How Federal Agencies Are Working to Improve Visa Processing
Talent, like business, is global. SHRM research shows over 74% of employers say obtaining visas in a timely way is critical to business goals. In this panel discussion, we will explore recent policy efforts from the Biden administration to increase opportunities for employment-based visas, the causes of visa processing backlogs, government efforts to address them, and what this means for HR professionals.
Nathan Stiefel
Nathan Stiefel currently serves as the Deputy Ombudsman for the Office of the Citizenship and Immigration Services Ombudsman. Prior to joining the Ombudsman’s Office, Nathan served as deputy chief of the Office of Policy and Strategy within U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). In this position, he was responsible for leading more than 130 full-time federal employees carrying out the agency’s policy, regulatory, research and evaluation, and strategic planning functions. Previously, Nathan served as deputy chief of the USCIS Office of Citizenship. In this role, he managed the day-to-day operations of the office and coordinated its citizenship education, outreach, and capacity-building initiatives. He joined the USCIS Office of Citizenship in 2006 and served in a variety of roles, including chief of staff and division chief for policy and programs. A native of Virginia Beach, VA, Nathan earned a B.S. in Mass Media Communication from Oral Roberts University, an M.A. in Communication from Regent University, and a Graduate Certificate in Leadership from the University of Virginia.
Amy Nice
Amy M. Nice joined the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy in June 2021 as an Assistant Director. She has more than 30 years of experience as an immigration lawyer, both as a practitioner and policy analyst and advocate. In her role as OSTP’s Assistant Director for International Science and Technology Workforce, she takes the lead on STEM immigration and primarily focuses on agency policy shifts that will help the U.S. attract and retain more international STEM talent.
Since 2010, Ms. Nice’s work has included working with coalitions of higher education and business on high-skilled immigration policy, service as an attorney in the DHS Office of the General Counsel at the end of the Obama administration, working on employment-based immigration regulations and policy, and before that nearly five years as the Executive Director for Immigration Policy at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, where she worked extensively on S. 744, the bipartisan comprehensive immigration bill that passed the Senate in June 2013, and various other legislative efforts to reform the nation’s immigration statute.
Before devoting her work to immigration policy, Ms. Nice was Of Counsel at the Washington, DC law firm of Dickstein Shapiro (now Blank Rome) from 1989 to 2010, where she led the firm’s varied immigration practice. While she was primarily engaged on employment-based immigration matters, she also worked closely on pro bono projects with Catholic Charities on developing a U-visa case-intake system and with the Immigrant Legal Resource Center on naturalization.
Bo Cooper
Bo Cooper, Partner, Fragomen Bo Cooper is a Partner in Fragomen’s Washington, DC office, leading the Government Strategies and Compliance Group. He serves on the firm’s Executive Committee, where he works to set Fragomen’s strategic vision and philosophy, manage its worldwide operations, and ensure it remains progressive, agile, efficient, innovative, and consistent across all its jurisdictions. He provides strategic immigration advice to a diverse clientele, including corporations, nonprofits, hospitals, universities, and media outlets. Bo has extensive experience in navigating complex immigration challenges, interacting with Congress, executive agencies, and consulates, and representing clients in federal audits and investigations.
Previously, Bo was General Counsel of the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) from 1999 to 2003, directing a legal program of 700 attorneys. He advised top U.S. officials on immigration law and has significant federal litigation experience as a former trial attorney in the Department of Justice. Bo has frequently testified before Congress and appeared in various media outlets such as PBS Newshour, Sixty Minutes, and CNN. He participated in negotiating international immigration agreements and served as a U.S. delegate to international organizations.
Bo has taught immigration, national security and related courses at the University of Michigan, Georgetown and American University law schools, and he currently teaches asylum law as a member of the adjunct faculty at Tulane Law School. He has an extensive pro bono practice and has contributed as amicus in key Supreme Court cases, served as an expert witness in federal litigation, and advised the Department of Homeland Security. He is also on the Advisory Board of the Migration Policy Institute. Bo received his J.D. from Tulane Law School and his B.A. from Tulane University.
Gabriel Mozes
Gabriel represents business immigration clients across numerous industries, including management consulting, financial services, pharmaceutical, and information technology.
Gabriel focuses on the following areas: H-1B third-party placement and right to control issues; L-1B knowledge; high-volume TN cross-border work; and PERM program counseling. He works closely with clients to build innovative, customized, and scalable process management solutions to deliver increased value at lower costs.
He is an active member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association and has taught various business immigration seminars as part of the faculty of Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education.
Prior to law school, Gabriel worked as a legal assistant and case manager for a prominent business immigration law firm in Boston. He was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship to perform economic development research in Romania.