Immigration Update with Lin Walker

In March 2023, two men set up and carried out staged armed robberies of at least eight convenience/liquor stores and fast food restaurants across the United States, including at least four in Massachusetts. It is alleged that the purpose of the staged robberies was to allow the clerks present to claim that they were victims of a violent crime on an application for U non-immigration status (U Visa)...

With the upcoming holiday season and travel, and given the hectic nature of the admissions process, it is no wonder that the Form I-94 can often contain mistakes, from the "class of admission" (your actual nonimmigrant visa status) to your "admit until date" (the expiration date of your lawful period of stay in the United States). Mistakes in either field can result in major consequences that impa...

In this "quick-shot" episode we’re going to focus on documentation of the foreign national's membership in associations in the field, which require outstanding achievements of their members, as judged by recognized national or international experts in their disciplines or fields. However, not all organizations are qualified to fulfill this requirement. In this podcast we'll explore what makes a pa...

There are people who confuse being entrepreneurial with being parasitic. Where an opportunity arises and there is significant demand and desperation, there are people who will, and have, taken advantage of those who wish to obtain such an opportunity. Take for example this year’s H-1B lottery debacle, wherein more than 408,000 H-1B registrations were filed for the same 96,000 beneficiaries, leadin...

On October 23, 2023, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) will publish a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) to “modernize and improve the efficiency of the H-1B program, add benefits and flexibilities, and improve integrity measures.” As a member of AILA, we received a draft of the NPRM yesterday. I read through the 220+ pages and have to admit that I was amazed by the data DHS provided, sp...

In the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM), published by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS or the Agency) on October 23, 2023, DHS proposes to create a “Use or Lose” provision that would prohibit “banking” H-1B time. Such provision would require beneficiaries of approved H-1B cap petitions to timely enter the U.S. and commence employment with the petitioner. Why is DHS making such a propos...

In its PERM recruitment process, which is required to sponsor foreign nationals for employment-based permanent residence, Apple showed a preference for employees with temporary work visas instead of qualified and available US workers (which include US citizens, lawful permanent residences, asylees and refugees). So, what (allegedly) did Apple do wrong?

We take a break from Immigration News to bring you a very special episode with mindfulness coach and embodied movement educator Timothy Lewis. In this episode attorney Lin Walker talks with Tim about mindfulness; what people think it is, what it actually is, and how mindfulness can be an effective tool to combat many different forms of stress. Other topics discussed include dealing with stress in...

What are some of the advantages that franchise ownership offers over traditional businesses in terms of securing an E-2 visa? We were honored to be joined on the podcast by Jeremy Bollington, a Franchise consultant with Your Franchise is Waiting, a service that works with qualified foreign nationals to help them find a franchise to support their E-2 visa application. In this podcast we answer seve...

Deborah Reidy of SmartChoice Translations joins immigration attorney Lin Walker to discuss the pitfalls of poor translation in many kinds of legal situations. In this episode we tackle such questions as: 0:00 What is SmartChoice Translations? 0:52 What services does SmartChoice Translations offer? 4:11 What kinds of training is required for legal translators? 8:18 Why you shouldn't rely on friends...

The Proposal, starring Ryan Reynolds and Sandra Bullock is one of our favorite movies, and one of the favorite movies of our guest, retired CBP Director of Operations, Alma Montemayor. However, the immigration processes the filmmakers show are far from accurate. In this episode immigration attorney Lin Walker enlists the help of Alma to answer the questions: How important is immigration accuracy i...

On March 10, 2023, with little notice or fanfare, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) updated its website to state that it would, on a case-by-case basis, extend the parole and employment authorization document of Ukrainians admitted into the United States under humanitarian parole.

In this episode we examine two episodes from the very funny NBC sitcom SUPERSTORE, which stars America Ferrera and Ben Feldman, and follows a whole gang of wacky and endearing characters working in a fictional big box store. For our purposes we are going to focus on Mateo, an immigrant from the Philippines who is undocumented and discovers that getting a promotion in the store could mean that he w...

It’s Back! We are officially in H-1B Cap Season – the chaotic period when hundreds of thousands of H-1B Cap Registrations are prepared and electronically filed with the hope of securing one of the 85,000 H-1B visas available for Fiscal Year 2024. In this quick shot episode of the podcast we are going to give you some quick reminders to make your H-1B Cap Season go much more smoothly.

Please join us for another edition of "Immigration at the Movies: Myth or Truth", the podcast series that examines immigration scenes in popular movies and TV and lets you know how accurately they portray immigration law and procedures. Today we are going to "fix" one of the most beloved sitcoms of all time, Seinfeld. Specifically Season 4 Episode 14 from 1993, "The Visa" with Babu Bhat, who you m...

Meyner & Landis Immigration partner Lin Walker continues her pop-culture immigration myth-busting by destroying The Terminal, a 2004 Steven Spielberg film starring Tom Hanks and Stanley Tucci. The Terminal tells the story of Viktor Navorski from the fictional Eastern European country of Krakhosia who gets stranded at JFK airport in New York when war breaks out in his country while he is in the...

Immigration in The Movies! Myth or Fact? In our ongoing quest to educate people about the U.S. immigration system (and have some fun), we’ve been reviewing the portrayal of the U.S. immigration system as depicted in popular movies. In this episode, we reviewed (in order of factual immigration accuracy): 1. Brooklyn 2. The Godfather Part 2 3. An American Tale (Wow, how is this a children’s movie an...

Answer: They are both back! Each year around this time, during peak holiday travel season, we like to remind employers and foreign nationals alike the devastating and expensive mistakes that can occur on the 1-94 Arrival Departure record. Here are a few tips to avoid problems while traveling this holiday season.

In February 2021, we began publishing articles detailing the extensive backlogs and processing delays at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) and how these delays have impacted foreign nationals, their families and U.S. employers. It has been more than twenty-one (21) months since President Biden took office and while the Biden-Harris Administration has made many promises to modernize...

Today we are bringing you two short excerpts from the Minutes of the AILA Liaison Meeting that we thought would be useful for employers, immigration attorneys and foreign nationals. The most important takeaway for business owners...IER advised that it has identified several software platforms with dropdown menus that resulted in employers inadvertently posting job advertisements with unlawful citi...

On November 1, 2022, the salary transparency provisions of the New York City Human Rights Law (“Salary Transparency Law”) will take effect and will require “employers advertising jobs in New York City” to “include a good faith salary range for every job, promotion, and transfer opportunity advertised.” On this episode we hope to provide some guidance upon which employers and their job opportunitie...

Today we are going to talk about a common mistake that can put employers in jeopardy of breaking discrimination laws, resulting sometimes in tens of thousands of dollars in fines.

Today we are going to be talking about some Petition Information Management Service (PIMS) delays that are impacting some NIV issuance and at the end of this podcast give some advice to foreign nationals and employers how to avoid or minimize delays.

In this video we distinguish between the two most easily confused criteria for O-1B classification "Production or event" vs "organizations and establishments".

As some of our listeners know, we sometimes like to discuss topics beyond business-immigration that we believe may be helpful or relevant to our audience of immigration practitioners, foreign nationals and their employers. Today, we are honored to welcome our guest, Luis Enrique Díaz Páez, who is an immigration attorney and founder of Paez Law, and a dedicated advocate for vulnerable immigrants se...