Diana Vellos Coker’s article on AB 60 driver’s licenses featured in the San Diego NAWBO newsletter: http://nawbo-sd.org/what-employers-need-to-know-about-ab-60-drivers-licenses.html <-- Back to News Updates...
April 1, 2015 marks the opening date of the filing window for H-1B petitions seeking a FY2016 (10/1/15 to 9/30/16) cap or quota number. USCIS will begin accepting H-1B petitions for the 2016 H-1B cap starting Wednesday, April 1, 2015. The H-1B quota limitations are as follows: Regular cap (Bachelor's degree): 58,200 Regular cap, Citizen of Chile: 1,400 Regular cap, Citizen of Singapore: 5,400 Master's cap (Master's degree or higher from a U.S. University): 20,000 Background: You may recall that for the past three years the H-1B quota was met as soon as the filing window opened on April 1st, triggering the lottery provision. This provision requires...
On January 1, 2015, USCIS will begin deleting E-Verify case records that are over 10 years old, which are those records whose last transaction occurred on or before December 31, 2004. The deletion of records will be an annual process that will continue in future years. The Department of Homeland Security will not have access to these old records effective January 1, 2015. If for any reason an employer would like to retain records subject to deletion, the employer may download a "Historic Records Report" containing information about transactions in each E-Verify case created on or before December 31, 2004. Please...
Diana Vellos Coker and Fausta Albi present “What Every In-House Counsel Needs to Know About Immigration Compliance” at the Association of Corporate Counsel San Diego Chapter’s February 2015 Brown Bag Program. Click here for more information. <-- Back to LAC Blog...
The President’s Immigration Accountability Executive Actions -- Benefits for individuals in the United States pursuant to employment-based visas: Below is a summary of the issues pertaining to individuals in the U.S. pursuant to employment-based visas. The details are still unclear. Specifically, eligibility criteria, process for application, timing of regulations are largely unknown. However, these are the principal components as we currently understand them. Timing of Filing for Adjustment of Status for quota backlogged individuals The ability of individuals with an approved I-140 employment-based immigrant petition who are caught in the quota backlogs to file for adjustment of status will be advanced to...
On November 20th, President Obama confirmed that he will sign an Immigration Accountability Executive Action. His speech was brief, but he highlighted the main points of his Executive Action. The White House has outlined these in a fact sheet and posted it on its website -- http://m.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2014/11/20/fact-sheet-immigration-accountability-executive-action. We wanted to highlight a few: Creating a mechanism that requires certain undocumented immigrants to pass a background check to make sure that they start paying their fair share in taxes. In order to promote public safety, DHS is establishing a new deferred action program for parents of U.S. Citizens or LPRs who are not enforcement...
The U.S. Department of State announced today that effective November 12, 2014 the U.S. and China will extend the visa validity period issued to students and visitors for business and pleasure....
Larrabee Albi Coker LLP is ranked First Tier in San Diego, California in Immigration Law for 2015 by U.S. News and World Report. The U.S. News and World Report - Best Lawyers "Best Law Firms" rankings are based on a rigorous evaluation process that includes the collection of client and lawyer evaluations, peer review from leading attorneys in their field, and review of additional information provided by law firms as part of the formal submission process....
The 2016 Diversity Visa (DV) Lottery online entry period will begin at Noon ET on October 1, 2014, and will end at Noon ET on November 3, 2014. Applicants may access the eligibility requirements, instructions for application, and FAQs for the 2016 Diversity Immigrant Visa Program at: http://travel.state.gov/content/dam/visas/DV-2016-Instructions-Translations/DV_2016_Instructions_English.pdf. The Diversity Immigrant Visa Program (also known as the Green Card Lottery) provides immigrant visas each fiscal year for persons from countries with low rates of immigration to the United States. Essentially, this program provides certain nationalities with the opportunity to win the chance to apply for a green card, without having to qualify...
As we continue to follow the historic U.S. Supreme Court decision that struck down Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) and the impact of that decision on U.S. immigration, we wanted to advise our clients of recent guidance issued by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) and by the U.S. Department of State (DOS) on this topic. The USCIS recently released updated FAQs -- http://www.uscis.gov/family/same-sex-marriages. We would like to highlight the following Q&A present within the USCIS FAQs which indicates that in addition to immigrant filings for same-sex spouses, nonimmigrant dependent filings (e.g., H-4, L-2, etc.) are...
