High Skilled Labor
How Experts Are Addressing Immigrant Underemployment and Why it Matters
Many immigrants bring advanced expertise when they come to the United States, but those skills are often underutilized. Due to a range of complex factors, such as professional credentialing and licensing requirements, immigrants’ qualifications are often overlooked. Experts are making inroads to address this, recognizing that such… Read More
Judge Rules USCIS Must Adjudicate Employment Authorization for Asylum Seekers Within 30-Days
A judge ordered last week that United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) must adjudicate work authorization applications for asylum seekers within the prescribed 30-day deadline. Read More
Lawsuit Demands USCIS Comply with FOIA Requests regarding H-1B Adjudications
On behalf of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA), the American Immigration Council filed a lawsuit under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) challenging U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services’ (USCIS) failure to respond to two FOIA requests asking for records that would explain increased scrutiny and denials of H-1B petitions. Read More
DHS Acts to Eliminate Opportunities for Foreign Entrepreneurs and U.S. Job Growth
The Trump administration continued its shortsighted attack on businesses this week, indicating it will end a rule allowing foreign entrepreneurs to grow start-up companies in the United States. The International Entrepreneur Rule (IER) was designed to bring the talent, ideas, and initiative of foreign entrepreneurs to the United… Read More
Bipartisan Group of Lawmakers Oppose Revoking Work Authorization for Spouses of H-1B Holders
In a rare show of bipartisanship, 130 members of Congress sent a letter to Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kirsten Nielsen urging her to maintain the current regulation granting work authorization to spouses of H-1B visa holders. This letter is part of an effort by lawmakers to sway the… Read More
Is USCIS Exceeding Its Authority as It Attempts to Restrict “Specialty Occupation” Workers?
As U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) begins adjudicating H-1B petitions subject to the Fiscal Year (FY) 2019 “cap,”—the annual limit on the number of visas that will be made available for newly-hired foreign workers in “specialty occupations”—employers can expect attacks on this popular category to continue. Congress… Read More
Fewer Foreign Doctors Could Spell Disaster for America’s Most Underserved Communities
The United States has long been the country of choice for international physicians seeking a graduate medical education. But for the second year in a row, the number of foreign doctors who applied to graduate residency programs in the United States has declined. This has triggered concern that the… Read More
H-1B Cap Has Been Reached in First Week for Sixth Consecutive Year, USCIS Announces
Demonstrating a critical demand for educated foreign workers in the United States, the annual H-1B cap has been reached within 5 business days. United States Citizenship and Immigration Services began accepting H-1B petitions on April 2, and on April 6, USCIS announced that it had… Read More
Allowing Spouses of H-1B’s to Work Makes America More Competitive
As part of the April 2017 “Buy American and Hire American” executive order, the Trump administration announced that it intends to revoke the employment eligibility of the spouses of foreign workers with H-1B visas. These changes, if implemented, could have distressing effects on many of these workers, their… Read More
The H-4 Visa Classification
Temporary workers—such as those in H-1B status—typically can bring their spouses and children with them to the United States in what is called H-4 status. This fact sheet provides an overview of the H-4 visa category. Read More
