Individuals looking to extend their student visa or visitor visa for business or pleasure can now file online through the eProcessing system. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) recently launched its online eProcessing system with Form I-539 (Application to Extend/Change Nonimmigrant Status). Now, you can renew the following visas online: B-1 temporary visitor for business…
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents are turning away some Canadian workers at the border. Without notice, CBP abandoned a decades-long policy of allowing Canadians to apply for L-1 visa renewals directly at U.S. ports of entry. And now, the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) reports that CBP officials at some points of entry…
Late last year, founding partner Sophie Alcorn wrote about the dramatic rise processing times for some forms by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). Since then, the processing times have improved for many visa and green card categories. However, processing times for many employment-based and family-based green cards continue to steadily increase. USCIS takes 10…
The chief of the Department of State’s Visa Control and Reporting Division provided an estimate of the final action dates over the next several months and the estimated wait times for an EB-5 green card. Late last year, founding partner Sophie Alcorn wrote about Charles Oppenheim’s October 2018 predictions and offered alternatives to the EB-5…
President Trump announced a new immigration plan last week that seeks to increase high-skilled immigration, overhaul and limit asylum and the diversity visa (green card “lottery”) programs, and restrict family-based immigration. “This could create new immigration pathways for entrepreneurs, Silicon Valley tech companies, and professionals who need greater access to movement to have the freedom…
President Trump issued a memorandum aimed at placing new immigration restrictions on individuals who hold nonimmigrant (temporary stay) visas. The “Presidential Memorandum on Combating High Nonimmigrant Overstay Rates” orders the Secretary of State and the Secretary of Homeland Security to immediately take “all appropriate actions that are within the scope of their respective authorities to…
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) recently clarified that violating the federal controlled substance law, including violations involving marijuana, will make it difficult to establish a good moral character for the naturalization process. Marijuana can create other immigration difficulties as well. Founding partner Sophie Alcorn wrote about cannabis and immigration law last year. Even if…
After a seven-year wait, Israel citizens became eligible to apply for an E-2 visa at the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv as of May 1. Both the E-1 Visa for Treaty Traders and the E-2 Visa for Treaty Investors are only available to citizens of countries with treaties of trade and commerce with the U.S.…
NBC News interviewed Alcorn Partner Mary Grilli Jacobs for a story on international entrepreneurs, innovation, and immigration options. Mary heads up our practice group for business immigration law. She pointed out the U.S. doesn’t have a startup visa for foreign-born entrepreneurs seeking to launch or grow their startups here. That leaves many startup founders at…
Mary Grilli Jacobs has been part of our team almost since the beginning when I started Alcorn Immigration Law in 2015. An expert in business and family immigration law, Mary has helped hundreds of individuals, families, startups, small businesses, and corporations with immigrant and nonimmigrant visas, requests for evidence, employment authorization documents (work permits), and…