Raquel Michelena

Raquel is the Director of Marketing and Business Operations at Weinstock Immigration Lawyers. She comes from a culturally diverse background: Raised in the Dominican Republic, US citizen, a direct descendant of 2 Spanish families, working with different ethnicities around the world, and fluent in English and Spanish languages.

Lawsuit Filed on the New H-1B Wage Rule

Lawsuit Filed on the New H-1B Wage Rule On October 8, 2020, the Trump Administration abruptly revamped the H-1B wage rule to dramatically change the program and sharply increase the required wages for temporary positions and others seeking employment-based green card sponsorship. The changes are aimed at discouraging U.S. employers from hiring and continuing to […]

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Trump and Biden’s Immigration Policies

Trump and Biden’s Immigration Policies The year 2020 has been like no other in the United States. Multiple natural disasters, more protests for social justice than in previous years on racism and police topics, Immigration Policies, and a pandemic causing mass unemployment and hundreds of thousands of deaths. Americans can travel to fewer places than

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Trump’s Executive Order on Limiting Immigration – What You Need to Know

Trump’s Executive Order on Limiting Immigration – What You Need to Know Effective April 23, 2020, President Trump issued an executive order limiting immigration, which is scheduled to expire in 60 days. The order relates specifically to the ENTRY into the U.S., not the filing of applications and petitions. There are important exceptions to the

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Biden plans on swiftly rolling back some Trump Administration Policies

Biden plans on swiftly rolling back some Trump Administration Policies President-elect Joe Biden is reportedly working on a group of executive orders that would reverse several controversial Trump administration policies once he takes office on January 20. Immigration policy would be the most dramatic and immediate reversal. According to a Washington Post report, Biden plans to take

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Premium Processing Fee Increase Effective Oct. 19, 2020

Premium Processing Fee Increase Effective Oct. 19, 2020 U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) today announced it will increase fees for premium processing, effective Oct. 19, as required by the Continuing Appropriations Act, 2021 and Other Extensions Act, Pub. L. No. 116-159, signed into law on Oct. 1. The USCIS premium processing service allows petitioners to pay an

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Developments that may Affect You or Your Employees’ Ability to File for Green Cards

Developments that may Affect You or Your Employees’ Ability to File for Green Cards This post is to alert you of new developments that may affect you or your employees’ ability to file for green cards. It requires your immediate attention and action.  The U.S. State Department has released the Visa Bulletin for October 2020,

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USCIS Finalizes Significant Filing Fee Increases

USCIS Finalizes Significant Filing Fee Increases Starting October 2, 2020, Fee increases will go way up for U.S. Citizenship, Green Card & many more applications. As we informed on our August 3, 2020, post, many of the applications postmarked on or after October 2, 2020, will have substantially higher fees than before. Delaying your applications

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H-1B VISA DENIALS CONTINUE TO INCREASE FOR COMPANIES

H-1B VISA DENIALS CONTINUE TO INCREASE FOR COMPANIES H-1B VISA DENIALS CONTINUE TO INCREASE FOR COMPANIES U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) continues H-1B visa denials, including for high-skilled foreign nationals sponsored by many of the best companies in the world, according to a new analysis. The overall trend for businesses under the Trump administration

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Tech Giants Back Legal Challenge to Trump’s Foreign Workers Ban

Tech Giants Back Legal Challenge to Trump’s Foreign Workers Ban Top U.S. tech firms, including Amazon.com Inc and Facebook Inc, filed a legal brief on Monday, backing a challenge to U.S. President Donald Trump’s temporary ban on the entry of certain foreign workers to preserve jobs for Americans during the coronavirus pandemic. In brief, filed

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Judge Issues Two Nationwide Injunctions Blocking “Public Charge” Immigration Rules Amid COVID-19 Pandemic

Judge Issues Two Nationwide Injunctions Blocking “Public Charge” Immigration Rules Amid COVID-19 Pandemic A Manhattan federal court issued two nationwide injunctions temporarily blocking the Trump administration’s “public charge” rules. An injunction issued against the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) prevents DHS from enforcing, applying, implementing, or treating as effective the “public charge” rule for

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