Judy Wang

Firm/Organization: Steptoe & Johnson LLP
Blogs: International Compliance Blog

Latest Articles

As a first step to implementing the wide-ranging Foreign Investment Risk Review Modernization Act of 2018 (FIRRMA) that was enacted in August 2018, the U.S. Department of the Treasury on October 10, 2018 issued an interim rule to launch a “pilot program” to expand the jurisdiction of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) to review certain “critical technology” transactions.  Treasury also issued temporary regulations that make limited changes to…
On August 3, 2018, the US District Judge for District of Columbia, John D. Bates, ruled that the Trump administration must fully restore the DACA program. In the decision, the court stated, “The Court therefore reaffirms its conclusion that DACA’s rescission was unlawful and must be set aside.” In addition, the court also denied the government’s motion to reconsider, stating that “The Court has already once given DHS the opportunity to remedy these deficiencies—either by providing…
Today, USCIS announced it has completed the H-1B cap FY 2019 random selection process on April 11. This year, USCIS received a total of 190,098 H-1B cap petitions during the H-1B cap FY 2019 filing period, which started on April 2.  The announcement means USCIS has completed the computer generated random selection process and selected enough petitions to meet the 65,000 regular cap and the 20,000 cap under the U.S. advanced degree exemption, known as…
Recent joint activity by the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) and the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), including joint actions against Venezuela and North Korea, suggest that the two Treasury agencies are increasing coordination to tackle financial and other crimes. On September 20, 2017, FinCEN issued an advisory which detailed widespread corruption in Venezuela, noting that OFAC has designated a number of Venezuelan public officials for public corruption and narcotics trafficking, including President Nicolas …
The unsettled question of whether corporations may be held liable for international human rights abuses may finally, after a tortuous deviation, be addressed by the Supreme Court in the case of Jesner v. Arab Bank. The case, on appeal from the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in New York, contains allegations that the Arab Bank processed financial transactions on behalf of groups linked to terrorism. The plaintiffs are victims of…
 The civics test is an oral test which is required in the Naturalization application process. The USCIS Officer will ask the applicant up to 10 of the 100 civics questions and the applicant must answer 6 out of 10 questions correctly to pass the civics portion of the naturalization test. On the naturalization test, some answers may change to reflect the result of federal and state elections and appointment or to clarify content and ensure…
Recently, the American Immigration Council (Council) and the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) teamed up on a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) seeking to “obtain the information needed to provide the public with an understanding of the operating procedures and Defendant USCIS follows when administering the H-1B lottery. AILA seeks declaratory, injunctive and other appropriate relief under the Freedom of Information Act (“FOIA”), 5 U.S.C.…
USCIS has been working on mitigating the impact caused by the processing delay on I-129 petitions. In addition to transferring cases from Vermont Service Center to other Service Centers to balance caseloads, USCIS recently began allowing petitioners who filed Form I-129 requesting an extension of status or change of employer to contact USCIS after the petition has been pending for 210 days or more for an inquiry based on the petition being outside of normal…
Recently, USCIS has transferred certain types of cases from the Vermont Service Center (VSC) to the Nebraska Service Center (NSC) or the California Service Center (CSC) to balance workload and decrease processing times. The NSC will now process some of the following types of cases: Form I-129, Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker, for petitioners requesting H-1B nonimmigrant classification; Form I-539, Application to Extend/Change Nonimmigrant Status, for the H-4 nonimmigrant classification; and Form I-765, Application for…
Today, US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) published a final rule of Optional Practical Training (OPT) program which replaces the existing 2008 interim final rule regarding OPT for F-1 nonimmigrant students who have obtained a STEM degree. The final rule will take effect on May 10, 2016. According to the news leases issued by ICE on March 9, 2016, the final rule lengthens the STEM OPT extension from 17 months to 24 months. Additionally, the…