The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has finalized plans to charge employers a $10 registration fee for each H-1B petition they submit for registration in the agency’s new electronic H-1B registration system. The...more
On November 2, 2019, the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon issued a temporary restraining order, blocking the Trump administration from enforcing a recent presidential proclamation requiring health insurance for...more
The Trump administration’s public charge rule is on hold, at least temporarily. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Department of State each introduced a version of the rule. ...more
According to a proclamation issued by President Donald Trump on October 4, 2019, the U.S. Department of State will begin issuing immigrant visas only to those foreign nationals who will have health insurance once admitted to...more
On October 11, 2019, the U.S. District Court in the Southern District of New York ordered a preliminary injunction blocking the implementation, by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), of President Donald Trump’s...more
On July 10, 2019, the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 1044, the Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act of 2019, by a vote of 365 to 65. The bill is intended to reduce lengthy immigrant visa (green card) wait times...more
7/12/2019
/ Corporate Counsel ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
EB-2 ,
EB-3 ,
Green Cards ,
H-1B ,
Highly-Skilled Workers Visa ,
Immigration Procedures ,
Labor Condition Applications ,
Pending Legislation ,
Visa Caps ,
Visas
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will be redistributing certain naturalization and green card cases to field offices with lighter caseloads for processing. In its announcement, the agency said that since the...more
Foreign nationals are now required to provide a five-year history of social media usernames, telephone numbers, and email addresses when applying for U.S. nonimmigrant or immigrant visas. The plan to require more information...more
6/18/2019
/ B-1 ,
Customs and Border Protection ,
Electronic Communications ,
Electronic Devices ,
Foreign Nationals ,
H-1B ,
Immigration Procedures ,
L-1 Visas ,
Social Networks ,
US Department of State ,
Visas
The U.S. House of Representatives recently passed a bill that would cancel and prohibit removal proceedings and provide a pathway to citizenship for an estimated 2.5 million immigrants. The American Dream and Promise Act of...more
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has released its spring 2019 regulatory agenda, highlighting the agency’s rulemaking priorities through 2019. While many of the agenda items appear to be carryovers from agendas past,...more
6/13/2019
/ Department of Homeland Security (DHS) ,
Electronic Filing ,
Electronic Travel Authorization Program (eTA) ,
F-1 Visa ,
Filing Fees ,
H-1B ,
H-4 Spouses ,
Immigration Procedures ,
Proposed Regulation ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
USCIS ,
Visa Waiver Program ,
Visas
Premium processing has historically been available for all H-1B applications filed with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). However, from time to time, USCIS has suspended premium processing....more
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has agreed to stay the termination of temporary protected status (TPS) for Honduras and Nepal pending the outcome of Ramos v. Nielsen. In addition to the stay, DHS has also agreed to...more
5/22/2019
/ Department of Homeland Security (DHS) ,
E-Verify ,
El Salvador ,
Employment Authorization Documents (EAD) ,
Foreign Nationals ,
Form I-9 ,
Haiti ,
Honduras ,
Immigration Procedures ,
Nepal ,
Nicaragua ,
Sudan ,
Temporary Protected Status ,
Time Extensions
On May 16, 2019, President Donald Trump outlined, in broad strokes, his new immigration plan. The proposal delineates two primary goals: securing the U.S. border and protecting American workers....more
President Donald J. Trump has issued a memorandum aimed at reducing the number of visa overstays in the United States. The administration says those overstays undermine the integrity of the immigration system and harm the...more
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has completed the selection process for H-1B cap subject petitions filed for fiscal year (FY) 2020. On April 10, 2019, the agency ran computerized lotteries for both regular...more
4/15/2019
/ F-1 Visa ,
Filing Requirements ,
Foreign Students ,
Foreign Workers ,
H-1B ,
Highly-Skilled Workers Visa ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Immigrants ,
Immigration Procedures ,
Lottery ,
Request for Evidence (RFEs) ,
Travelers ,
USCIS ,
Visa Caps ,
Visas
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has updated its premium processing schedule for fiscal year (FY) 2020 H-1B cap cases. The schedule will be implemented as follows...more
On March 28, 2019, President Trump extended the wind-down period for deferred enforced departure (DED) for Liberians through March 30, 2020. The extension delays the termination of DED for Liberia, which was scheduled for...more
There has been an increasing number of reports that U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is refusing to process subsequent, or renewal, L-1 visa petitions presented by Canadian nationals at ports of entry (POEs) along the...more
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has published a breakdown of the top 10 reasons it issued requests for evidence (RFEs) for H-1B petitions in fiscal year (FY) 2018. The list lends some context to recent USCIS...more
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has announced that premium processing will be available for the H-1B cap filing season for Fiscal Year (FY) 2020. The FY 2020 cap filing season will begin on April 1, 2019. ...more
On April 1, 2019, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will begin accepting new H-1B petitions subject to the annual quota for fiscal year 2020 (FY 2020). With the filing window quickly approaching, employers now...more
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services’ (USCIS) processing times continue to lag compared to previous years, according to data recently released by the agency. This is especially true for foreign nationals with pending...more
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has extended temporary protected status (TPS) through January 2, 2020, for nationals of El Salvador, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Sudan. DHS provided the extension to comply with an October...more
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) released new data confirming that both requests for evidence (RFEs) and denials are on the rise for many nonimmigrant visa categories. The rates for RFEs and denials, which...more
Beginning February 19, 2019, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will resume premium processing for all categories of H-1B petitions that were filed on or before December 21, 2018. USCIS has been gradually...more