The Indian Panorama

Tag: LLP

  • Major victory for H-1B employers as USCIS qualifies market research analyst as specialty occupation

    Major victory for H-1B employers as USCIS qualifies market research analyst as specialty occupation

    WASHINGTON D.C. (TIP): In a major victory for H-1B employers, a federal court has approved a settlement under which the US Citizenship and Immigration Services has agreed to qualify market research analyst as a specialty occupation for the purposes of determining H-1B visa application of a foreign professional.

    Based on its prior interpretation of the Occupational Outlook Handbook — a Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics publication profiling hundreds of occupations in the US job market — the USCIS was determining that market research analysts did not qualify as a “specialty occupation”. The settlement approved by the federal district court in the Northern District of California would now let companies request that the USCIS reopen and re-adjudicate their denied H-1B petitions. “This settlement is an important victory that will benefit hundreds of American businesses and the market research analysts they sought to employ,” said Leslie K Dellon, senior attorney (business immigration) at the American Immigration Council. “The settlement gives US businesses another chance to have their H-1B market research analyst petitions approved — this time under new guidance worked out by the parties to the lawsuit. Each H-1B petition reopened and approved will represent another opportunity for US employers and the workers they sponsored to advance their business objectives,” she said.

    The class action lawsuit in this regard was filed by the American Immigration Council, American Immigration Lawyers Association, and the law firms Van Der Hout LLP, Berry Appleman & Leiden LLP (formerly Joseph & Hall P.C.), and Kuck Baxter Immigration LLC. Jeff Joseph, partner at Berry Appleman & Leiden LLP, said this settlement finally resolves an issue on which immigration lawyers have been battling the government for years.

    “This settlement strikes the right balance between what the regulations actually say and how employers evaluate a candidate’s professional qualifications in the real world. It is our sincere hope that USCIS will now interpret other specialty occupations from a perspective that is in line with what actually happens in the free market,” he said.

  • Indian American Arun Venkataraman Appointed to Key Administration Post

    Indian American Arun Venkataraman Appointed to Key Administration Post

    WASHINGTON (TIP):  US President Joe Biden has announced his intent to nominate Indian-American trade expert Arun Venkataraman to a key position in his administration related to foreign commercial service.

    Arun Venkataraman is the nominee for Director-General of the United States and Foreign Commercial Service and Assistant Secretary for Global Markets, Department of Commerce, the White House said on Wednesday, May 26.

    With over 20 years of experience in advising companies, international organizations, and the US government on international trade issues, Arun Venkataraman is currently the Counselor to the Secretary of Commerce, advising the department on trade and other international economic matters.

    Before joining the Biden-Harris administration, he was a senior director at Visa, leading global government engagement strategy on a range of international policy issues including digital economy, trade, tax, and sanctions.

    Arun Venkataraman previously served as the trade and investment policy advisor at Steptoe & Johnson LLP, where he counselled multinational firms and other organizations on e-commerce, intellectual property rights, and US and foreign trade policies. As the first-ever Director of Policy at the Department of Commerce’s International Trade Administration under President Barack Obama, Arun Venkataraman helped shape the US government’s responses to critical challenges faced by firms in the country and in markets around the world, including China and India, the White House said.

    While at the Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR), he led the development and implementation of the US-India trade policy as the Director for India, for which he received the agency’s Kelly Award for outstanding performance and extraordinary leadership.

    Arun Venkataraman also served as the associate general counsel, representing the United States in litigation before the World Trade Organization (WTO) and in negotiations on international trade agreements.

    Before joining the USTR, Arun Venkataraman was a legal officer at the WTO, advising the organization on a wide range of issues raised in appeals of trade disputes between countries. He began his career as a law clerk for Judge Jane A Restani at the US Court of International Trade. He holds a JD from the Columbia Law School, a Master of Arts in Law and Diplomacy from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, and a BA from Tufts University.