Companies usually hire a foreign national who requires visa sponsorship because they cannot find a U.S. worker with those skill sets, which is frequently in the STEM fields. However, visa sponsorship comes with significant costs to the employer. Employers may be able to recover a portion of the immigration sponsorship fees by implementing what are called “clawback” provisions into their employment agreements. Clawback provisions are terms in the employment agreements that, in the event of a resignation by the employee before a certain date, require the employee to reimburse the employer for a portion of the costs or fees associated with his or her visa sponsorship.Continue Reading You Are Sponsoring a Foreign National Employee for Permanent Residency, Can You Clawback Some of the Fees?
immigration
U.S. Visas for Ukrainians and Russians: Navigating the Maze
When the Russian army entered Ukraine on February 24, 2022, that set in motion panic for family and friends in the U.S. and the need to quickly explore visa options for their loved ones in the Ukraine, Russia, and neighboring countries.
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Navigating the Travel Ban Jungle: National Interest Exception Checklist for the U.S. COVID Travel Bans
The travel bans imposed by the U.S. Government during the COVID-19 national pandemic created enormous logistical challenges for anyone seeking to fly to the U.S. from a country on the travel ban list. Even today, there is still a great deal of confusion regarding who is subject to the travel ban, what are the exceptions, and how to go about applying for a National Interest Exception (NIE) waiver. The checklist below is intended to help simplify an albeit complicated process. Of course, most U.S. Consulates are still operating at limited capacities so significant delays for waivers and visa stamping is still the norm.
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Visas and Immigration in 2021 Under the Biden Administration
The Biden Administration took office on January 20, 2021. Many executive orders have been executed since that date, some of which directly change the manner of handling immigration matters. However, the U.S. and the world are still dealing with the global pandemic and this directly affects submissions, filings, and consular appointments. This update provides a list of the latest updates to U.S. visas and immigration matters, as well as what we forecast for the months to come.
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The U.S. Coronavirus Inbound Travel Ban Has Been Expanded to Flights from the U.K., Ireland, and Schengen countries, in Addition to the Previous Ban from China and Iran
On Monday, March 16th, 2020, the U.S. will be extending the March 13th, 2020 “European Travel Ban” to certain foreign nationals who have been in the United Kingdom and Ireland for 14 days prior to boarding. These two countries were previously exempted from the Wednesday, March 11th Presidential Proclamation (the “First Proclamation.”)