Legal Updates

As a first step, certain visitors for business, visitors for pleasure and vocational students can now file Form I-539, Application to Extend/Change Nonimmigrant Status, online. Additional visa classifications are coming soon.

The national and local publications have been full of articles recently on the emerging agricultural crisis confronting producers. Now might be a good time for lenders to brush up on the most significant laws affecting their loan remedies in the event it becomes necessary to seek enforcement of their loans.

As of March 2019, a majority of states have legalized the use of cannabis products in some capacity, but cannabis-related businesses operating within the bounds of state law are still largely without access to basic financial services.

As of March 2019, the Social Security Administration (SSA) resumed sending “no-match” letters to employers.

The Social Security Administration has resumed mailing notifications to employers identified as having at least one name and Social Security Number combination submitted on the wage and tax statement (Form W-2) that do not match SSA’s records.

A federal judge issued a nationwide order requiring USCIS to temporarily suspend the enforcement of a policy under which F-1/M-1 students and J-1 exchange visitors would begin to accrue unlawful presence as soon as they violate the terms of their visa status.

Effective May 1, 2019, the E-2 investor visa program has opened to Israelis under a reciprocal treaty investor agreement signed between the United States and Israel.

The letter asked the agency to explain the reasons for backlogged cases and how certain policies such as “extreme vetting” affect processing times and contribute to the backlog.

Regarding EB-1 for China and India, the bulletin notes a continued “extremely high rate of demand” that may require temporary retrogression until October.

Certain marijuana-related activities generally bar naturalization even if they are decriminalized under applicable state laws