Employers and sponsors of overseas workers, as well as individuals who require permission to live and work in the UK, should take note of the upcoming fee increases and consider making applications early to offset the risk of paying more for future applications.
Continue reading “UK Government Announces Significant Increase to Immigration Fees”
This year, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services reports that it selected 110,791 H-1B beneficiaries in the lottery —25,791 more than the cap. Because the number of eligible H-1B beneficiaries is substantially larger than the H-1B cap, even foreign nationals eligible for approval of an H-1B petition had a slim chance of being selected in this year’s lottery. Petitioners for those beneficiaries who were unsuccessful in the FY2024 H-1B lottery may consider applying for O-1A status.
In May, the U.S. Department of Justice announced that 10 employers have settled claims that they violated the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) by posting discriminatory job advertisements on a college recruiting platform. These actions have cost individual employers over $300,000 and serve as a warning to make sure that online job boards are compliant with the INA before posting to them.
Continue reading “DOJ Settles Discrimination Claims with Employers Using Campus Recruiting Services”
The Department of Homeland Security’s E-Verify program is a free web-based verification tool for employers to confirm newly hired employees’ work authorization in the United States. Although participation in E-Verify is generally voluntary for employers, some states require employers to use E-Verify in certain contexts. Florida is the most recent state to update its E-Verify laws with Gov. Ron DeSantis signing Senate Bill 1718 on May 10, 2023.
Continue reading “Florida Extends E-Verify Requirement to Private Employers”
On 13 April 2023, the Home Office launched the Innovator Founder visa route. This visa route is designed for entrepreneurs who intend to establish a business in the UK and replaces the Innovator visa and Start-Up visa routes. The main difference between the Innovator Founder and Innovator routes is that the new route will not require individuals to demonstrate they have access to funds of at least £50,000 to invest in the business, albeit the applicants will still be required to show they have sufficient funds to operate the proposed business.
The Home Office has released the first Statement of Changes for 2023. We have highlighted some of the most important changes announced on this occasion, including the Electronic Travel Authorisation, the Innovator Founder Visa / Start-Up Visa, the Senior or Specialist Worker Visa, the Expansion Worker Visa and the Youth Mobility Visa.
Continue reading “U.K. Immigration: Statement of Changes, 9 March 2023 – Points of Interest”