As part of ongoing negotiations over NAFTA, the Trump administration is looking to reduce TN (Treaty National) visas for Canadians and Mexicans. A reduction may come from reducing the professions eligible for TN classification and possibly capping the number of TN visas issued each year. Currently, no limits exist on the number of TN visas…
Details“How can I get a green card faster than through my employer?” That’s the question we’ve been getting over and over recently, especially from Indian and Chinese software engineers in Silicon Valley. Last week, the Cato Institute, a public policy think tank, estimated that individuals from India face a whopping 151-year wait to transition from…
DetailsThe Atlantic magazine interviewed Sophie Alcorn for her expertise as Silicon Valley’s only Board Certified Immigration and Nationality Law Specialist. The resulting article, “The Trump Administration Is Driving Away Immigrant Entrepreneurs” by Sonia Paul, was published last week. Alcorn discusses the pent-up demand for a startup visa and options for global entrepreneurs to come to the U.S.…
DetailsAlthough the end is near for entrepreneur parole under the International Entrepreneur Rule (IER), startup founders have alternatives to build amazing companies in the U.S. After nearly a year of threatening to terminate the IER program, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) made good on that threat last week: It published a proposal in the…
DetailsThis green-cards-for-parents story is part of an ongoing series of posts I’m writing to showcase some of the Alcorn Immigration Law team’s client success stories.* To maintain confidentiality, the name of the client has been changed, and some details of the case may have been omitted or slightly altered. A few years after the Alcorn…
DetailsThe National Venture Capital Association (NVCA) has filed a motion in federal court designed to determine whether the Trump administration is complying with a court order to implement the International Entrepreneur Rule. Last September, NVCA along with entrepreneurs and startups sued the federal government for illegally delaying implementation of the International Entrepreneur Rule (IER). The…
DetailsThe volume of H-1B applications submitted to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) and subject to the annual cap dropped for the second consecutive year under the Trump administration. Cap-subject H-1B filings have dropped nearly 20% since 2016. Each year since 2014, the number of cap-subject H-1B petitions submitted had steadily risen, reaching a high…
DetailsPresident Trump recently threatened to “close up the country” if Congress fails to fund a border wall between the U.S. and Mexico. “You can’t allow people to pour into our country the way they’re doing,” he said. By “close up the country,” it’s unclear whether Trump meant he would halt immigration entirely or refuse to…
DetailsU.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) and the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division have expanded their collaboration to share information and scrutinize employers who sponsor employees for visas and green cards. On a monthly basis, USCIS’ Fraud Detection and National Security Directorate (FDNS) and DOJ’s Immigrant and Employee Rights Section (IER) will share: Employer…
DetailsThe State Bar of California has peer-reviewed and certified our founding attorney Sophie Alcorn as a specialist in immigration and nationality law. Sophie is the only immigration specialist practicing in Santa Clara County recognized and certified by the State Bar for her expertise. “I’m honored to be accredited as an immigration specialist by judges and…
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