On Monday, January 8, 2024, the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) received the final rule outlining the increased fees for US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) filings. Normally, OIRA...more
On January 20, 2023, as part of a settlement agreement with the plaintiffs in Edakunni v. Mayorkas, USCIS agreed to adjudicate Forms I-539 and I-765 for extensions of H-4 and L-2 spouses and employment authorization documents...more
On January 30, 2023, USCIS will begin accepting some additional premium processing requests pursuant to its expansion of this program. Under this latest expansion, announced by USCIS on January 12, 2023, certain...more
On Friday, January 28, 2022, US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that the online registration period for H-1B quota selection for the upcoming fiscal year will begin on March 1 at 12:00 pm (noon) Eastern...more
After more than 18 months of travel restrictions and disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the United States has substantially revised its approach and will no longer restrict entry into the United States based on...more
As a follow-up to the announcement discussed in our September 22, 2021 alert, the White House confirmed on Monday, October 25, that it will eliminate all COVID-19-related travel bans effective at 12:01 am Eastern Standard...more
The U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”) Office of Public Affairs issued a press release two days ago, October 19, 2021, announcing a settlement with Facebook involving their recruiting practices to qualify foreign nationals...more
10/22/2021
/ Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Facebook ,
Foreign Nationals ,
Green Cards ,
Immigration and Nationality Act ,
Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA) ,
Labor Certifications ,
PERM ,
Recruitment Policies ,
Settlement Agreements
On Wednesday, June 9, 2021, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced new, official policy updates to be included in their Policy Manual. The USCIS Policy Manual is an internal guidance manual for...more
On June 1, 2021, the U.S. Department of State (DOS) issued further guidance on eligibility for National Interest Exceptions (NIEs) to the travel bans from the Schengen Area of the EU, the U.K., Ireland, China, Iran, Brazil,...more
On Friday, February 5, 2021, US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that the online registration period for H-1B quota selection for Fiscal Year 2022 will begin on March 9 at 12:00 pm (noon) eastern...more
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has made the decision to delay implementation of the rule introducing wage-weighted priority into the H-1B lottery selection system. USCIS announced that it will delay the...more
2/10/2021
/ Corporate Counsel ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Final Rules ,
H-1B ,
Highly-Skilled Workers Visa ,
Immigration Procedures ,
Immigration Reform ,
Registration Requirement ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
USCIS ,
Visas
As of June 1, 2020, USCIS has resumed premium processing in phases by case-type. Premium processing had been temporarily suspended since March 20, 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Premium processing is resuming in phases...more
On Friday, January 24, 2020, the US Department of State published a final rule that amends part of the regulations governing the issuance of “B” visitor visas. This regulatory amendment now establishes a rebuttable...more
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Department of Labor (DOL), and Department of State (DOS) released their fall 2018 Regulatory Agendas. Issued twice per year (fall and spring), this notice forecasts possible...more
As part of the continuing trade and intellectual property war with China, the U.S. Department of State has implemented a new policy to limit visa validity periods and impose additional security clearances before visa issuance...more
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) announced today that it has received enough H-1B petitions to reach the statutory cap of 65,000 petitions for fiscal year (FY) 2019. USCIS also received more than the limit...more
As of 4 pm on Friday, January 19, 2018, the US Senate had not reached an agreement on the terms of a continuing resolution to keep the US government running. The US House passed a 30-day resolution on Thursday, but this must...more
On Monday, December 4, 2017, the U.S. Supreme Court issued two separate, but related, orders staying lower courts’ preliminary injunctions against President Trump’s most recent travel ban. The practical impact of these...more
On Thursday, September 7, 2017, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals let stand the Hawaii District Court temporary injunction against the Trump administration’s revised travel ban. This ruling confirms that U.S. family...more
Q. When is the DACA program ending?
A. The Trump Administration rescinded the DACA program on September 5, 2017, but is phasing out the program over a six-month period that will end on March 5, 2018....more
The Trump Administration is evaluating potential reductions to U.S. cultural exchange programs that allow young people from across the world the opportunity to work temporarily in the US. The potential cuts would impact five...more
8/29/2017
/ Buy American Act ,
Cultural Exchange Programs ,
Domestic Hiring Policy ,
Executive Orders ,
Foreign Nationals ,
Foreign Workers ,
Immigration Reform ,
J-1 Visas ,
Seasonal Workers ,
Trump Administration ,
Visas
In a continuation of the diplomatic tit-for-tat with Russia, the U.S. Embassy in Moscow announced on Monday, August 21, 2017, that it would suspend issuance of nonimmigrant visas for eight days starting August 23rd....more
Effective immediately, United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will resume premium processing for select cap-exempt H-1B petitions. Cap-exempt petitioners who are eligible for premium processing can file...more
As a follow-up to the April 7, 2017 announcement that the H-1B cap had been reached, on Monday, April 17, USCIS revealed that it has now completed the random selection of the 85,000 petitions for the quota and that in total,...more
All individuals entering the U.S. at international ports of entry are inspected by US Customs & Border Protection (CBP). This occurs at either the arrival airport in the U.S., Pre-Flight Inspection if flying from most...more