The Inside Track

In this episode of The Inside Track, Grace Shie and Jad Taha explore the critical considerations multinational employers face when sending expatriate employees to the UAE. They discuss how the UAE's structure as a federation of seven emirates—with distinct mainland, DIFC, and ADGM regulatory frameworks—directly impacts visa sponsorship processes and employment obligations. The conversation demystifies Emiratisation, the UAE's national policy imposing measurable hiring targets for Emirati nationals on private sector employers, and explains how companies can meet localization requirements without sacrificing their need for international talent. The episode concludes with practical guidance on integrating entity location decisions, immigration planning, and Emirati recruitment into one coordinated regional workforce strategy.

In this episode of The Inside Track, Grace Shie and Paul Sarauskas break down the EU Posted Workers Directive — the law designed to protect workers who are temporarily sent into the European Union to perform services. They discuss what triggers a posted worker notification, how requirements vary significantly across EU member states, and why even short-term business trips by non-EU citizens into the EU can create filing obligations. Paul walks through the full compliance lifecycle, from pre-trip assessments and notification filings to ongoing document retention requirements, and highlights the potentially severe penalties for non-compliance. The episode closes with practical tips for employers looking to build a robust process for managing posted worker obligations across their global mobility programs.

What if the biggest shift in US immigration isn't a new executive order, but a form change most people barely noticed? In this episode of The Inside Track, Grace Shie and Morgan Bailey reveal how the immigration system is focusing on pattern recognition. A recent change to the form used for employment cases shows the government is moving from reviewing petitions in isolation to building a "beneficiary-centric" picture, connecting filings, job descriptions, online bios, and prior US entries into a single, searchable narrative. One petition may be compliant, but if the story doesn't hold together across years and employers, the system will notice – and AI tools are increasingly helping it do exactly that. Grace and Morgan break down what this means for employers and high-profile individuals, and share important strategies to make immigration filings not just approvable today, but defensible for years to come.

In this episode of The Inside Track, Grace Shie and Max Del Rey reconvene to break down the results of this year's H-1B lottery, which operated for the first time under a new weighted and wage-based selection system. They discuss how the revamped structure led to significantly higher selection rates across their client base. They also explore how the upfront data collection required during the registration process has given practitioners a head start on cap petition filings, which are now underway during the April 1 to June 30 filing window. The episode closes with a look at the choices facing beneficiaries with multiple employer registrations and a preview of additional agency data expected in the coming weeks.

In this episode of The Inside Track, Grace Shie and Max Del Rey unpack the Department of Homeland Security's new H-1B rule, which introduces a wage-based lottery system that employers must navigate during the H-1B registration period in March. Grace and Max preview expected selection rates under the four-tier wage system and outline key employer decisions, including wage level, job classification, and location. They also provide practical guidance on how developing a sound strategy upfront for H-1B registration will drive success in the cap petition process for selected registrations.

In this episode of The Inside Track, partners Grace Shie and Morgan Bailey explain why US travel on B-1 visas and ESTA is no longer just an individual traveler issue, but a material business risk. As executives face increasing scrutiny during what was once routine travel, Grace and Morgan examine how enforcement has changed and how informed planning can protect business continuity and prevent border decisions from disrupting critical timelines and operations.

In this episode of The Inside Track, Grace Shie and Morgan Bailey explore how US immigration agencies are integrating AI into workflows, shifting from episodic adjudications to person-centric, pattern-driven analysis. They discuss implications across the Departments of Homeland Security (including USCIS, CBP, and ICE), State, and Labor, emphasizing continuous vetting, documentation clarity, and the growing impact of anomaly detection on outcomes—alongside the continued need for human judgment.

In this episode of The Inside Track, partner Grace Shie and counsel James Perrott break down the United Kingdom's right to work regime by which employers verify the work authorization or immigration permission of their workforce. Grace and James review the core verification routes, civil penalty and criminal offence framework, and available statutory defenses. They share best practices for navigating heightened enforcement—addressing sponsor license exposure, reputational risk, and what to do when instances of "illegal working" are identified. Finally, they assess the UK Government's potential extension of checks to contractors and gig economy workers, signaling the likely updates many employers will need to make to their workforce compliance programs.

In this episode of The Inside Track, Grace Shie and Max Del Rey unpack the USCIS guidance issued on October 20, regarding the new $100,000 H-1B fee. They clarify which H-1B petitions are subject to the fee and which are excluded, walking through nuanced scenarios where the fee may be triggered. The discussion centers on H-1B changes of employer, highlighting heightened risk for both employers and workers, and offering practical strategies to manage the offboarding and onboarding cycle for new hires.

In this episode of The Inside Track, Grace Shie and María (Maru) Ferré discuss how employers can maintain access to global talent given the current H-1B landscape in the United States, spotlighting overseas alternatives such as "global parking" and remote work options. Global parking—placing employers with foreign affiliates, using an employer of record where permissible, or even establishing a new employing entity—can bridge US immigration constraints, while remote-work ("digital nomad") visas may allow employees to work from abroad for a US employer without having to establish a local corporate presence. The conversation outlines practical considerations for digital nomad pathways, including proof of remote employment, income thresholds, processing timelines, and family accompaniment, and emphasizes that other legal considerations—local labor laws, social security, benefits, and tax—often drive strategy. A holistic, proactive global mobility approach is increasingly essential for employers to compete for high-skilled talent and sustain innovation and growth.