Pauly P.A. – German-American Law Firm

Author: Clemens Pauly

  • DHS Announces Further Travel Restrictions for the Visa Waiver Program

    The Department of Homeland Security announced today that it is adding Libya, Somalia, and Yemen to the list of countries of concern, limiting Visa Waiver Program travel for certain individuals who have traveled to these countries, especially since March 1, 2011.

    Current ESTA holders are encouraged to check their ESTA status prior to travel on U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s (CBP) website at esta.cbp.dhs.gov.

  • Copyright Law – Fair Use Index

    In the United States, one of the most important principles of copyright law is the “fair use” doctrine. While the author of a work typically possesses an exclusive right to the use of the work, the “fair use” of the copyrighted work is a defense to an infringement claim. See 17 U.S.C.  § 107.  The tasks for the courts is to apply a 4 factor test to determine whether or not the use of the copyrighted work is “fair use.”

    With the goal to make the principles and application of the fair use doctrine better understandable for the public, the website of the US Copyright Office includes a link to a searchable database which contains annotated summaries of judicial decisions. This Fair Use Index should serve as a helpful additional source for anyone considering the use and reproduction of copyrighted material.

  • General Trademark Information

    The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has a very informative homepage with general information about the topic of trademark laws in the United States. Very illustrative are the videos that are posted on their website and which business owners should review to gain a better understanding of the benefits of developing and registering a mark.

    Please see the website here: http://www.uspto.gov/trademarks-getting-started/trademark-basics

     

  • Government accepts Credit Card for N-400 filing fees

    Applicants who wish to apply to become a U.S. citizen can now use a credit card to pay for the necessary government filing fees.On the USCIS website, you can now find form G-1450, Authorization for Credit Card Transactions, which can be included instead of a check or money order to pay for the filing fees.

    This form can only be used in connection with the N-400 Application for Naturalization and not to pay any other filing fees at this time.

  • USCIS Now Accepts Applications for Employment Authorizations for Certain H-4 Spouses

    Certain H-4 dependent spouses may now apply for employment authorization under the H-4 rule. Effective May 26, 2015, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has begun accepting applications for employment authorization from certain H-4 dependent spouses of H-1B nonimmigrants who are seeking employment-based lawful permanent resident status.
    Please read the announcement here.

    Eligible H-4 spouses can find more information and the application form here.

  • USCIS Reaches FY 2016 H-1B Cap

    This just posted by USCIS:

    Release Date: April 07, 2015
    WASHINGTON – U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has reached the congressionally mandated H-1B cap for fiscal
    year (FY) 2016. USCIS has also received more than the limit of 20,000 H-1B petitions filed under the U.S. advanced degree
    exemption.
    USCIS will use a computer-generated process, also known as the lottery, to randomly select the petitions needed to meet the caps of 65,000 visas for the general category and 20,000 for the advanced degree exemption.
    USCIS will first randomly select petitions for the advanced degree exemption. All unselected advanced degree petitions will become part of the random selection process for the 65,000 general limit. The agency will reject and return filing fees for all unselected capsubject petitions that are not duplicate filings.
    Before running the lottery, USCIS will complete initial intake for all filings received during the filing period, which ended April 7. Due to the high number of petitions, USCIS is not yet able to announce the date it will conduct the random selection process. USCIS will continue to accept and process petitions that are otherwise exempt from the cap. Petitions filed on behalf of current H-1B workers who have been counted previously against the cap, and who still retain their cap number, will also not be counted toward the congressionally mandated FY 2016 H-1B cap. USCIS will continue to accept and process petitions filed to:
    • Extend the amount of time a current H-1B worker may remain in the United States;
    • Change the terms of employment for current H-1B workers;
    • Allow current H-1B workers to change employers; and
    • Allow current H-1B workers to work concurrently in a second H-1B position. U.S. businesses use the H-1B program to employ
    foreign workers in occupations that require highly specialized knowledge in fields such as science, engineering and computer
    programming.
    We encourage H-1B applicants to subscribe to the H-1B Cap Season email updates located on the H-1B Fiscal Year (FY) 2016 Cap
    Season Web page. For more information on USCIS and its programs, please visit uscis.gov or follow us on Facebook (/uscis), Twitter (@uscis), YouTube (/uscis) and the USCIS blog The Beacon.
    Last Reviewed/Updated: 04/07/2015

  • USCIS Will Accept H-1B Petitions for FY 2016 Beginning April 1, 2015

    USCIS posts today that it will begin accepting FY2016 H-1B petitions on 4/1/15.

    USCIS expects to receive more petitions than the 65,000 H-1B cap during the first five business days of this year’s program and as in previous years will randomly select the cap-subject petitions for processing using a lottery system. All petitions not selected or submitted after the first 5 days will be rejected.

    Please find the complete USCIS Press Release here: http://www.uscis.gov/news/uscis-will-accept-h-1b-petitions-fiscal-year-2016-beginning-april-1-2015

     

  • Corporate Representation

    Clemens W. Pauly has successfully advised and represented individual managers and corporate boards with respect to their obligations in light of shareholder accusations of mismanagement. Informed and careful planning will go a long way in reducing the exposure of individual board members and executives in discharging their duties.

  • Technical Problems with DOS Passport/Visa System

    Notice on the U.S. Department of State website:

    Important Notice: The Department of State Bureau of Consular Affairs is currently experiencing technical problems with our passport and visa system. We are operational, but currently issuing documents at a reduced capacity. This issue is worldwide and is not specific to any particular country, citizenship document, or visa category. We apologize to applicants who are experiencing delays or are unable to obtain a passport, Report of Birth Abroad, or visa at this time. We are working urgently to correct the problem and expect our system to be fully operational again soon. Routine passport services are not affected at this time. We will be posting updates to Travel.State.Gov as more information becomes available.

    Update from July 31, 2014, at 4pm ET on the U.S. Department of State website:

    The CCD is still performing below its normal operational capacity. However, to give you an idea of the progress we have made, from the start of the operational issues on July 20 through July 28, we issued more than 220,000 nonimmigrant visas globally. Based on our average production figures, we would have anticipated issuing closer to 425,000 nonimmigrant visas in that time period, indicating we have been able to print nonimmigrant visas for about half of all approved travelers. It will take some weeks before we are back to normal turnaround times on issued visas. We continue to prioritize immigrant visas, adoption cases, and emergency nonimmigrant visa cases. We are printing visas for these cases with very few delays.

     

  • New H-1B visa “season” begins

    Today USCIS started accepting new H-1B visa petitions again for a starting date of the employment on the first day of the next fiscal year, October 1, 2014. Just like in the previous years, we expect that the available H-1B visa will all be used up before long so that potentially interested employers and employees need to immediately contact an immigration practitioner to evaluate their options.