CTSW helps business recruit foreign talent, and also represents individuals in securing employment in the U.S. In a recent case, CTSW assisted a foreign student enrolled at a U.S. university in overcoming an immigration-related snag.
This student had previously applied to the U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services for the Optional Practical Training program without the assistance of counsel. Being accepted to this program would make it possible to work in the United States following the student’s completion of the required academic coursework toward a university degree. However, this application was denied on grounds that he had already been granted 12 months of full time practical training following completion of coursework at another university.
The problem: While the student was enrolled at this other school, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement nullified the school’s ability to accept foreign students due to the school’s failure to comply with certain immigration regulations governing the enrollment and matriculation of foreign students. This resulted in the previous school’s shutdown and early termination of the student’s grant of practical training. However, the Immigration database that keeps tracks foreign students and the schools they attend was not corrected to reflect this early termination.
CTSW attorneys Shirley Tang and Ting Riess argued to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services that the Government’s termination of the previous school’s authorization amounted to an automatic revocation of his prior practical training grant. The student never benefited from the full term of practical training to which he was entitled under immigration law. This argument was accepted, the Optional Practical Training was granted, and the foreign student was able to secure employment in the U.S.