Nachman Phulwani Zimovcak (NPZ) Law Group, P.C. - U.S. and Canadian Immigration and Nationality Law Newsletter and Updates.
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In This Issue:
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FOR YOUR U.S. AND CANADA IMMIGRATION LAW QUERIES PLEASE FEEL FREE TO GIVE US A CALL.

:: 201-670-0006 
(ext. 100)


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UPCOMING EVENT:

Employer Immigration Compliance: I-9s and Beyond

May 12, 2020

Time:9am - 1pm

Location:Sheraton Parsippany, NJ


Free admission but registration is required.  RSVP by 4/26/2020 to:  info@visaserve.com

3 HRCI & SHRM-CP credits available.

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HEAR ABOUT YOUR IMMIGRATION LAW ISSUE:

NPZ LAW GROUP - US and CANADA Immigration and Nationality Law Podcast Library is available to you
on . . .
 
 
 
 
 
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PRESS RELEASE: DAVID H. NACHMAN, ESQ.  CONTINUES
 TO SERVE
 AS CHAIR OF THE NJSBA INTERNATIONAL LAW COMMITTEE.


 
  David Nachman, Esq., one of the Managing Attorneys at the
 Immigration
 and Nationality Law Firm of Nachman Phulwani Zimovcak (NPZ) Law Group, P.C. - VISASERVE - continues to serve as Chair of the International Law Section of the New Jersey State Bar Association (NJSBA). 

 
KNOW YOUR RIGHTS!
 

If you are stopped by an Immigration Official or Police Officer; you can choose to ... 
 

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AT NPZ ... WE SPEAK YOUR LANGUAGE:
 
 
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NPZ'S OFFICES*:

NPZ'S NORTHERN NEW JERSEY OFFICE:

VISASERVE Plaza
487 Goffle Road
Ridgewood, NJ 07450
Phone: 201-670-0006 (x107)

Please feel free to ask about our presence in Boston, MA. and in Chicago, IL.

* Please note that our immigration law practice is national and international in scope. We assist our clients throughout the U.S. and throughout the world.

NPZ'S CENTRAL NEW JERSEY OFFICE:
 
907 U.S. Highway
#202 North,
Raritan, NJ   
Phone: 1-866-599-3625

NEW YORK CITY OFFICE:

108 West 39th Street
8th Floor, Suite 800
New York, NY 10018
Phone: 1-866-599-3625 

INDIANA OFFICE:

201 North Illinois Street
16th Floor, South Tower
Indianapolis, IN 46204
Phone: 317-936-6600
 
CANADA AFFILIATED OFFICE:

VISASERVE - Canada
2980 Drew Road
Suite 225
Mississauga, 
ON L4T 0A7
Phone: 905-499-3853

INDIA AFFILIATED OFFICES:

Gujarat Office in India
 
If you are looking for
 a local contact in 
Gujarat (India), please 
call us or send us an 
email at 
and we will point you in the appropriate direction. We have numerous individuals and organizations with 
whom we have relationships in Gujarat and the organizations/persons with whom we work depend upon your demographics in 
Gujarat (India) and the type of case you may 
be calling about. 
 
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Nachman Phulwani Zimovcak (NPZ) Law Group, P.C. (Mailing Address only - Offices
in Mumbai) . 
 
c/o Mr. Shishir Goyal, Authorized Agent 
  201 Nepean House 
85 Nepean Sea Road
Mumbai 400006, India 

Call us at 
201-670-0006 (x100) 
for contact details.  
 
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Shekhar Raj Sharma 

SRS Legal 
A1/134, Safdurjung Enclave,
Lower Ground Floor
New Delhi-29, India 
  
(This office provides "on the ground" services to our Indian clients such as India Divorce, India Real Estate Purchase and Sale, Business Sale Purchase, Adoption, Litigation and High Court Complaints)
Dear Readers:

The Trump Administration's 2020-2021 budget proposal (the "Budget") is also his 2020 campaign promise. In addition to border wall funding, the the Trump budget calls for an  increase in funding for the "Remain in Mexico" initiative, border enforcement, and detention, particularly of unaccompanied minors. As reported in the Washington Post, the Budget marks the  end of any possibility of returning to Reagan's vision of the U.S. as a "city on the hill" that welcomed foreign nationals to the US. 
 
Former New York City Mayor and Democratic candidate Mike Bloomberg released an immigration plan with an agenda similar to other moderate plans: reversing the travel ban and MPP, restoring DACA and TPS, and providing a pathway to citizenship for an estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants. Where Bloomberg differs is his plan is to allow visas in certain hotspots where the labor market needs to have immigrant workers, reports Vox.
 
Really hot right now are the new H-1B nonimmigrant work visa process changes (Registration to commence on March 1st), a new Travel Ban, new "public charge" rules due to go into effect on February 24th and continuing 221G Administrative Processing at U.S. Consulate offices around the world.
 
The US and Canada Immigration and Nationality Lawyers Nachman Phulwani Zimovcak ( NPZ) Law Group seek to assist you, your HR staff, your friends and/or your family with regard to their US and Canadian immigration law matters. Please feel free to contact us by emailing us at info@visaserve.com or, in the alternative, please feel free to call us at 201-670-0006 (x107). 
I-9 FORM UPDATE: NEW VERSION OF THE FORM I-9 IS NOW AVAILABLE ONLINE. 
USCIS notice that a new version of the Form I-9 (Employment Eligibility Verification) with a version date of ''(Rev. 10/21/2019)'' is available for use beginning 1/31/2020. This new version contains minor changes to the I-9 Form and its instructions.

Employers may continue using the prior version of the Form until 4/30/20. After that date, employers can only use the new I-9 Form with the 10/21/2019 version date. The version date is located in the lower left corner of the I-9 Form.
 
 
H-1B NONIMMIGRANT WORK VISAS BRING THE USA MORE HIGHLY-SKILLED FOREIGN WORKERS.
 
NPZ IMMIGRATION LAWYERS ARE OFFERING ONE FREE H-1B CAP 2020-2021 REGISTRATION WITH EACH INITIAL H-1B CONSULTATION.
From now through March 15th 2020, VISASERVE is offering one (1)  Free H-1B Cap 2020-2021 Registration for each Employer for every one of their initial H-1B consultations for a prospective H-1B with the NPZ Law Firm. 
 
The NEW 2020-2021 H-1B REGISTRATION PROCESS (LOTTERY) will be implemented on March 1st 2020. During any initial consultation with a prospective H-1B employer, we will explain the new filing process, assess the strength of the case and recommend a short/long term strategy. If there is a viable H-1B case, we will assist with registration for the upcoming 2020 - 2021 H-1B Visa Lottery. All the prospective H-1B employer has to pay is the $10.00 government registration fee. 
 
For prospective H-1B employers or H-1B employees to schedule an initial H-1B visa consultation with an H-1B Immigration and Nationality Lawyer at NPZ Law Group ... e-mail us at  info@visaserve.com  or call us at 201-670-0006 (ext. 107) or you can visit us at  www.visaserve.com
THE CHANGING FACE OF THE IMMIGRATION SUPPORT RULES: PUBLIC CHARGE INADMISSIBILITY FINAL RULE - REVISED FORMS AND UPDATED POLICY MANUAL GUIDANCE.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has published revised forms consistent with the final rule on the public charge ground of inadmissibility, which the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, including USCIS, will implement on February 24th, 2020. Beginning February 24th, 2020, applicants and petitioners must use new editions of the following forms below (except in Illinois, where the rule remains enjoined by a Federal Court): ...
 
ABCs OF H-1Bs (THIS IS PART IV OF AN VIII PART SERIES): THE WHYS AND HOWS OF EDUCATION AND/OR EXPERIENCE EVALUATIONS IN THE CONTEXT OF H-1B VISA PREPARATION AND FILING.
The threshold question for an H-1B nonimmigrant work visa is whether the intending H-1B nonimmigrant has the equivalence of a U.S. Bachelor's Degree in a specific field. Most of the prospective H-1B employees and H-1B employers begin with either of the following two thoughts: "I would like to work in the U.S. using an H-1B visa, but am not sure if I qualify" or "I want to hire a foreign worker but not sure if the individual qualifies for an H-1B visa." 

H-1B PROCESS UPDATE: FISCAL YEAR 2020-2021 H-1B CAP PRE-PAID MAILER SUSPENSION.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services will not use pre-paid mailers to send out any communication or final notices for fiscal year 2020 - 2021 cap-subject H-1B petitions, including those requesting consideration under the advanced degree exemption.
 
The process of printing and mailing the cap-subject H-1B petition approval notices by first-class mail is fully automated. Using pre-paid mailers requires a separate, more time-consuming manual process. The existing automated process is more time efficient for both petitioners and USCIS. Because of this, USCIS will use first-class mail as they work to process all cap-subject petitions in a timely manner. 
 
HELPFUL GRAPHIC DEPICTING THE ESTIMATED TIMELINE FOR THE NEW H-1B SELECTION/FILING PROCESS FOR FY 2020 - 2021. 
 
 
DOS VISA BULLETIN UPDATE: VISA BULLETIN FOR FEBRUARY 2020 - IF YOUR "PRIORITY DATE" IS CURRENT PLEASE LET US KNOW?  YES, . . . WE KNOW,  . . . THE MOVEMENT HAS BEEN SLOW!  
Employment-Based, First Preference (EB-1) Category
 
The EB-1 cutoff dates for China and India remain unchanged, with China at May 22, 2017, and India at January 1, 2015. The EB-1 category for all other countries of charge ability advances to December 01, 2018.

Employment-Based, Second Preference (EB-2) Category
 
The EB-2 category remains current for all countries of charge ability except India and China. EB-2 China moves ahead by two weeks to July 15, 2015. EB-2 India only moves ahead by a single day to May 19, 2009.

Employment-Based, Third Preference (EB-3) Category
 
EB-3 China moves forward by one month to January 01, 2016. EB-3 India advances by one week to January 8, 2009. EB-3 Philippines moves ahead to June 1, 2018. All other cutoff dates are current in the EB-3 category.

EB-3 Other Workers
 
With the exception of China, the cutoff dates for EB-3 other workers are the same for each country as its respective EB-3 cutoff dates. For China, the cutoff date for EB-3 other workers progresses to May 1, 2008.

Employment-Based, Fourth Preference (EB-4) Category
 
The EB-4 cutoff date for El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras remains unchanged at July 1, 2016. EB-4 for Mexico moves ahead to September 1, 2017. This category remains current for all other countries of chargeability.

Employment-Based, Fifth Preference (EB-5) Category
 
The EB-5 category remains current for all countries of charge ability except China, India, and Vietnam. For China, the cutoff date moves to December 1, 2014. EB-5 India advances by four months to September 1, 2018. The EB-5 cutoff date for Vietnam moves up to December 15, 2016.
 
 
CANADIAN IMMIGRATION LAW NEWS .

PERMANENT RESIDENT STATUS DETERMINATION - UPDATED INSTRUCTIONS AND GUIDANCE.
On February 5th, 2020, the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act ("IRPA") developed detailed instructions and guidance on permanent resident status determination. These guidelines are most current policy and procedures when assessing applications for permanent resident determination within and outside Canada.  

The IRPA establishes residency requirements and obligations with respect to each 5-year period after obtaining permanent resident status. The intent of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations (IRPR), which govern the residency obligations of permanent residents, is to:
  • prescribe clear and objective rules and criteria for establishing and determining compliance with the residency obligation provisions of IRPA
TO READ MORE, PLEASE CLICK HERE . . .
IN CANADA ... OPEN WORK PERMIT FOR VULNERABLE WORKERS.
The Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada recently updated instructions on the open work permit for vulnerable workers in Canada. 

The migrant workers in Canada on employer-specific work permits who are experiencing abuse, or who are at risk of abuse, in the context of their employment in Canada may be eligible to receive an open work permit that is exempt from the Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) process, per section 207.1 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations (IRPR).
 
 

CHECKOUT VISASERVE'S REGULARLY UPDATED YOUTUBE VIDEO LIBRARY (SOME SELECTIONS BELOW) ABOUT U.S. AND CANADIAN IMMIGRATION LAWS:

"IMMIGRATION NEWS AND VIEWS" - NPZ'S NEW PRACTICAL SERIES ON YOUTUBE ABOUT VARIOUS U.S. AND CANADIAN IMMIGRATION LAW ISSUES.

Check us out at . . .

 
H-1B VISA (A VIDEO): REGISTRATION FOR THE H-1B ON MARCH 1ST, 2020 - THE NEW FACE OF H-1B VISA PROCESS.


The U.S. Department of Homeland Security on November 8th 2019 published a final rule to establish an electronic registration program for H-1B petitions for FY 2020. This new H-1B registration will require a $10.00 registration fee for the cases that will have to be filed by the April 1st, 2020 cap season deadline.
A VIDEO UPDATE DISCUSSING THE BONA FIDES OF A MARITAL RELATIONSHIP FOR US IMMIGRATION PURPOSES IN ENGLISH  AND IN GUJARATI.

The "bona fides" of a marital relationship is the ultimate legal standard used to determine if a visa can be granted. There are several factors used to determine the bona fides of the marital relationship. Ultimately the legal standard for the determination of the bona fides is a "totality of the circumstances test" but cultural nuances are certainly important to the analysis. David Nachman, Esq. and Neejal Patel at the Nachman Phulwani Zimovcak (NPZ) Law Group - VISASERVE - explain these issues in both English and Gujarati.