Today the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) announced that it received more than 236,000 cap-subject H-1B petitions for Fiscal Year (FY) 2017. The Agency also announced that on April 9, 2016, it conducted a computer generated lottery of these 236,000 petitions to select 20,000 petitions under the Advanced Degree Cap (U.S. Master’s degree or higher) and 65,000 petitions under the regular H-1B cap. The 150,000 remaining petitions have been rejected...

On April 7, 2016, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) announced that it received sufficient H-1B petitions to meet the regular and advanced degree caps for Fiscal Year (FY) 2017. On April 1, 2016, USCIS began accepting petitions from U.S. Employers requesting that it approve highly skilled professional foreign national workers for temporary employment commencing on October 1, 2016. Under the annual limits on H-1B visas set by Congress, USCIS...

It’s tax time again! The start of a new year brings responsibility to file income taxes with the IRS. Immigrants have tax responsibilities, too. There is no substitute for quality tax advice from a tax professional, and this is not meant to replace that advice. But, generally speaking, immigrants earning money in the United States, regardless of whether they are working lawfully or not, are required to report their income to...

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has amended the regulations regarding Optional Practical Training (OPT) for certain F-1 students who earned a degree in Science, Technology Engineering or Mathematics (STEM) from a U.S. college or university. The amended rule allows F-1 Students currently on OPT who possess a degree in a STEM field to extend their period of OPT for an additional 24 months. The 24 month STEM-OPT extension will be...

The United States Department of State has issued a final rule change, effective February 29, 2016, which codifies new regulations affecting the Teacher category of the J-1 Exchange Visitor Program. The Teacher category of the J-1 Exchange Visitor Program permits foreign teachers to teach full-time at accredited public or private primary or secondary schools (K-12 and Pre-K) and in some language immersion programs offered by accredited primary schools. In addition to other...

Kolko & Associates, P.C. is very pleased to announce that attorney Anya Lear will join our team as an Associate Attorney in April 2016. Ms. Lear, a graduate of the University of Denver’s Sturm College of Law, was admitted to the Colorado Bar in 2012. Since her admission to the Colorado Bar, Ms. Lear worked as a law clerk at the Denver District Court and at the U.S. Attorney’s Office for...

On March 3, 2016, Partner Jennifer Casey appeared on Colorado Public Radio’s “Colorado Matters” program to discuss the lengthy backlogs at the U.S. Immigration Courts in Colorado. Currently, the Immigration Courts in Colorado have the longest delays in the country, with the average case processing time of 933 days. Listen to Jennifer’s insights on these issues here: http://www.cpr.org/news/story/denver-s-immigration-court-has-longest-hearing-delays-us  

Kolko and Associates, P.C. is so pleased to announce that Partner Jennifer Casey and Senior Associate Bryon Large have both been recognized by 2016 Super Lawyers as Rising Stars in the field of Immigration Law. What an honor to have both of these great lawyers work together with our team in Denver, Colorado.

Once again, H-2B employers are on pins and needles trying to ascertain whether the government will follow its own regulations in order to facilitate the timely issuance of H-2B seasonal visas for temporary skilled workers. The H-2B process in and of itself is one of the most technical and time-sensitive immigration procedures in the United States. It involves adjudication by three separate agencies, the Department of Labor (DOL), the Department of...

Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Jeh Johnson has extended the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) designation for Sudan for an additional period of 18 months. The Secretary has determined that due to on-going armed conflict in Sudan, the country is experiencing extraordinary and temporary conditions that prevent its nationals from returning in safety and that permitting such aliens to temporarily remain in the United States is not contrary to U.S. national...

The U.S. Government has begun implementing changes to the Visa Waiver Program (VWP) that were included in the 2016 Consolidated Appropriations Act. With the changes to the VWP, people from the 38 Countries designated for the VWP (mostly western European countries) and who are also nationals of Iran, Iraq, Syria and Sudan will no longer be eligible for entry into the United States under the VWP. Dual nationals of a Visa...

The H-1B nonimmigrant visa is an employer sponsored temporary work visa for foreign national professional workers in specialty occupations in the United States. Many employers depend on the H-1B program in order to ensure that they can hire foreign nationals with specialized skills and help their businesses thrive and grow. The H-1B process is common for U.S. employers and requires that the employer prepare and submit a petition to the USCIS on...

On January 18, 2016, the U.S. Supreme Court announced it will hear United States v. Texas. This means that the Supreme Court weigh in on the legality of President Obama’s executive action on immigration, specifically the expansion of “deferred action” to certain parents of U.S. citizens and residents (Deferred Action for Parents of Americans & Residents – “DAPA”), as well as to individuals who were brought to the United States as...

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has recently stepped up its immigration enforcement efforts. Starting this week, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has begun conducting “immigration raids” across the country targeting individuals and families who have entered the United States within the last two years and who have an order of removal from the U.S. Immigration Court. Many non-citizens in United States can be caught up in these caught up in...

Over the past two years, due to a major shift in priorities by the Department of Homeland Security, as well as a very understaffed court, the Denver Immigration Court put thousands of cases on hold and set hearings out to a “place holder” date of November 29, 2019. In recent weeks, the Colorado Chapter of the American Immigration Lawyers Association has been informed by the Court that it will begin resetting...

Kolko & Associates, P.C. is pleased to announce that Managing Partner David Kolko has been selected as one of 5280 Magazine’s Top Lawyers 2016. Attorney Kolko was among only 400 Colorado Attorneys and 13 Colorado Immigration Lawyers selected for recognition by his peers.  Congratulations David! For more information regarding Managing Partner David Kolko or the services that we offer here at Kolko & Associates, P.C., please contact our office.

On December 29, 2015, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) announced that it had issued the statutory maximum of 10,000 U nonimmigrant approvals (U Visas) for Fiscal Year 2016 (October 1, 2015 – September 30, 2016). Congress has set an annual statutory maximum of 10,000 available U Visas for qualified applicants. For the seventh (7th) straight year in a row, USCIS has reached the annual limit of 10,000 within the...

On December 18, 2015, President Obama signed into law the 2016 Consolidated Appropriations Act. Included in this Act are important changes to the Visa Waiver Program. The Visa Waiver Program (VWP) is a program that permits citizens of certain designated countries from traveling to the United States without a visa for the purpose of business or tourism. The maximum period of stay in the United States for a person on the...

Dear Santa, With Christmas approaching quickly, I wanted to make sure you knew what gifts we’d love to have this year under our Christmas Trees. We’ve worked really hard this year to help our clients with their immigration problems, but we could use a few more tools around our office to better help our clients. Here is my wish list: • DAPA – Last year, the White House tried to give...

Recently, USCIS released statistics regarding Form I-918 U Nonimmigrant Status Petitions. While the numbers were generally not surprising, they give us a general indication of the strains on the U visa program. U Nonimmigrant Status, commonly referred to as a U visa, is available to people who have been victims of certain crimes, and who have cooperated with law enforcement in the investigation and prosecution of the crimes. The crimes are...