The annual H-1B cap season has begun for Fiscal Year 2025. Once again, there will be a two-step process – the registration step and then, if the registration is selected in the H-1B cap lottery, the petition step. Now is the...more
1/17/2024
/ Beneficiaries ,
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) ,
Foreign Workers ,
H-1B ,
Immigrants ,
Immigration Procedures ,
NAFTA ,
STEM ,
USCIS ,
Visa Caps ,
Visas
More than one-third of new global cases of COVID-19 have occurred in India, and the numbers are increasing.
As a result, President Biden has added the Republic of India to the list of countries whose nationals and...more
5/6/2021
/ American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) ,
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) ,
Foreign Nationals ,
India ,
Joe Biden ,
Lawful Permanent Residents ,
National Interest Waiver ,
Non-Citizens ,
Presidential Proclamations ,
Travel Ban ,
US Department of State ,
Virus Testing
The U.S. State Department recently issued new guidance on the National Interest Exceptions for international travelers to the United States. The guidance applies to inbound travelers from Ireland, the Schengen Area, and the...more
4/2/2021
/ Business Interruption ,
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Critical Infrastructure Sectors ,
Customs and Border Protection ,
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) ,
Foreign Nationals ,
International Travel ,
Ireland ,
Joe Biden ,
National Interest Waiver ,
New Guidance ,
UK ,
US Department of State
For the last year, the fate of the Public Charge Rule, which expanded the ability of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to deny green cards to lower-income foreign nationals, has been uncertain. In addition to the...more
3/17/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) ,
Dismissals ,
Foreign Nationals ,
Green Cards ,
Immigration Procedures ,
Interim Guidance ,
Joe Biden ,
Low-Income Issues ,
Medicaid ,
Permanent Residence Cards ,
Public Charge ,
Request for Evidence (RFEs) ,
SCOTUS ,
SNAP Program ,
USCIS
Last week, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced changes that will be good news for foreign students seeking Optional Practical Training in areas related to their major areas of study.
First, the 14...more
3/8/2021
/ Colleges ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) ,
Employment Authorization Documents (EAD) ,
Foreign Students ,
Form I-765 ,
OPT ,
SEVIS ,
STEM ,
Universities ,
USCIS ,
Visas
Last year, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services rolled out for the first time a new electronic registration tool for H-1B cap cases as part of its implementation of regulations issued in January 2019. The 2019...more
Before his inauguration, President Biden expressed his commitment to keeping the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program alive. On his first day in office, he issued an Executive Order directing the Department of...more
We reported in October about two new rules that were issued by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. Department of Labor that would affect H-1B specialty occupation visas. The DOL rule significantly raised...more
On Monday, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security issued proposed regulations that would amend the H-1B cap registration selection process by replacing the current random process with one based on wage levels.
The proposed...more
As we reported previously, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services was due to increase filing fees by approximately 20 percent across many filing types, including new fees on asylum and additional fees for applicants...more
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services is poised to implement new filing fees on October 2, under regulations published in the Federal Register on August 3. However, two lawsuits were filed in federal court about a...more
On July 14, President Trump issued the Executive Order on Hong Kong Normalization, in response to a new security law published by the People’s Republic of China, Law of the People’s Republic of China on Safeguarding National...more
The U.S. Supreme Court blocked the rescission of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program on June 18, 2020, finding that the Department of Homeland Security’s actions in retracting the immigration relief program...more
6/22/2020
/ Administrative Procedure Act ,
Arbitrary and Capricious ,
Citizenship ,
DACA ,
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) ,
Department of Homeland Security v Regents of the University of California ,
Educational Institutions ,
Path To Citizenship ,
Rescission ,
SCOTUS ,
Trump Administration ,
Trump v NAACP ,
USCIS ,
Wolf v Vidal ,
Work Permits
As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services implemented a number of temporary policy measures to...more
Last year, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security conducted an unprecedented number of Form I-9 audits, investigations, and raids across the country. Immigration and Customs Enforcement made headlines nationally and locally...more
In recent years, if you have filed a petition for an H-1B professional worker or an application for your foreign national fiancé, you may have noticed more delays, more requests for evidence, and even more denials of cases...more