Schear Immigration Law Firm

07/09/2026

Delighted to have VP of HR, Jane Vorkunova of Yotpo, long-term clients and dear friends of ours visit SI's offices in Tel Aviv! Good to see you Jane!

07/09/2026

Dear friends and colleagues,

As we celebrate our 10th anniversary at Schear Immigration Law Firm, we wanted to wish everyone a happy, healthy & prosperous New Year. Thank you for being with us, sharing your moments, and allowing us to be a part of your hard earned journey.
Shana Tova from the SI family!!

03/09/2026

U.S. Immigrant Visa Processing Temporarily Paused

The State Department has temporarily paused immigrant visa appointments worldwide while consular officers receive new training on enhanced “public charge” screening. The pause is currently expected to last until mid-September, although the State Department has not announced a firm date for the resumption of normal processing. The new guidance places greater emphasis on applicants’ financial resources, education, skills, health, and other factors in assessing whether they are likely to become a public charge, e.g. a financial liability to the US government.

Schear Immigration is monitoring the status for its family and employment-based applications with immigrant visa appointments in progress. Please be in touch with our office for any questions at [email protected] or visit www.si-visa.com.

Spouses of U.S. citizens are in limbo, waiting on their green card petitions. They say the Trump administration has slowed down processing

02/09/2026

USCIS has issued new guidance emphasizing the importance of a rigorous public charge analysis when adjudicating immigration benefit applications. Officers are instructed to consider the applicant’s overall circumstances—including financial resources, health, age, family status, education, and skills—in determining whether the applicant is likely to become a public charge. The new policy guidance is expected to lower the threshold by which an applicant would be judged likely to become a public charge and could result in higher scrutiny of an applicant’s potential to become dependent on government benefits. Applicants should ensure their cases are prepared to address these factors comprehensively.

Be in touch with our office for any questions at [email protected], or visit us at www.si-visa.com

https://www.uscis.gov/newsroom/alerts/uscis-issues-guidance-on-making-public-charge-inadmissibility-determination

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is issuing updated guidance in the USCIS Policy Manual explaining how the agency will determine whether an alien applying for adjustment of status to that of a lawful permanent resident is likely at any time to become a public charge.

23/08/2026

US immigration attorney? Apply here:
https://forms.monday.com/forms/8ff4e76eccd5c1e3843c243e7bd5531d?r=use1

20/05/2026

We are delighted to announce that Founding Partner, Jennifer Schear has been recognized once again as a Thought Leader in the field by Lexology Index Immigration 2026 rankings.

Thank you to our clients and community for the trust and confidence you place in us, looking forward to another year of excellence!

13/04/2026

Schear Immigration remembers those who perished in the Holocaust and the sacrifices made of earlier generations so that we may all live our lives in full freedom and dignity, both individually and as a nation 🙏

09/03/2026

To our dear friends and clients in Israel and the region, we hope you and yours are keeping safe during these challenging days.

Please note as of today, March 9, 2026, the U.S. Embassy in Israel provided updated guidance according to the security situation, noting that all routine consular services at the Embassy in Jerusalem and the Branch Office in Tel Aviv have been suspended through March 13. Our office will be assisting in the re-scheduling of Embassy interviews when it becomes possible again.

For American citizens, emergency passport services are available Monday through Friday from 10:00 am to 1:00 pm, with no appointment required. Citizens are also welcome to fill out a crisis intake form found on the Embassy’s website as part of the U.S. Embassy’s efforts to coordinate flights out of the region.

https://il.usembassy.gov/security-alert-u-s-embassy-jerusalem-march-9-2026-update-1/

Stay tuned as the situation remains fluid, while we continue to update and operate according to the restrictions issued by the Home Front Command.

Yours,
Schear Immigration

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02/02/2026

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced that the initial registration period for the fiscal year (FY) 2027 H-1B cap will open at *noon Eastern on March 4* and run through *noon Eastern on March 19, 2026*.

During this period, prospective H-1B cap-subject petitioners and representatives must use an online account to register each beneficiary electronically for the selection process and pay the associated $215 H-1B registration fee for each registration.

Selections take place after the initial registration period closes, with selection notifications expected by March 31, 2026. A petitioner may then file an H-1B cap-subject petition, including a petition for a beneficiary who is eligible for the advanced degree exemption, if their registration for the beneficiary of the cap-subject petition was selected in the H-1B registration process.

*New for the FY 2027 Cap Season*

To note, The Department of Homeland Security published a final rule amending the regulations governing how USCIS selects H-1B registrations for unique beneficiaries who can then file H-1B cap-subject petitions. The new H-1B selection process prioritizes allocating visas to *higher-skilled* and *higher-paid* aliens to “better protect the wages, working conditions, and job opportunities of American workers”. For the FY 2027 H-1B cap season, if the USCIS receives registrations for unique beneficiaries during the initial registration period that exceed the cap, they conduct a weighted selection from the unique beneficiaries with properly submitted registrations.

Furthermore, on Sept. 19, 2025, President Trump issued a Proclamation which we noted, where if a petitioner has their registration selected and is eligible to file an H-1B cap-subject petition, they may need to pay an additional $100,000 fee before filing the H-1B petition as a condition of eligibility.

For more information on the new H-1B process, visit our website section on the topic and see attached.

https://www.si-visa.com/news

19/01/2026

Congrats to our friends at Vast Data for their impressive valuation and new funding round!

Startup poised to raise billions from CapitalG and Nvidia, eclipsing Wiz’s previous high-water mark.