On December 23, 2017, Simone Williams, Managing Attorney with Williams Global Law, visited the Metcalfe Street Juvenile Remand Centre in Kingston, Jamaica with Senator Pearnel Charles Jr., the junior minister in the Ministry of National Security of Jamaica. The goal of the visit was to share the message of forgiveness, giving and peace with the detainees, and to encourage them to make a positive change in their lives. The Metcalfe Street Centre is the only rehabilitation cen

On December 14, 2017, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced the start of implementing the International Entrepreneur Rule (IER). The IER was published to provide an unlimited number of international entrepreneurs a new avenue to apply for parole, enter the U.S., and use American investments to establish and grow start-up businesses. The rule established new criteria to guide the adjudication of parole applications from certain foreign entrepreneurs, prov

In Fall 2017, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) published an agenda proposing amendment of its regulations governing the employment-based, fifth preference (EB-5) immigrant investor classification (“revised EB-5 regulations” or “Final Rule”). According to the fall agenda, the Final Action of the revised EB-5 regulations is anticipated to take place in February 2018 with a 60-day grace period; and therefore the effective date would be April 2018. It should be noted tha

As part of President Trump’s Executive Order on protection of the United States from terrorist activities, on August 28, 2017, USCIS announced that it is now requiring employment-based green card applicants to appear for a personal interview with a USCIS officer before their green card case can be approved. The mandatory interviews are being conducted with all applicants whose I-485, Application to Adjust Status, was filed on or after March 6, 2017. If an applicant’s derivati

On April 2, 2018, USCIS will begin accepting H-1B, Petitions for Nonimmigrant Workers, subject to FY 2019 H-1B cap. This means that employers have less than three months to prepare for the filing period which will last for five business days, from April 2 to April 6, 2018. Considering the high number of applications received in the previous years (approx. 200,000), the FY 2019 filing season is expected to be in high demand as well. As a reminder, the annual H-1B quota is 85