Hot Topics for 2008 for In-house Counsel and Human Resources Departments

Partner Laura J. Mazel spoke at the second part of a two-part complimentary breakfast series on May 20, 2008 on compliance under immigration and employment law.  Topics included Best Practices from Hire to Fire and Dealing with Independent Contractors.

Our immigration firm collaborated with the Employment Law Group at Folger, Levin and Kahn on this joint series, so that attendees could learn from the experts in two currently very challenging areas of the law--immigration and employment, and so that they could learn how to navigate through minefields when these two areas intersect. 

We continue to advise foreign national employees to communicate with immigration counsel via their employers well in advance of any international travel.  We have heard recent reports that F-1 students, with approved Fiscal Year 2009 H-1B petitions, may experience difficulties in re-entry to the United States after international travel due to the government prematurely updating the SEVIS system with H-1B approvals, thereby terminating any record of the student’s F-1 status.  Before traveling, students should verify with their Designated School Officials that SEVIS is properly updated to reflect their current immigration status. 

The USCIS today announced an important change that should benefit students who would have otherwise experienced a gap between the expiration of their Employment Authorization Documents and the start of H-1B status on October 1, 2008. Click here to read the full text of the USCIS Update.

We are currently analyzing the impact this announcement will have on H-1B petitions that were just filed for a Fiscal Year 2009 visa and are contacting our clients who may benefit from this "cap gap" remedy.

The USCIS announced today that it has commenced the random selection process for H-1B petitions. Please click here to review the USCIS Update.