Worldwide: Extreme Winter Weather in U.S. May Cause Outbound Travel Delays

Many embassies and consulates in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area have been closed since Monday due to extreme winter weather in the northeastern United States. As a result, individuals seeking to travel internationally from the United States who require consular services from posts in Washington may experience delays.

Individuals seeking to travel internationally from the United States should be prepared for possible processing delays due to inclement weather. The heavy snow that hit the northeastern United States this week, particularly around Washington, D.C., has caused many embassies and consulates to close or to operate at reduced staff levels.

With many diplomatic posts closed or short-staffed, individuals may be unable to submit visa applications or obtain document services. In addition, once these posts reopen, they will likely have to deal with backlogs of applications that were submitted this week.

The content of this alert is provided for informational purposes only. If you have any questions regarding this alert or any other immigration matter, please do not hesitate to contact the global immigration professional with whom you work at Fragomen Global Immigration Services or send an email to the appropriate regional or country mailbox:
Canada: canada@fragomen.com
Latin America: lar@fragomen.com
Europe and Africa: eacoordination@fragomen.com
Middle East: MiddleEast@ae.fragomen.com
Australia: AUInitiations@fragomen.com
China: CNInitiations@fragomen.com
Hong Kong: HKInitiations@fragomen.com
India: INInitiations@fragomen.com
New Zealand: NZInitiations@fragomen.com
Singapore: SGInitiations@fragomen.com
All Other Destinations in the Asia Pacific Region:APCCInitiations@fragomen.com

Source: Fragomen

United States: Foreign Nationals Facing Increased Scrutiny at U.S. Ports of Entry

Foreign nationals – particularly H-1B and L-1 workers and B-1 business visitors who will be at a U.S. client site – should be prepared for closer questioning by Customs and Border Protection officials at ports of entry, and should be sure to carry appropriate documentation of their employment or business activities when traveling into the United States.

Foreign nationals should be prepared for more scrutiny at U.S. ports of entry, especially if they will engage in H-1B or L-1 employment or B-1 business visits at the location of a client, rather than of their actual employer.

We have received reports from companies, and from the media, that U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials have recently refused admission to a small number of H-1B and B-1 foreign nationals because of questions concerning the nature of their work or visits to locations other than their employer’s offices. Although the recent incidents were apparently only at the Newark and Philadelphia international airports, all foreign nationals who will work or conduct business at client sites should be prepared for more stringent inspections at any entry point to the United States.

The recent incidents appear to be related to a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) effort to enhance enforcement of the rules governing the off-site employment of foreign workers. Only a few weeks ago, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services issued new guidance to require companies to demonstrate a strong employer-employee relationship with their H-1B workers, including those at client locations. Newark CBP also recently announced a targeted fraud investigation of employers and a random screening process for H and L workers. We expect that DHS will continue its scrutiny of this issue through tougher adjudications, more thorough border inspections, employer site visits, and other investigative measures.

To minimize entry problems, H-1B and L-1 workers should be ready to answer inspectors’ questions about the nature of their employment, their job duties and location, and their salary. H-1B employees should also be able to show a labor condition application (LCA) that covers their work locations, including client sites. B-1 nonimmigrants must be able to respond to questions about the nature of their business visits to the United States, and should carry clear documentation of the purpose of their visits.

Fragomen is closely monitoring border inspections of foreign workers and business visitors, and will issue further Client Alerts as more details emerge. If you have any questions about this Client Alert, please contact your designated Fragomen professional.

Source: Fragomen