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Immigration
Publications
Current Hot Topics
- To Our Valued Immigration Clients:
I am sending you the newest Green Card Lottery forms as the DV-2010 Lottery has now been announced. The rules are explained in our one-page memo which is attached.
- Visa Waiver Program visitors must preregister 72 hours before traveling to the U.S.
Starting 12 January 2009, all 90 day visa waiver visitors from Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Scandinavia, Asia and Australia must now register online through a system known as Electronic System for Travel Authorization ("ESTA") at least 72 hours before departing for the U.S. Canadians are exempt. The web site for this registration is as follows: https://esta.cbp.dhs.gov. You can voluntarily preregister now just to get into the habit. There is no cost. This registration will be valid for up to 2 years or until your passport expires whichever comes first. You can make multiple entries on each registration. We recommend that you update your travel profile every time you travel just to keep the immigration agents happy. This is not mandatory but it is suggested. Good luck and safe travels.
- Green card holders and Canadians with visas will now be fingerprinted and photographed at the border.
Happy New Year to green card holders and Canadians with visas. As of December 23, 2008, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection ("USCBP") will begin collecting biometric information from all permanent residents and Canadians holding U.S. visas when you travel into the U.S. This should not be a great inconvenience as most other visitors to the U.S. already go through the biometric process. If you are under the age of 14 or over the age of 79 you are exempt. These are known as US-VISIT Procedures: http://www.dhs.gov/usvisit.
- Are You an H-1B Employer? If so, you may be paying for workers you have already dismissed.
A recent U.S. Department of Labor ("DOL") case in front of an administrative law judge reaffirmed that an employer may be liable to pay back wages to an H-1B employee even if the H-1B employee has left the job. H-1B employers who terminate or lay off an H-1B employee must issue "a bona fide termination of the employment relationship" and notify the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services ("USCIS") that the employment relationship has been terminated. This allows the USCIS to cancel the H-1B petition thereby terminating any obligation to pay the former employee. http://www.uscis.gov.
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