FY 2027 H-1B Lottery: Important Dates and Changes
February 03, 2026
Anna Putintseva details everything you need to know approaching this year's FY 2027 H-1B Cap Season... Read More »
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Maintaining F-1 Student Status: Tips to Stay Compliant and Avoid Violations
May 05, 2025
The American Immigration Lawyers Association has released recommended guidelines for international students holding an F-1 visa. For an F-1 international student in the United States, the responsibility to maintain immigration status falls to the student. Follow these key guidelines to stay in compliance and avoid jeopardizing your education or legal stay: Maintain Required Documentation F-1 Read More »
Anna Putintseva Presents to Global Entrepreneurs at Blackstone LaunchPad, Syracuse University
March 28, 2025
Anna Putintseva presented on Corporate Immigration Considerations to student entrepreneurs at Syracuse University this Wednesday as part of its Blackstone LaunchPad program. Anna’s presentation covered key topics, including selecting the appropriate corporate structure and jurisdiction for forming a business entity, exploring nonimmigrant and immigrant visa options for employment and business, and strategies for effectively transitioning Read More »
New Non-Citizen Registration Requirement Announced by USCIS
March 18, 2025
On January 20, 2025, the Trump Administration issued the Protecting the American People Against Invasion executive order, reinforcing the legal obligation for certain non-citizens to register with the U.S. government. Failure to comply is treated as a civil and criminal enforcement priority. Who Must Register? All non-citizens 14 years of age or older who were Read More »
H-1B FY2026 Cap Season: What Employers and Employees Should Know
February 07, 2025
In this article: H-1B Cap Season Key Points H-1B Recap What is the H-1B Visa Category? Specialty Occupation Defined H-1B Cap-Exempt Cases Labor Condition Application (LCA) H-1B Period of Stay Conclusion Contact U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has announced that the initial electronic registration for the fiscal year (FY) 2026 H-1B cap season will Read More »
FY 2025 H1-B Cap Season: Important Insights and Changes
February 06, 2024
In this article: FY 2025 H-1B Cap Key Points FY 2025 H-1B Changes H-1B Recap What is the H-1B Visa Category? Specialty Occupation Defined H-1B Cap-Exempt Cases Labor Condition Application (LCA) H-1B Period of Stay Conclusion U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has announced that the initial electronic registration for the fiscal year (FY) 2025 Read More »
H-1B Registration and Filing: Why Should You Plan Now?
December 20, 2022
In early March of 2023, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will start accepting registrations of H-1B petitions subject to fiscal year (FY) 2024 cap. Beneficiaries of selected and approved H-1B cap-subject petitions will be eligible to start working in the United States on October 1, 2023. Last year, USCIS received 486,927 registrations for the Read More »
H-1B Specialty Worker Temporary Visa Fact Sheet
February 01, 2022
On March 1, 2022, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services ("USCIS") will start accepting registrations of H-1B petitions subject to fiscal year (FY) 2023 cap. Beneficiaries of selected and approved H-1B cap-subject petitions will be eligible to start working in the United States on October 1, 2022. Competition for H-1B numbers during the FY2023 season is Read More »
Waiver of Interview Requirement for Certain Nonimmigrant Visas through the end of 2022
January 10, 2022
By: Anna Putintseva The U.S. Secretary of State, in consultation with the Department of Homeland Security, has authorized consular officers to waive in-person interviews for certain employment nonimmigrant visa applicants through the end of 2022. Beneficiaries of approved H-1, H-3, H-4, L, O, P, and Q visa petitions may qualify for an interview waiver if Read More »
Legal Considerations for Your Online Business
November 01, 2021
In this article Business Structure for Online Businesses Business Name and Avoiding Trademark Infringement Domain Registration for Online Businesses Filing your Business Formation Documents and Obtaining a Tax ID Starting a Business Account Online Business Licenses and Permits Sales Tax for Online Businesses Website and Consumer Legal Materials Business Insurance for Online Businesses Contact As Read More »
LEGAL ALERT: Prevailing Wage Increase for Highly Skilled Non-Immigrant and Immigrant Workers is Delayed
May 26, 2021
The Department of Labor ("DOL") delayed until November 2022 the effective date of the Trump Administration's rule titled "Strengthening Wage Protections for the Temporary and Permanent Employment of Certain Immigrants and Non-Immigrants in the United States" (the "Prevailing Wage Rule" or "Rule") which significantly raised the minimum wage employers must pay to highly skilled H-1B, Read More »
FY2022 H-1B Online Registration Starts on March 9, 2021
February 10, 2021
United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) announced that employers may submit their cap-subject H-1B online registration forms beginning Tuesday, March 9, 2021 at noon Eastern Time and continuing through Thursday, March 25, 2021 at noon Eastern Time. Employers will need to register and pay an associated $10 fee for each H-1B electronic registration. USCIS will conduct a Read More »
USCIS Publishes Final Rule Creating a Wage-Based Selection Process for H-1Bs
January 11, 2021
On January 8, 2021, USCIS published a final rule (the “Rule“) creating a wage-based selection process for new cap-subject H-1B petitions titled Modification of Registration Requirement for Petitioners Seeking To File Cap-Subject H-1B Petitions which is scheduled to take effect on March 9, 2021, before this year’s H-1B lottery. The Rule gives priority to the petitions offering Read More »
U.S. District Court Sets Aside the DHS and DOL Wage Rules
December 07, 2020
The U.S. District Court in California has set aside the DOL interim final rule, Strengthening Wage Protections for the Temporary and Permanent Employment of Certain Aliens in the United States, significantly increasing the prevailing wages to be paid to certain temporary and permanent foreign workers (“DOL Rule”) and the DHS interim final rule, Strengthening the H-1B Nonimmigrant Read More »
New DOL and DHS Rules Significantly Impact H-1B Program
November 02, 2020
On October 8, 2020, the Department of Labor ("DOL") and Department of Homeland Security ("DHS") published new rules that will have a considerable impact on the H-1B visa program. The DOL rule substantially modifies and increases prevailing wages payable to foreign workers and limits the H-1B program to the most highly paid professionals, regardless of Read More »
What Wineries and Vineyards Should Know About Employment of Foreign Nationals
February 18, 2020
Seasonal Workers The U.S. wine industry is facing an imminent shortage of labor, particularly during harvest season. Throughout the United States, such work is mostly done by foreign workers. The H-2A visa program is commonly utilized by wineries to fill employment gaps, by hiring temporary, seasonal workers. H-2A visas are Read More »
USCIS Officially Confirms New H-1B Registration Process
February 11, 2020
United States Citizenship and Immigration Services ("USCIS") announced that it is implementing the electronic registration system for employers seeking to file FY2021 H-1B cap subject petitions. Employers are required to register and pay an associated $10 fee for each electronic registration. We can assist you with the registration and submission of the necessary information for Read More »
Applying for an H-1B Visa for Fiscal Year 2021
November 21, 2019
Background The H-1B category is an attractive employment-based option for U.S. employers seeking to hire foreign nationals in specialty occupations. Generally, in order to qualify for an H-1B visa, the employer must demonstrate to the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (the "USCIS") that the following requirements are met: the job is a specialty occupation, Read More »
The Format of an Expert Letter
January 18, 2019
In last month's alert, we discussed a popular question among many employer-sponsors, namely how many expert letters should be submitted to support a petition. Here is the link to that alert: http://bhlawpllc.com/publication/expert-letters-how-many-letters-are-enough-for-an-o-1-petition/ In this alert, we are addressing the format of how these letters should be written. The government gives some insights in the regulations about Read More »
Expert letters – How many letters are enough for an O-1 Petition?
December 10, 2018
The fifth criterion for O-1 classification is what we generally refer to in the industry as "expert letters". Usually sponsors and beneficiaries ask us how many letters are required in order to meet this criterion. Our response is: it is not the quantity but the quality of expert letters that matters. O-1 petitions do not Read More »
Caution: USCIS can now deny petitions WITHOUT first issuing a Request for Evidence
November 19, 2018
As of September 11, 2018, the US Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS) implemented a new policy which states an officer reviewing a recently filed petition has the discretion to outwardly deny the petition without first issuing a Request for Evidence or a Notice of Intent to Deny. This policy is intended to encourage petitioners to submit as Read More »
Is a dancer’s O-1 petition approvable, even if the dancer hasn’t won any recent major competition awards?
October 16, 2018
There are times when cases presented to this office involve a dancer who has transitioned from being a highly successful competitive dancer to coach or performer. As more years pass between the dancer's last competition and the dancer's current work as a coach or performer, there may be concerns about using older results to support Read More »
Client Testimonial
October 05, 2018
I was recently denied approval to travel for some important upcoming meetings in the United States on the Visa Waiver program and thus needed a skilled attorney that fully understood Immigration Law to assist me with overcoming the denial and obtaining a business visa to the United States. Anna Putintseva and her team assisted me Read More »
O-1A or O-1B – Are You an Athlete or an Artist?
August 28, 2018
Fiscal Year 2019 H-1B Cap Filing Season Begins April 2, 2018
January 25, 2018
On April 2, 2018, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (the "USCIS") will begin accepting H-1B petitions subject to the Fiscal Year ("FY") 2019 cap. Foreign employees whose H-1B FY 2019 petitions will be approved can start their employment in the United States on October 1, 2018. While April 2nd may seem far away at Read More »
Fiscal Year 2018 H-1B Cap Filing Season Begins April 3, 2017
January 24, 2017
On April 3, 2017, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (the "USCIS") will begin accepting H-1B petitions subject to the Fiscal Year ("FY") 2018 cap. Foreign employees whose H-1B FY 2018 petitions will be approved can start their employment in the United States on October 1, 2017. While April 3rd may seem far away at Read More »