For foreign nationals navigating the U.S. visa process, few immigration experiences are more frustrating than hearing the words “administrative processing” after a visa interview. This additional review step can derail carefully planned travel dates, job start dates, family reunifications, and educational opportunities. Understanding what administrative processing entails and how to navigate it effectively can help
Hosts Kate Kalmykov and Faraz Qaisrani delve into immigration directives, including increased visa scrutiny, changes to processing times, and new measures affecting business immigration. They address shifts in H-1B interpretation, treaty-based visa reforms, and the potential elimination of H-4 EADs. They also cover adjustments to consular visa operations that may disrupt employee travel, along with
The Trump administration has issued a number of executive orders since taking office that impact immigration. While these do not directly target employers or address business immigration, they nevertheless may impact employers and their workforce.
Continue reading, “Summary of 2025 Immigration-Related Executive Orders.”
Business immigration visa quotas have long presented a major hurdle for employers and employees. There is no logic to the quota systems that Congress has in place, and quotas are not accurately connected with economic reality.
It is important for the US economy that Congress takes the necessary steps to update the employment-based visa system
Prior to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, many employers found the extensive and nuanced Form I-9 and Public Access File (PAF) compliance requirements challenging. Once the pandemic set in, keeping up with these requirements got even more complicated, with the resulting implementation of remote work and numerous other pandemic-related difficulties.
Currently, in the winddown
In this Law360 article, Greenberg Traurig Shareholder Laura Reiff discusses immigration legislation and regulations to watch in 2017. Reiff addresses the Legal Workforce Act, requiring employers to use E-Verify, the BRIDGE Act, and EB-5. To read the full article, click here.
In a recent Law360 article, Nataliya Rymer, Of Counsel in Greenberg Traurig’s Philadelphia office, addresses the DOS’ prudential visa revocations and its impact on foreign nationals, employers, and school officials. Nataliya reviews the State Department’s broader application of prudential visa revocation of late and the low burden of proof used by the agency to determine
I recently returned from a month in Vietnam meeting with clients and potential immigrants to the United States. Over the course of the past five years and in my travels to Vietnam, I have watched the EB-5 program grow in popularity as a tool for Vietnamese nationals to self-sponsor for a U.S. green card. In fact, Vietnam now ranks second in EB-5 visa usage worldwide.
The growing interest in immigration to the U.S. has also spurned in Vietnam a new trend, with some immigration agents promoting the EB-3 visa program, to target clients that cannot afford the EB-5 program or wish to spend less money to immigrate to the U.S. This development is alarming, as in many cases, the way the EB-3 program is being described and offered to the Vietnamese public is inconsistent with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) and U.S. Department of Labor Regulations (DOL) laws and regulations. In the most egregious cases, these EB-3 for sale programs intentionally circumvent the legal requirements and are fraudulent.
By way of background, EB-3 stands for Employment-Based Third preference category – a concept long existent in U.S. immigration law and a valid means to a green card when properly used. Employment-based sponsorship in U.S. immigration is divided into several preference categories, with the Employment-Based Third category being reserved for sponsorship for positions requiring:
The process of employment-based sponsorship in the EB-3 category entails a three step process:
1. A PERM application is processed and filed by the employer with the DOL. The process involves the U.S. employer engaging in various methods of recruitment to find U.S. workers for the position. This is because the DOL’s main purpose is to ensure that U.S. workers get preference for jobs. The DOL determines the prevailing wage rate for the position that the employer is required to pay. Only after recruitment is completed, and if the employer can show that it was not able to find minimally qualified, able, or willing U.S. workers for the position, would the DOL certify and approve a PERM application. If the sponsoring organization receives applications from interested individuals in the U.S. in response to the ads but does not review and interview the applicants or disclose receiving the applications to the DOL, the sponsoring company and all persons involved in the process can be subject to enforcement action.Continue Reading Permanent Residency Through the EB-3 Program: What’s Lawful and What’s Not