Pauly P.A. – German-American Law Firm

Author: Clemens Pauly

  • Department of State Emails from clientverification@state.gov are Legitimate

    US employers, please see a recent alert from the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA):
    AILA has recently received reports that employers have received emails from a contractor at the Department of State (DOS) via clientverification@state.gov requesting confirmation that a beneficiary will be providing services at the company. AILA’s DOS Liaison Committee confirmed with DOS Visa Office that clientverification@state.gov is a legitimate email address. As such, employers should respond to the request accordingly.
    AILA Doc. No. 17070537 | Dated July 5, 2017

  • The Florida Bar’s new 2017 Legal Survival Guide for Young Adults

    Please see this YouTube Video from the Florida Bar, informing young adults turning 18 years old about a new app that The Florida Bar has developed:

    This and other legal news is available to the public on FloridaBarNews.TV.

  • USCIS has released Redesigned Green Cards and Employment Authorization Documents

    Following its announcement on April 19, 2017 USCIS started printing newly designed Green Cards and Employment Authorization Documents [EAD] on May 1, 2017.

    The new front and back of the Green Card looks like this:

    Green Card

    The new design of the EAD looks like this:

    EAD Card

    [See more information and description of the design at https://www.uscis.gov/greencard and https://www.uscis.gov/green-card/green-card-processes-and-procedures/employment-authorization-document]

  • H-1B visa cap reached for FY 2018

    Today U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has announced that it has reached the congressionally mandated 65,000 visa H-1B cap for fiscal year 2018. USCIS has also received a sufficient number of H-1B petitions to meet the 20,000 visa U.S. advanced degree exemption, also known as the master’s cap.

    The agency will reject and return filing fees for all unselected cap-subject petitions that are not duplicate filings.

    See the official press release here: https://www.uscis.gov/news/news-releases/uscis-reaches-fy-2018-h-1b-cap

  • DHS Statement Concerning Admission of Returning Residents

     

    From: U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services <uscis@public.govdelivery.com>
    Date: January 29, 2017 5:44:15 PM MST

    Subject: DHS statements on the entry of lawful permanent residents and compliance with court orders and the president’s executive orders
    Reply-To: <uscis@public.govdelivery.com>
    STATEMENT BY DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY JOHN KELLY ON THE ENTRY OF LAWFUL PERMANENT RESIDENTS INTO THE UNITED STATES

    WASHINGTON – In applying the provisions of the president’s executive order, I hereby deem the entry of lawful permanent residents to be in the national interest.

    Accordingly, absent the receipt of significant derogatory information indicating a serious threat to public safety and welfare, lawful permanent resident status will be a dispositive factor in our case-by-case determinations.

    ——————————

    DHS STATEMENT ON COMPLIANCE WITH COURT ORDERS AND THE PRESIDENT’S EXECUTIVE ORDERS

    WASHINGTON – Upon issuance of the court orders yesterday, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) immediately began taking steps to comply with the orders. Concurrently, the Department of Homeland Security continues to work with our partners in the Departments of Justice and State to implement President Trump’s executive order on protecting the nation from foreign terrorist entry into the United States.

    We are committed to ensuring that all individuals affected by the executive orders, including those affected by the court orders, are being provided all rights afforded under the law. We are also working closely with airline partners to prevent travelers who would not be granted entry under the executive orders from boarding international flights to the U.S. Therefore, we do not anticipate that further individuals traveling by air to the United States will be affected.

    As Secretary Kelly previously stated, in applying the provisions of the president’s executive order, the entry of lawful permanent residents is in the national interest. Accordingly, absent significant derogatory information indicating a serious threat to public safety and welfare, lawful permanent resident status will be a dispositive factor in our case-by-case determinations.

    We are and will remain in compliance with judicial orders. We are and will continue to enforce President Trump’s executive order humanely and with professionalism. DHS will continue to protect the homeland.

    For the latest DHS news, see https://www.dhs.gov/news

    Please do not reply to this message. See our Contact Us page for phone numbers and e-mail addresses.

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  • President Trump’s Executive Action – A Recommendation to All Employers to Audit their I-9 forms

    President Trump’s Executive Action – A Recommendation to All Employers to Audit their I-9 forms

    As the President issued a number of Executive Orders, one of the Executive Orders entitled “Enhancing Public Safety in the Interior of the United States” dated January 25, 2017 states in part as follows:

    >>Sec. 6.  Civil Fines and Penalties.  As soon as practicable, and by no later than one year after the date of this order, the Secretary shall issue guidance and promulgate regulations, where required by law, to ensure the assessment and collection of all fines and penalties that the Secretary is authorized under the law to assess and collect from aliens unlawfully present in the United States and from those who facilitate their presence in the United States. [Emphasis added]<<

    Please find the full text here: https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2017/01/25/presidential-executive-order-enhancing-public-safety-interior-united [last accessed 01/27/2017]

    This mandate presumably includes the agency’s fresh look at the collection of possible civil fines and penalties that can be levied against US employers who fail to properly document that their employees are authorized to work in the US.

    Every US employer knows, or should know, that the employer has the duty to verify the identity and employment authorization of every employee. Detailed information concerning the proper completion of the mandatory form I-9 can be found here: https://www.uscis.gov/i-9-central

    The civil money penalties for violations are listed in INA section 274A(e)(4) and range from $250 up to $10,000 per employee for who a violation is detected.

    The minimum length that employers must store and retain the I-9 forms can be easily calculated using this form: https://www.uscis.gov/i-9-central/retain-store-form-i-9/retaining-form-i-9

    US employers who have not recently reviewed their personnel records and I-9 forms, should take this Executive Order as an important reminder and incentive to conduct an internal I-9 audit right away to ensure that they are in compliance or become compliant right away.

  • Visa Fees Increased on December 23, 2016

    Right in time for the holidays, immigration fees increased by a weighted average of 21%

    Examples include:

    Form New fee
    I-90 – application to replace permanent resident card $455
    I-129 Petition for Nonimmigrant Worker $460
    I-129F Petition for Alian Fiance(s) $535
    I-130 Petition for Alien Relative $535
    I-131 Application for Travel Document $575
    I-140 Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker $700
    I-485 Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status $1,140
    I-485 for applicants under 14 years $750
    I-526 Immigrant Petition by Alien Entrepreneur $3,675
    I-539 Application to Extend/Change Nonimmigrant Status $370
    I-751 Petition to Remove Conditions on Residence $595
    I-765 Application for Employment Authorization $410
    I-829 Petition by Entrepreneur to Remove Conditions $3,750
    N-400 Application for Naturalization $640
    N-600 Application for Certificate of Citizenship $1,170
    USCIS Immigrant Fee $220
    Biometrics Services Fee $85

    To see a complete list of the current filing fees, please follow this link:

    https://www.uscis.gov/forms/our-fees

  • 2018 Diversity Visa Lottery Runs Until November 7, 2016

    Online registration for the DV-2018 Program began on Tuesday, October 4, 2016 at 12:00 noon, Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) (GMT-4), and concludes on Monday, November 7, 2016 at 12:00 noon, Eastern Standard Time (EST) (GMT-4); please find current instructions here:

    https://travel.state.gov/content/visas/en/immigrate/diversity-visa/instructions.html

    This link takes you to the only official webpage by the U.S. Department of State.

  • BALCA does not allow Employer’s Recruitment Report to Contain Minor Discrepancies

    In its decision In the Matter of Robert Bosch LLC, Case Number 2012-PER-01739, (8/25/2016), the Board of Alien Labor Certification Appeals (BALCA) affirmed a denial of an Application for Permanent Employment Certification when the employer’s recruitment report listed a total of 62 applications for the position received, when in fact there had only been 61. The argument by counsel and evidence submitted that a typographical error had omitted a consecutively numbered row in the recruitment chart which the employer used to track the total number of resumes received was not considered to be a harmless error. As the Board reasoned, the employer had failed to submit this evidence in the original audit response even though it was available and consideration of a corrected report was thus barred by the regulations.

    Another harsh result after a lengthy process which the employer had begun in 2010 and which highlights again the importance of diligence by everyone involved in the process of presenting the results of a properly conducted recruitment campaign as part of the PERM labor certification.process.

    The decision can be found here: http://www.oalj.dol.gov/libina.htm

  • Staffing company fined almost $210,000 for failure to properly file I-9 forms

    A recently published decision by the Office of the Chief Administrative Hearing Officer (OCAHO) again shows how important it is for US employers to comply with the I-9 form filing requirements for each employee.

    In United States v. Golden Employment Group, Inc., 4/27/2016, 12 OCAHO no. 1277, the Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) found a total of 465 violations, ranging from incorrect completion of the form, to untimely presentation of the forms in response to an inspection notice, to the most serious, the complete lack of the form for the employee. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) had determined an error rate of 35% and the Judge pointed out in a preceeding intermim order that the participation in the E-Verify program did not insulate the employer from the requirements of properly filing the I-9 forms. (United States v. Golden Employment Group, Inc., 4/1/2016, 12 OCAHO no. 1274).

    The ultimate fine of almost $210,000 represented a penalty in the middle range of possible fines.

    Published OCAHO orders can be found here: http://www.justice.gov/eoir/OcahoMain/ocahosibpage.htm#PubDecOrders.