney David Wilks successfully obtained an H-1B for an entrepreneur working as the Chief Technical Officer of a New York-based cloud application developer. Despite the relatively recent establishment of the company, and the foreign national’s minority...
Topic: Immigration Updates
State Dept. Introduces New ‘K’ Risk Indicator for Travelers
The Department of State (DOS) has announced a new "K" risk indicator added to its travel advisories for U.S. citizens, to communicate "the risks of kidnapping and hostage-taking by criminal and terrorist actors around the world." Travel advisories for 35 countries...
President Trump Considering Ban on Asylum Claims from Central Americans Traveling Through Mexico, Others
According to reports, President Donald Trump is considering a draft rule to prohibit people who have resided in a third country from filing an asylum claim. If the rule is implemented, it could block Central Americans traveling through Mexico, among others, from...
Online Visa, ESTA Applications Include New Social Media Question
The Department of State's (DOS) online visa application forms (Form DS-160 and Form DS-260) now include a new question about social media. The applicant is instructed to provide the names of each social media platform used within the last five years and the "username...
USCIS Requests Info on EB-5 Immigrant Investor Visa Experience
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) aims “to understand challenges and pain points of the application or petition process” concerning the EB-5, and has invited attorneys, accredited representatives, regional center owners, and petitioners to provide...
State Dept. Notes Continued Heavy Demand, Retrogressions (Visa Unavailability) in Several Employment-Based Immigrant Visa Categories
The Department of State's (DOS) Visa Bulletin for the month of June 2019 notes heavy demand in several employment-based visa categories: There continues to be an "extremely high rate of demand" for India employment first preference (EB-1) visa numbers, which has...
Presumptions and Entrepreneurs: A Review of Recent BALCA Decisions for Entrepreneurs
By David Wilks and Brooke Ireland* The labor certification process allows companies to obtain green cards for current or future employees through a test the labor market. In this test, the employer conducts regulation-governed recruitment to document that no available...
Miller Mayer’s Steve Yale-Loehr co-authored a New Policy Brief and Quoted on Migrant Children
Steve Yale-Loehr co-authored a new policy brief. "Noncitizens in the U.S. Military: Navigating National Security Concerns and Recruitment Needs," published by the Migration Policy Institute (MPI). The report notes, among other things, that close to 8,000 noncitizens...
USCIS Director Cissna Out Effective June 1
On May 26, 2019, L. Francis Cissna, Director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) since October 2017, submitted his resignation "at the request of the President," effective June 1, 2019. In an email, Mr. Cissna thanked USCIS staff and said, "As an...
Texas Service Center Is Accepting Certain H-1B Petitions
As of May 20, 2019, the Texas Service Center has begun processing certain H-1B cap-exempt petitions requesting a change in employer or previously approved employment, concurrent employment, change of status to H-1B, and others. USCIS said this does not include H-1B...
