President Donald J. Trump recently issued an Executive Order, followed by a proposed bill and other guidance, which would drastically change the current immigration system. Based on these developments, employers should be prepared for immigration hiring changes and may want to consider applying now for immigrant status for affected key employees.
On December 22, 2010, U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services will require all companies and individuals petitioning for certain nonimmigrant status to use a new Nonimmigrant Visa Petition (Form I-129), which requires all petitioners for an H-1B, H-1B1 Chile/Singapore, L-1 or O-1A visa to answer questions regarding release of controlled technology or technical data to the beneficiary of the petition. All such petitioners are required to certify the petitioner has reviewed the Export Administration Regulations and the International Traffic in Arms Regulations, and has determined that either a license is not required to release such technology or data to the foreign beneficiary or that the petitioner will prevent access of such technology or data to the foreign person until any such license or authorization is obtained.