On April 19, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that it would formally update its Policy Manual regarding how cannabis-related activity–even when it took place in states that have legalized the medical and recreational use of marijuana–would impact naturalization. The Policy Manual is self-defined by the USCIS as its centralized online repository for … read more

Canada’s cannabis legalization creates yet another wrinkle in the relations between the U.S. and its northern neighbor. U.S. Attorney General Jeffrey Sessions harbors a well known hatred towards anything cannabis and he clearly has no love for Canada’s Cannabis Act either. What will this mean though for Canadians who are 100% legally involved in Canada’s cannabis industry when … read more

On the eve of the Canada’s cannabis legalization, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (“CBP”) held a teleconference to explain the agency’s enforcement policy and field questions from journalists. The on-the-record teleconference featured the head of the CBP’s Office of Field Operations, which has a staff of 28,000+ employees and an operating budget of $5.2 … read more

Canada’s cannabis legalization creates yet another wrinkle in the relations between the U.S. and its northern neighbor. U.S. Attorney General Jeffrey Sessions harbors a well known hatred towards anything cannabis and he clearly has no love for Canada’s Cannabis Act either. What will this mean though for Canadians who are 100% legally involved in Canada’s … read more

Last month, the U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”) arrested and charged Pradyumna Kumar Samal, CEO of two Washington State information technology companies, Divensi, Inc. and Azimetry, Inc., with visa-fraud. The DOJ alleges Mr. Samal initiated and oversaw a multi-year scheme involving the submission of forged documents to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”). The … read more

On Friday, April 6, 2018, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) announced that it had received a sufficient number of petitions between April 2-5, 2018 for the Fiscal Year (“FY”) to meet its 2019 H-1B Cap. The announcement confirms the overwhelming demand from U.S. employers for qualified professionals to fill specialty occupation positions. Assuming … read more

In my previous post, I explained the H-1B Cap lottery process and described the general steps employers must take to file their petitions during the H-1B Cap window in April. In this post, I will specify the H-1B requirements, define some key terms, and describe the evidence that must accompany the H-1B petition. An H-1B … read more

In his first State of the Union address on January 30, 2018, President Trump articulated his four-pillar plan for immigration reform: path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants brought to the U.S. as children; securing America’s southern border with a wall; ending the diversity visa lottery and instituting a merit-based immigration system; and, limiting family immigration … read more