Rachel Browning’s Legal Blog

            One of the more frustrating experiences for foreign nationals seeking to enter the U.S. can be consular processing – the application for a visa to enter the U.S. at the U.S. Consulate of the alien’s home country.  While the initial determination of an applicant’s eligibility for a visa lies with the Department of Homeland [...]

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            The Employment and Training Administration (ETA) of the Department of Labor (DOL) its regulations to initiate new procedures for the issuance of labor certifications to employers sponsoring H-2B non-immigrants entering to perform temporary nonagricultural labor. The new procedures cover the enforcement of employer compliance and certain attestations made by those employers. Specifically, the new [...]

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The Department of Justice is publishing its final rule to amend the immigration regulations regarding “voluntary departure.”  This rule adopts a previously proposed rule under which a grant of voluntary departure is automatically withdrawn when a motion to reopen or reconsider is filed with the immigration judge or the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA), or [...]

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U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) recently announced that it is implementing changes to the H-2A regulations that will simplify the hiring process of temporary and seasonal agricultural workers and facilitate the H-2A process for employers by removing certain limitations, thereby hopefully encouraging lawful employment of available foreign workers.  These changes stem from the commitment [...]

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The immigration attorneys of Smith & Garg have begun preparing for the 2009 H-1B quota and are accepting applications for filing the 1st of April, 2009.  Unfortunately, Congress has kept the number of H-1B visas available this year to only 65,000 – who would dare touch such an explosive issue as immigration reform during an [...]

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