Ronald Shapiro (JD Supra Canada)

Among other executive actions, on November 20, 2014, the President announced significant changes to removal and deportation policies, as well as the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.

Last month, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced the launch of myE-Verify—a new website for employees. Whereas E-Verify is used by employers, the myE-Verify website is intended to be one-stop shop for employees to create and maintain secure personal accounts and access new features for identity protection.

The Department of State has released its November 2014 Visa Bulletin. Each monthly visa bulletin provides the priority cutoff dates for specific countries in order to regulate the flow of visa applications. Foreign nationals are permitted to file applications for an adjustment to status or for approval of an immigrant visa as long as the priority date is prior to the respective cutoff date...

On November 20, 2014, President Obama announced a number of executive orders impacting US immigration policy. The Shapiro Law Group stands ready to assist anyone impacted by President Obama’s executive actions with respect to immigration.

Prior to the Supreme Court’s decision in U.S. v. Windsor in June 2013, in which the Court struck down section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), same-sex married couples were not allowed to seek a green card on behalf of a spouse. But after the Court struck down DOMA, same-sex married couples are now allowed to file petitions for their spouses to receive green cards.

The L-1 visa is often used to facilitate intra-company transfers of foreign national employees to work in a U.S. facility. In order to be eligible for the L-1B visa, the sponsored employee must have been employed by the company outside the U.S. in a specialized knowledge position for one or more years (continuously) within the three years prior to the transfer, and must be transferring to fill a...

The United States has free trade agreements with a number of countries around the world. Many of these agreements create programs to create additional immigration options for foreign nationals from those countries. For instance, foreign nationals from the following countries are provided visa options under a U.S. free trade agreement with that country...

The Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters association and the global law firm of Baker & McKenzie recently released a comprehensive overview of visa categories applicable to U.S.-Canada business travelers, which is written in plain English and well-organized.

After authorities identified a suspect in the recent Los Angeles area arson cases as a refugee from Canada who lost a bid for asylum there, the spotlight on Canadian immigration policy intensified. According to a recent Los Angeles Times article by Kim Murphy, Canada’s government has begun “rolling up the welcome mat” to asylum seekers who previously enjoyed a fairly generous chance at legal