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
The U.S. Department of State has released the October 2019 Visa Bulletin, the first for fiscal year 2020. As anticipated, many of the final action dates have rebounded after retrogressing in August and have returned to dates...more
Implementation of the rule rescinding H-4 work authorization has been delayed yet again. According to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the proposed rule is not expected to be published in the Federal Register until...more
There have been an increasing number of reports that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has begun conducting workplace site visits for F-1 students employed pursuant to optional practical training (OPT) in the science,...more
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) plans to charge employers a $10 registration fee - per H-1B candidate - to participate in its mandatory electronic H-1B registration system. The new fee will apply to all H-1B...more
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has instructed employers to continue using the current version of the Form I-9 beyond the form’s August 31, 2019, expiration date. The current I-9 employment eligibility...more
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has had a change of heart. Instead of closing all 23 of its international field offices, as originally planned, the agency recently announced that it would keep seven offices...more
On August 14, 2019, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) published the final version of its public charge rule in the Federal Register. According to a statement by DHS, the rule is intended to formalize the way in which...more
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has issued updated data confirming that requests for evidence (RFE) and denials continue to climb for most commonly used nonimmigrant visas. The rate of RFEs and denials for...more
U.S. Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) updated the Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA) website on August 5, 2019. According to a notice posted on the ESTA homepage at the time of the update, all ESTA applications...more
A new Oregon law will require employers to notify their employees when they (the employers) are contacted by a federal agency that intends to audit, among other things, employer records and employment eligibility...more
The August 2019 Visa Bulletin, released by the U.S. Department of State earlier this month, shows substantial retrogression affecting employment-based categories worldwide. The State Department expects the retrogression to be...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
The Supreme Court of the United States has agreed to hear the appeals over the termination of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program during its next term. In its order, the Court consolidated three pending...more
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
On June 10, 2019, Kenneth T. Cuccinelli became the new acting director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), replacing L. Francis Cissna, who stepped down at the beginning of June 2019. Cuccinelli previously...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) recently announced a plan to temporarily transfer approximately 750 Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers from the Canadian border to the Mexican border to help address the...more
The Visa Bulletin for June 2019 has been released by the U.S. Department of State. While most of the dates for employment-based preference categories will only gradually shift from the dates published in May 2019, the EB-1...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