From our Capital Thinking blog, our public policy colleague Stacy Swanson shares the latest federal employment law developments in in the legislative and executive branches during the week of March 22. *** This is a weekly post spotlighting labor topics in focus by the US legislative and executive branches during the previous week. In this issue, we … Continue Reading
So we hear by Twitter on Thursday last week that from the crack of dawn on Saturday just gone, “high-value business travellers” are partially exempt from self-isolation requirements when entering or returning to England. A number of media, arts and sports roles have been granted an exemption also. “Conditions apply”, it said, and so they … Continue Reading
On Wednesday, October 28, 2020, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced another proposed change to the H-1B visa program. The new rule would do away with the random lottery system currently used to issue the annual quota of 85,000 H-1B visas and replace it with a new lottery system weighted to favor applications with … Continue Reading
Please join Gregory A. Wald, Samuel J. Mudrick and Luisa E. Koidl for a webinar on Wednesday, April 29, 2020 at 11 a.m. EDT/8 a.m. PDT discussing the latest developments and impact of the President’s Executive Order suspending certain aspects of US immigration, travel restrictions and related processing challenges in the transition to a post-COVID-19 world. Hot-button issues of … Continue Reading
On March 20, 2020, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced it would exercise discretion to defer the physical presence requirements associated with Employment Eligibility Verification (Form I-9) in relation to hiring and re-verifying employees. Prior to this announcement, DHS policy required employer representatives to conduct the I-9 verification process in person, examining an employee’s … Continue Reading
Effective March 21, 2020, the United States entered into joint initiatives with Canada and Mexico to restrict travel across the land borders with each country. All non-essential travel across the US-Canada and US-Mexico borders is temporarily restricted. The restrictions are to remain in place for 30 days subject to review by each of the respective … Continue Reading
Just three days after issuing a Proclamation expanding the scope of the temporary travel (entry) bans, due to the global outbreak of the SARS-CoV-2 virus (COVID-19), which restricted entry and travel to the United States of foreign nationals (immigrants or nonimmigrants) who were physically present within the European Schengen Area, President Trump’s Proclamation now includes … Continue Reading
President Trump has issued another Presidential Proclamation expanding the scope of two previously issued travel bans suspending entry of immigrants and nonimmigrants into the United States, subject to certain exceptions detailed below, due to the global outbreak of the SARS-CoV-2 virus (also referred to the as the coronavirus disease 2019 or“COVID-19”). This Proclamation, entitled, Suspension … Continue Reading
United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) recently issued a new version of its Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification, which is used to verify the employment authorization and identity for all employees in the United States. Although employers may now begin to use the new version, which has a 10/21/2019 version date on the bottom, … Continue Reading
By Presidential Proclamation, dated January 31, 2020 and effective on February 2, 2020 at 5pm EST, the United States is suspending the entry of “foreign nationals who pose a risk of transmitting the 2019 novel coronavirus.” As a result, foreign nationals (of any nationality), other than immediate family of U.S. citizens, permanent residents and certain … Continue Reading
On 9 September 2019, the UK government announced changes to the Immigration Rules, which go on for nearly 100 pages. Read a summary of the key changes of most direct relevance to employers, sponsors and recruiters, and view the full Statement of Changes online. In addition to these changes, there has been another important and very … Continue Reading
The EU Settlement Scheme designed to protect the rights of EU, EEA and Swiss citizens and their families already resident in the UK by 31 December 2020 is based on the citizens’ rights section of the UK government’s Withdrawal Agreement with the EU. However, the Withdrawal Agreement has been considered and rejected by the House … Continue Reading
As part of the UAE government’s policy to provide job opportunities to UAE nationals in the private sector, representatives from Tas’heel (the UAE Ministry of Labour’s online service center) have confirmed that the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation (MOHRE) has introduced a requirement for all onshore employers to interview any suitably skilled local nationals … Continue Reading
On March 8, 2019, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will publish its revised version of Form I-539, Application to Extend/Change Nonimmigrant Status and a new Form I-539A, Supplemental Information for Application to Extend/Change Nonimmigrant Status.… Continue Reading
The United States Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”) issued a press release on January 30, 2019, announcing revisions to the H1-B visa program, which were made in direct response to President Trump’s April 17, 2017 “Buy American and Hire American” Executive Order (the “Order”). As we discussed in our previous blog post about the then-proposed … Continue Reading
Recruiting high-calibre staff topped the list of anticipated challenges for employers in a newly released YouGov survey of 2,035 employees commissioned by Acas. The research did not reveal the reasons why the respondents believed this to be the number one issue facing businesses today, but the spectre of Brexit may have been looming large in … Continue Reading
EU citizens and their family members may now apply under the EU Settlement Scheme as part of a public test phase, running from 21 January 2019. Our Brexit Legal Blog contains further information. You can still register for our Brexit Immigration Webinar: White Paper and EU Settlement, which takes place this Thursday 24 January at … Continue Reading
The Polish Government published on 11 January 2019 a first draft of the bill regulating terms of stay of UK nationals and their family members in Poland as a consequence of Brexit. Without this regulation UK nationals would automatically acquire a “third country national” status under the Polish immigration laws and their staying and working … Continue Reading
Just days before we head off for some festive respite from the Brexit chaos, the Immigration White Paper has finally been published (a full 164 page delight!). Here’s a brief summary of the key proposals, what employers should do next and how our Business Immigration team can help. As one of the fundamental challenges facing … Continue Reading
Last week I was proud to speak at Business Forums International’s ‘Vetting and Screening’ Conference regarding the challenges faced by employers when completing right to work checks. I was delighted to share the platform with speakers from Reed Screening, The Forward Trust, Nick Mann Associates, Credence Background Screening, The Security Watchdog and NSL, who covered … Continue Reading
How will your business be affected by restrictions on hiring EEA nationals from 2021? The Government has said it will publish an immigration White Paper in the coming weeks. This should provide details of its intended post-Brexit immigration policy. We are hoping that businesses will be given a formal opportunity to comment on the proposed … Continue Reading
Last week our Retail Industry Group hosted a ‘Retail Brexit Trade Briefing.’ There was a very lively discussion delving into the opportunities and challenges that Brexit may have for the retail trade. The main concerns of delegates included: How to retain EEA nationals (many businesses reported having a high percentage EEA workforce) How to attract … Continue Reading
In a recent announcement, US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) advised the previous suspension of premium processing for cap-subject H-1B petitions will continue to February 19, 2019 and will be expanded to include additional H-1B petitions. The expansion will take effect on September 11, 2018. However, USCIS will continue premium processing of pending H-1B petitions … Continue Reading
The Social Security Administration (“SSA”) recently announced that in 2019, it will restart its mismatch letter notification program. Through “mismatch” letters, formally titled “Employer Correction Requests,” the SSA notifies employers that the social security number (“SSN”) and name reported for one or more employees does not match SSA records. These notification letters advise employers that … Continue Reading
