In The Muppet Christmas Carol, the “Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come” escorts Ebenezeer Scrooge back to a graveyard after taking Scrooge through a disturbing future, prompting Scrooge to say, “Must we return to this place?” As we forecasted last week, much like the Dickensian apparition, so, too, does our blog return to the
On September 19, 2025, President Donald Trump issued a proclamation regarding the use of H-1B nonimmigrant visas. That same day, the Department of Labor announced Project Firewall, an H-1B enforcement initiative. Below, we summarize these developments and how they may affect your business.
An H1-B visa is an employer-sponsored visa for foreign professionals.
With each new presidential administration, prognosticators attempt to forecast coming enforcement priorities. President-elect Donald Trump’s return to the White House is no exception, and theories abound regarding the manner and degree of changes his inauguration will bring. While such predictions vary in conviction, one anticipated change seems almost inevitable: a significant increase in the number
Beginning November 1, 2023, employers must use the new Form I-9 (rev. date 08/01/23) to verify the work authorization of their employees. Although this new Form I-9 has been available since August, until now you could also use the previous version of the form (rev. date 10/21/19). As of November 1, the old form is
If an employer hires undocumented workers, are they covered under the U.S. employment laws? Initially, employers must complete Form I-9s for all new employees and cannot hire workers who are unable to establish that they’re authorized to work. But once hired, the script flips and undocumented workers generally enjoy the same legal protections as the
A federal district court in Texas recently struck down the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program – known commonly as DACA – holding that the program was improperly implemented by the former Obama administration and, therefore, is illegal.
Since DACA’s inception in 2012, roughly 800,000 people brought to the United States as undocumented children have
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) recently issued updated guidance extending the Form I-9 flexibility rule that temporarily relaxes the document inspection requirements for employers operating remotely.
Under this rule, which was first announced on March 20, 2020, if your employees are working remotely as a result of COVID-19, you may initially inspect those
Employers interested in sponsoring foreign national workers for new cap-subject H-1B visas this year need to be getting ready now.
This past Friday, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that the initial registration period for the upcoming FY 2022 H-1B cap season will open at noon EST on Tuesday, March 9 and run through
President Trump recently issued two proclamations suspending the entry of many immigrants and other foreign nationals into the United States. These proclamations have caused considerable frustration and uncertainty for thousands of U.S. companies that rely on foreign workers to keep their businesses running. If these proclamations stay in effect, they will block an estimated half
The newest edition of Form I-9 is officially here, and DHS has provided some guidance on how to inspect work authorization documents in a COVID-19 remote world.
Last fall, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) issued a revised Form I-9, which has an edition date at the bottom that reads “10/21/19.” Since