Graham Adair is pleased to announce a transition agreement with Baker Law Corporation. After many successful years of managing her own firm, Debra Baker has decided to retire and turn her practice over to Graham Adair. As part of the transition, Graham Adair will also be bringing on her experienced and dedicated staff. Sam and Chad previously worked at a large international law firm where Debra ran the immigration practice group in the Bay Area. It is an honor for Graham Adair to carry on the illustrious practice that Debra has built, which includes a focus on customer service and customized solutions to meet varying client needs. Debra will remain involved during the transition. The official transition will take place as of July 1, 2021.

On October 8, 2020, the Department of Homeland Security issued an Interim Final Rule (IFR) titled “Strengthening the H-1B Non-Immigrant Visa Classification Program”. The IFR previously revised and narrowed the regulatory definition of and raised the standards for “specialty occupation” for H-1B nonimmigrant visa applicants.   On December 1, 2020, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California issued a judgment that blocked the implementation and enforcement of the IFR. In compliance with the vacatur, USCIS has vacated the IFR and restored the previous definition of and standard for the “specialty occupation” requirement.   Under the IFR, H-1B applicants were required to obtain a bachelor’s degree in the exact field related to their position. For example, under the rule, employers seeking software engineers would not be allowed to hire applicants with an information technology degree. Nor would they be allowed to use experience or a combination of experience and education as a bachelor’s degree equivalency. Now that the IFR has been vacated, applicants can satisfy “specialty occupation” by obtaining a bachelor’s degree in a field relevant to their profession, or a work experience equivalency.   If you have any questions, please contact your Graham Adair attorney.