General Nonimmigrant Visa

Successful response to an H-1B petition RFE for a Staff Accountant questioning specialty occupation and degree in a non-accounting field

2 years ago By Chief Editor

We assisted petitioner, a public accounting firm, in filing an H-1B petition for beneficiary for the position of staff accountant. We received an RFE requesting additional evidence that the position qualified as a specialty occupation by satisfying at least one of the four qualifying criteria for a specialty occupation. In our lengthy response, we argued that the job duties, as detailed in the petition, and as compared with OOH’s job description for staff accountant not only comports with but goes beyond OOH guidance in its uniqueness and complexity.

Nonimmigrant Visas

Profession/Occupation

Accountants and Auditors

Immigration Law

H-1B extension and change in employer filed while out of status

2 years ago By Chief Editor

We successfully responded to an H-1B request for evidence (RFE), questioning the beneficiary’s maintenance of status. The beneficiary’s previous employer (Employer A) had submitted an H-1B extension. While the petition was pending the beneficiary’s nonimmigrant status expired. An RFE was subsequently received by Employer A, and following the filing of a comprehensive RFE response, the petition was denied.

Nonimmigrant Visas

Immigration Law

USCIS Conducts Third Random Selection from Previously Submitted FY 2022 H-1B Cap Registrations

2 years ago By Chief Editor 2 comments

Release Date

11/19/2021

Extension of EAD for H-4 and EAD for L-2 - Not the Best Settlement

2 years ago By Rajiv S. Khanna 6 comments

I have reviewed the recent lawsuit settlement where the USCIS has agreed to consider H-4 holders to be eligible to continue working while their timely filed EAD extension is pending. Unfortunately, the settlement seems to state that the right to work is only co-extensive with your I-94 duration. Therefore, you do not have the right to continue working for 180 days; only till your I-94 expires. While it is better than nothing, the settlement is not everything that we would like to see.

Are L-1B visa holders eligible to work remotely?

2 years ago By Chief Editor

Question details

This is a question about after the return to normalcy from the pandemic. From an immigration perspective, are L-1B visa holders allowed to work remotely/work from home from within the U.S.? Does it matter whether the employee's house (where she will work from) is near the designated company office location or not?

And lastly, would you expect difficulty with getting the L-1B visa in the first place if the intention is to work remotely/from home (but within the U.S.)?

FAQ Transcript

L-1B holders, unlike H-1B employees, are not geographically tied down. You can work from anywhere. Further, if you work and report in-house and not to a client, you should even be able to change locations without any amendments to your L-1B petition. Only L-1B visa holders who work at third-party sites are subject to certain limitations; the most important one is that you continue to be an "employee" under the company's control that petitioned for you. I can see no reason why the location should interfere with a visa at the consulate.

Note: Where transcribed from audio/video, this is a verbatim transcript of the referenced audio/video media delivered as oral communication, and, therefore, may not conform to written grammatical or syntactical form.

Impact of subordinate employees outside the U.S. or in third countries on L-1A and EB-1 petitions

2 years ago By Chief Editor

Question details

I was on L-1A and later switched to H-4 EAD 3 years back (working with the same Indian multinational company for 15+ years). I manage a large team here in the USA, and some of my reportees are in the U.K. Since the H-4 EAD extension is taking time, my company plans to move me to Canada for one year. As per the plan, I will be back to the USA on an L-1A visa, and then the company will file for my green card in the EB-1C category. I don't have any team in Canada, and I will mainly manage the same U.S. and U.K. team from Canada.

FAQ Transcript

The USCIS will consider the broad range of your duties within the business context, including employees being supervised and managed in countries other than the USA (or Canada). In our experience, the USCIS looks at whether the benefit of the work you perform with your dispersed team flows to the petitioning employer and the corporate group, department, or division within the L-1/EB-1C equity/control relationship. But, of course, your particular facts need to be examined in context. So have your lawyers look at them very carefully.

Nov 11, 2021 Free US Immigration Community Conference Call with Rajiv (Every Other Thursday)

2 years ago By Chief Editor

Nonimmigrant Visas

Green Card

Discussion Topics:

USCIS Expands Credit Card Payment Pilot Program to California Service Center

2 years ago By Chief Editor

As part of the credit card payment pilot program, the California Service Center is now accepting credit card payments using Form G-1450, Authorization for Credit Card Transactions, for petitioners filing Form I-129, Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker, for O and P nonimmigrants.

Oct 28, 2021 Free US Immigration Community Conference Call with Rajiv (Every Other Thursday)

2 years ago By Chief Editor

Nonimmigrant Visas

Green Card

Discussion Topics, Thursday, October 28, 2021:

FAQ: Change of jobs with an approved I-140 from employer A and Reapplying PERM through B || Impact of reportees outside the U.S. or in third countries on L-1A and EB-1 petitions || Are L-1B visa holders eligible to work remotely? || Approved EB-2/EB-3: Interfiling/upgrading to EB-2 with employers A and B || Working outside the U.S. for four months with a recently issued green card || Documents needed by and anticipated questions for green card holders at the port of entry

Reentering the U.S. on Visitor Visa

2 years ago By Chief Editor

Question details

My parents have been here on visitor's visas since the beginning of August. If they are here for the entire six months, can they come back again within six months of leaving the U.S.?

FAQ Transcript

The CBP (Customs and Border Protection) may find this pattern an unacceptable use of the visitor's visa. Generalizing for the sake of making a point, if in any twelve months your parents have spent more than six months in the United States, the CBP can hold that it appears your parents are living in the United States and visiting their home country instead of the other way around. More...

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