Resources

Client Alerts, News Articles, Blog Posts, & Multimedia

Everything you need to know about BMD and the industry.

Employers: Consider Important Deadlines for New H-1B Cap-Subject Foreign Worker Petitions

Client Alert
February 13, 2020

First-time new H-1B petitions or change of status petitions by employers can be filed for the upcoming U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) fiscal year in April 2020 as long as the individual for whom the petition is being filed is in lawful status at the time of filing, and has not engaged in any unauthorized employment since his or her last lawful admission. 

However, there are new rules or amendments that have been implemented this year.  The new H-1B visa rule (the “H-1B Rule”) amends the Department of Homeland Security’s regulations governing petitions filed on behalf of H-1B beneficiaries. Specifically included are beneficiaries who can be counted toward the 65,000 visa cap established under the Immigration and Nationality Act (the “H-1B Regular Cap”) or beneficiaries with advanced degrees from U.S. institutions of higher education who are eligible for an exemption from the regular cap (the “Advanced Degree Exemption”).  See 83 FR 62406.

The H-1B Rule requires employers seeking to file H-1B petitions subject to the H-1B Regular Cap or those eligible for the Advanced Degree Exemption, to first electronically register with USCIS.  Thus, USCIS changed both the H-1B visa filing process and the H-1B registrations for fiscal year 2021 (October 1, 2020 to September 30, 2021) by first selecting registrations submitted on behalf of all beneficiaries, including those eligible for the Advanced Degree Exemption.  USCIS will then select from the remaining registrations a sufficient number projected as needed to reach the Advanced Degree Exemption.  Changing the order in which USCIS counts these separate allocations will likely increase the number of beneficiaries with a master’s or higher degree from a U.S. college or university to be selected for further processing under the H-1B allocations.  This is specifically beneficial for U.S. based companies who need to hire foreign students. Those who have studied in the U.S. and graduated with at least a master’s degree have a greater chance of obtaining the H-1B visa under the Advanced Degree Exemption.

The New H-1B Cap-Subject Petitions include the following important deadlines:

  • February 24, 2020: U.S. employers or their attorneys may begin creating H-1B registrant accounts
  • March 1, 2020 to March 20, 2020: H-1B cap-subject employers’ registration period
  • March 31, 2020: USCIS to notify selected registrants who hit the H-1B lottery
  • April 1, 2020: The earliest date that fiscal year 2021 H-1B cap petitions may be filed

Planning early is always better for the H-1B visa process as there have been significant changes for fiscal year 2021.  To avoid last minute issues or discuss in detail, please contact Attorney Duriya Dhinojwala at dd@bmdllc.com or call 330-253-5790. 

Duriya DhinojwalaImmigration LawH1B Visa
Client Alert

New York, Kansas, Massachusetts, and Delaware Become the latest States to Adopt Full Practice Authority for Nurse Practitioners

May 19, 2022While the COVID-19 pandemic certainly created many obstacles and hardships, it also created many opportunities to try doing things differently. This can be seen in the instant rise of remote work opportunities, telehealth visits, and virtual meetings. Many States took the challenges of the pandemic and turned them into an opportunity to adjust the regulations governing licensed professionals, including for advanced practice registered nurses (APRNs).Client Alert

Explosive Growth in Pot of Gold Opportunity for Bank (and Other) Cannabis Lenders Driving Erosion of the Barriers

May 13, 2022Our original article on bank lending to the cannabis industry anticipated that the convergence of interest between banks and the cannabis industry would draw more and larger banks to the industry. Banks were awash in liquidity with limited deployment options, while bankable cannabis businesses had rapidly growing needs for more and lower cost credit. Since then, the pot of gold opportunity for banks to lend into the cannabis industry has grown exponentially due to a combination of market constraints on equity causing a dramatic shift to debt and the ever-increasing capital needs of one of the country’s fastest growing industries. At the same time, hurdles to entry of new banks are being systematically cleared as the yellow brick road to the cannabis industry’s access to the financial markets is being paved, brick by brick, by the progressively increasing number and size of banks that are now entering the market.Client Alert

2021 EEOC Charge Statistics: Retaliation & Impact of Remote Work

May 11, 2022The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) released its detailed information on workplace discrimination charges it received in 2021. Unsurprisingly, for the second year in a row, the total number of charges decreased as COVID-19 either shut down workplaces or disconnected employees from each other. In 2021, the agency received a total of approximately 61,000 workplace discrimination charges - the fewest in 25 years by a wide margin. For reference, the agency received over 67,000 charges in 2020, and averaged almost 90,000 charges per year over the previous 10 years.Client Alert

Ohio’s Managed Care Overhaul Delayed – New Implementation Timeline

May 4, 2022At the direction of Governor Mike DeWine, the Ohio Department of Medicaid (ODM) launched the Medicaid Managed Care Procurement process in 2019. ODM’s stated vision for the procurement was to focus on people and not just the business of managed care. This is the first structural change to Ohio’s managed care system since the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' (CMS) approval of Ohio’s Medicaid program in 2005. Initially, all of the new managed care programs were supposed to be implemented starting on July 1, 2022. However, ODM Director Maureen Corcoran recently confirmed that this date will be pushed back for several managed care-related programs.Client Alert

Laboratory Specimen Collection Arrangements with Contract Hospitals - OIG Advisory Opinion 22-09

May 3, 2022On April 28, 2022, the Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General (“OIG”) published an Advisory Opinion[1] in which it evaluated a proposed arrangement where a network of clinical laboratories (the “Requestor”) would compensate hospitals (each a “Contract Hospital”) for specimen collection, processing, and handling services (“Collection Services”) for laboratory tests furnished by the Requestor (the “Proposed Arrangement”). The OIG concluded that the Proposed Arrangement would generate prohibited remuneration under the federal Anti-Kickback Statute (“AKS”) if the requisite intent were present. This is due to both the possibility that the proposed per-patient-encounter fee would be used to induce or reward referrals to Requestor and the associated risk of improperly steering patients to Requestor.
Older posts
Newer posts