Duane Morris – Duane Morris Immigration Law

August 26, 2024 by Duane Morris

Tax and Immigration Issues Surrounding the Surrender of a Green Card

There are several reasons why lawful permanent residents (LPRs) might choose to abandon their green cards. One common reason is relocation due to employment opportunities in another country, where a green card holder no longer needs to maintain permanent residence in the United States. Additionally, changes in personal circumstances, such as family commitments or lifestyle preferences, might prompt someone to move somewhere else and give up their green card, which is officially known as a Permanent Resident Card or Form I-551.

Tax considerations also play a significant role. U.S. green card holders are subject to U.S. tax obligations on their worldwide income and may also face U.S. estate, gift and generation-skipping transfer (GST) taxes, as green card holders are also frequently determined to be domiciled in the United States. In addition, once an LPR becomes a “long-term resident” (LTR) under the U.S. Internal Revenue Code’s expatriation tax provisions (generally, by having had the green card for any portion of eight years within a 15-year period), the abandonment of the green card can subject the LPR to a mark-to-market capital gains tax on global assets. So surrendering the green card in a timely fashion and with the benefit of effective pre-surrender tax planning can greatly simplify a former LPR’s tax situation and minimize unanticipated tax consequences.

Read the full Alert on the Duane Morris LLP website.

August 22, 2024 by Duane Morris

Filing Guidance Now Available for Applications for Parole in Place for Certain Noncitizen Spouses and Stepchildren of U.S. Citizens

The Department of Homeland Security recently announced the implementation of the Biden-Harris administration’s Keeping Families Together Program, which allows certain noncitizens present in the United States for at least 10 years and married to U.S. citizens on or before June 17, 2024, (and qualifying stepchildren) to apply for parole without leaving the U.S. and being separated from their families. Some DACA and TPS recipients who are spouses or stepchildren of U.S. citizens may also be eligible. Parole in place has already been available for certain military service members and their family members.

Read the Alert on the Duane Morris LLP website.

July 17, 2024July 30, 2024 by Duane Morris

Business Immigration Planning for 2025

By Ted Chiappari

The Republican and Democratic Parties have both released their draft 2024 party platforms this month. So it’s an opportune time for US businesses currently planning their 2025 hiring, international personnel transfers and global mobility budgets to consider the impact of the major parties’ platforms on business immigration after the election in November.

The Democratic Platform

The draft 2024 Democratic platform identifies four immigration goals, the first two of which are, at least in broad strokes, shared by Republicans:

Secure the border;
Reform the asylum system;
Expand legal immigration;
Support long-term undocumented individuals in order to keep families together.

Acknowledging that “lasting, comprehensive reforms require congressional action,” the draft platform states that President Biden “will push Congress to pass legislation” to achieve these goals. Securing the border was not part of the 2020 platform and is presumably a nod to widespread concern about the integrity of our land borders, in particular, our border with Mexico. The other goals are consistent with the 2020 platform, even if the draft 2024 platform lacks the detail and perhaps some of the ambition of the 2020 platform.

While US businesses would certainly benefit from an expansion of legal immigration, the Biden Administration can’t deliver on that without Congressional action.

The GOP Platform

The 2024 GOP platform explicitly seeks to restrict business immigration in the following ways:

“Protect American Workers,” “Put American Workers First,” and “Hire American.”
In the name of protecting US workers, the 2017-2021 Trump Administration made multiple attempts to issue regulations that, among other things, change how the prevailing wage was calculated in order to increase minimum compensation levels for the H1B and E3 (specialty occupation) temporary work visa and the PERM green card process. It’s reasonable to assume that these efforts would resume in a second Trump Administration.

Continue reading “Business Immigration Planning for 2025”

January 14, 2021 by Duane Morris

International Travelers to the US must present Negative COVID Test Results

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has issued a new rule requiring that all air passengers arriving to the United States from a foreign country provide documentation of a negative COVID-19 test or documentation that the passenger has recovered from COVID-19. Passengers may satisfy this rule by either getting tested no more than three days before their flight departs and providing proof of the negative result to the airline before boarding, or providing documentation of having recovered from COVID-19 and that a licensed healthcare provider has cleared the passenger for travel. Learn more about this new requirement in our recent client alert.

January 14, 2021January 14, 2021 by Duane Morris

H-1B Lottery Selection Criteria May Change to Salary-Based Process

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has issued a new rule that transforms the random cap H-1B selection process to one that prioritizes registrations and petitions based on the highest Department of Labor (DOL) prevailing wage level met by the offered salary. It is not clear yet whether the incoming Biden administration will implement this rule at all or with modifications. Learn more in our recent client alert.

June 18, 2020 by Duane Morris

Supreme Court Ruling Upholds DACA Program

On June 18, 2020, a narrowly divided Supreme Court of the United States held that the Court can review the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program and that the Trump administration’s decision to terminate the program was arbitrary and capricious under the Administrative Procedure Act. Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. wrote the 5-4 decision in Department of Homeland Security v. Regents of University of California. DACA grants undocumented immigrants brought to the United States as children permission to live and work lawfully.

To read the full text of this Duane Morris Alert, please visit the firm website.

March 13, 2020 by Duane Morris

U.S. Expands Entry Ban to Europe’s Schengen Area as Nations Around the World Impose Entry Restrictions

Following the World Health Organization (WHO) declaration that classified the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak as a pandemic on March 11, a number of governments have instituted or announced measures limiting international travel. In the most notable of the new restrictions, the United States has announced that it is suspending all travel from Europe’s Schengen Area for 30 days beginning at midnight on Friday, March 13. This measure would expand existing travel restrictions in place for arrivals from mainland China and Iran.

The restrictions do not apply to U.S. citizens, legal permanent residents or their immediate families as well as holders of some categories of U.S. visas (such as A-1, A-2, C-1, D or C-1/D, C-2, C-3, G-1, G-2, G-3, G-4 and NATO visas). The Schengen Area is a 26-country group that has officially abolished border control among themselves.

Globally, it is unknown if other governments will follow suit after the announcement from the White House. However, some of the recent and notable measures that have been implemented or announced this week by other countries are as follows:

View the full Alert on the Duane Morris LLP website.

May 20, 2019May 20, 2019 by Duane Morris

Proposed First Step Toward Immigration Reform Announced by President

On May 16, 2019, the president announced a plan to reform the U.S. immigration system, with a focus on increased border security as well as a plan to replace the employment-based green card system with a points system modeled on immigration programs in other countries, including Canada and Australia.

While specific details of the plan have not been disclosed, it is to be a merit-based system that would assess permanent residence applicants on the basis of criteria that include age, skills, education level, offer of employment, job creation potential and wage level.

View the full Alert on the Duane Morris LLP website.