Employment Based Immigration
Council Urges Biden Administration to Ensure All Immigrant Visas are Processed
The Council led a letter urging the Biden administration to ensure that all immigrant visas are processed up to the numerical limits by September 30, 2021 to avoid the loss of visas and further increase to the backlog. Read More
Statement for the House Judiciary Immigration Subcommittee on “How Outdated U.S. Immigration Policies Push Top Talent to Other Countries”
This written statement submitted by the Council to Congress shares our analysis of the archaic U.S. immigration policies which are making the United States a less attractive destination for highly skilled workers from other countries. Read More
Lawsuits Challenge Change to H-1B Lottery Selection That Would Hurt Small Businesses, Start-ups
Businesses and industry organizations are among those pushing back against a rule that would change eligibility for filing an H-1B petition. The new rule would require the H-1B lottery selection to be conducted by salary level. A range of industries—from health care to higher education—that employ U.S. and H-1B workers… Read More
Ban on J-1 Exchange and Other Employment-Based Visas Set to Expire
A ban blocking certain employment-based visas implemented and extended by former President Trump is set to expire on March 31. The ban has likely prevented hundreds of thousands of people from participating in the American economy. In June 2020, the Trump administration… Read More
USCIS Begins to Reverse Course on H-1B Petitions
Employers and workers are starting to see a shift from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) on unlawful restrictions of the H-1B specialty occupation visa category. Over the past nine months, USCIS rescinded three policy memoranda after federal courts found the agency’s positions to be contrary to the law and… Read More
U.S. Businesses Sue USCIS for Rejecting H-1B Petitions for not Backdating the Employment Start Date
A federal lawsuit filed on behalf of seven U.S. businesses challenges USCIS arbitrary rejection of H-1B nonimmigrant employment-based petitions filed after October 1 solely because the H-1B worker’s intended employment start date falls after October 1. Read More
Challenging USCIS’ Arbitrary Rejections of H-1B Petitions Filed After October 1
This lawsuit challenges USCIS' arbitrarily rejected H-1B petitions filed after October 1 simply because the H-1B worker’s intended employment start date—naturally—also fell after October 1. Read More
The Biden Administration Is Already Supporting Employment-Based Immigration, But Uncertainty Remains
Business immigration has already benefited from the change in administrations. On January 25, President Biden issued an executive order directly replacing a Trump-era executive order that wreaked havoc on the H-1B visa category. Biden’s ‘Made in America’ Order The recent executive order adopted “Buy American” policies and revoked President… Read More
What You Need to Know About the Latest Changes to the H-1B Registration Process
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) recently issued a final rule changing the way U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) selects the registrations of U.S. employers that want to file H-1B petitions subject to the annual “cap.” The end result could dramatically reduce the number of recent foreign graduates… Read More
The United States Needs a New Approach to Visas and Immigration Benefits
This article is part of the Moving Forward on Immigration series that explores the future of immigration in the aftermath of the 2020 presidential election. The Biden administration faces a fundamental challenge in reforming the U.S. immigration system: making the United States more welcoming to immigrants. Part of this effort… Read More
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