News Updates

LAC Welcomes (Back) Attorney Grace Zimmerman

18:17 03 September in News Updates by Larrabee

LARRABEE ALBI COKER LLP Welcomes Attorney GRACE ZIMMERMAN OF COUNSEL Some of you will remember Grace as an early partner of the firm, which evolved from an immigration practice initially established by Attorney Peter Larrabee in 1981. The immigration practice broke away from Gray Cary Ware & Freidenrich (now DLA Piper), and became Larrabee & Associates, which is today Larrabee Albi Coker LLP. Grace joined the firm when it was Larrabee & Associates in 1996, and became a partner of the firm in 1999. In 2006 Grace moved on to lead her own practice, and after some time as of counsel...

Legal Update: Continue to Use Current Version of Form I-9

18:13 03 September in News Updates by Larrabee

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has advised that employers should continue to use the current version of Form I-9, bearing a revision date of July 17, 2017, even after the form expiration date of August 31, 2019 has passed. The current version of the form and information regarding completion is available on I-9 Central. USCIS has advised it will provide updated information about the new version of the Form I-9 as soon as it becomes available; they have not provided any timeline. Please note it is not unusual for USCIS to extend the validity of forms in this manner. Note that the...

Visa Bulletin Update & Predictions of Future Visa Availability

18:10 03 September in News Updates by Larrabee

Visa Bulletin Update - Employment-Based Third Preference (EB-3) Immediately Unavailable Through End of Fiscal Year 2019 Each month, the U.S. Department of State publishes its Visa Bulletin, which lists dates of immigrant visa availability based on priority date, visa category, and country of nationality. The purpose of the Visa Bulletin is to provide applicants for permanent residency an update as to when their priority date may become current so that they may proceed to the last step in the green card process. As the end of Fiscal Year 2019 (FY2019) approaches on September 30, 2019, visa availability has begun to slow...

LAC Partners selected by their peers for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America® 2020 in the field of Immigration Law

16:36 21 August in News Updates by Larrabee

Fausta Albi and Diana Vellos Coker have been selected by their peers for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America® 2020 in the field of Immigration Law. Corporate Counsel magazine has called Best Lawyers "the most respected referral list of attorneys in practice." Both partners have been included on this list since 2009. Best Lawyers is the oldest and most respected attorney ranking service in the world. For more than 30 years, Best Lawyers has assisted those in need of legal services to identify the attorneys best qualiﬁed to represent them in distant jurisdictions or unfamiliar specialties. Best Lawyers lists are...

Significant Changes to the EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program

16:43 25 July in News Updates by Larrabee

On July 24, 2019, USCIS published the much anticipated final regulation overhauling the EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program. This program was created by Congress in 1990 to promote employment creation in the United States. Under the EB-5 program, foreign nationals are able to apply for permanent resident status if they make a required minimum investment in a new commercial enterprise which will create 10 full-time jobs in the United States. The regulations published yesterday, which take effect on November 21, 2019, will increase the standard minimum investment amount from $1 million to $1.8 million, and the minimum investment amount in a Targeted...

USCIS UPDATE: PREMIUM PROCESSING FOR H-1B CAP-SUBJECT PETITIONS

19:05 10 June in News Updates by Larrabee

The USCIS issued the below press release, indicating that as of today they will accept premium processing requests for all H-1B Cap-Subject petitions. A request for premium processing may now be added to an H-1B Cap-Subject petition pending adjudication with USCIS. The USCIS filing fee is $1,410, for which USCIS will guarantee a response within 15 calendar days. Note that the response may be an approval, denial, or request for additional evidence. USCIS Press Release June 7, 2019 Premium Processing Begins for Remaining H-1B Cap-Subject Petitions on June 10 On June 10, we will begin premium processing for all remaining FY 2020 H-1B cap-subject...

New Social Media Question on U.S. Visa Applications

15:05 10 June in News Updates by Larrabee

The U.S. Department of State (DOS) has updated its DS-160 nonimmigrant visa application and DS-260 immigrant visa application to include a question on social media identifiers. The item requires applicants to use a drop-down list to indicate the social media platforms they have used during the five years preceding their visa application, and the username, handle, screen-name or other identifiers associated with each account. The DOS is not requesting passwords and has confirmed it will only review information that users have allowed to be viewable to the public. The new question is applicable only to visa application forms completed on...

USCIS Completes Data Entry of Fiscal Year 2020 H-1B Cap-Subject Petitions

19:34 17 May in News Updates by Larrabee

USCIS issued the following Press Release: May 17, 2019- USCIS has completed data entry for all fiscal year 2020 H-1B cap-subject petitions selected in our computer-generated random selection process, including those selected under the U.S. advanced degree exemption. As in previous years, we will now begin returning all H-1B cap-subject petitions that we did not select and will issue an announcement once we are done notifying petitioners. Due to the volume of filings, we cannot provide a definite time frame for returning unselected petitions. We ask petitioners to wait to inquire about the status of their cap-subject petitions until they receive...

FY2020 H-1B CAP UPDATES

22:50 15 April in News Updates by Larrabee

Caps reached USCIS received 201,011 H-1B petitions during the filing period, which began April 1, including petitions filed for the advanced degree exemption. USCIS announced on April 5 that it had received enough petitions to reach the congressionally mandated H-1B regular cap of 65,000. For a sense of how the filing numbers compare to prior years: In FY2019, USCIS received 190,098 petitions; in FY2019, 199,000; in FY2017, 236,000. Lottery conducted On April 10, USCIS used a computer-generated random selection process to select enough H-1B petitions to meet the congressionally-mandated regular cap and the U.S. advanced degree exemption for fiscal year (FY) 2020. After completing...

USCIS Announces Changes to Premium Processing for FY2020 Cap-Subject H-1B Petitions

22:41 19 March in News Updates by Larrabee

What's new? U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) resumed premium processing on Tuesday, March 12 for all H-1B petitions. Today USCIS announced exceptions for FY2020 Cap-Subject H-1B petitions (petitions which will be filed beginning April 1, 2019). Per USCIS, premium processing will be offered in two phases during the FY 2020 cap season so USCIS can manage the premium processing requests without fully suspending it as they did in previous years. The first phase will include FY 2020 cap-subject H-1B petitions requesting a change of status; the second phase will include all other FY 2020 cap-subject petitions. Cap-subject H-1B petitions requesting a...