The Department of Homeland Security recently published a Final Rule in the Federal Register establishing a filing fee increase that will go into effect on April 1, 2024. The new fee schedule significantly increases several...more
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services recently announced it will increase the filing fee for Form I-907, Request for Premium Processing. The fee change will go into effect for all Premium Processing requests received on...more
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) recently released a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) entitled, “Modernizing H-1B Requirements, Providing Flexibility in the F-1 Program, and Program Improvements Affecting...more
11/13/2023
/ Citizen Petitions ,
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
H-1B ,
Labor Condition Applications ,
Lottery ,
Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NOPR) ,
Proposed Rules ,
USCIS ,
Visa Caps ,
Visas
United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) has issued updated guidance on the adjudication of National Interest Waivers (“NIW”) for petitioners holding advanced degrees in science, technology, engineering...more
On March 15, 2023, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced it is updating its guidance on how the agency interprets the regulatory requirement that U.S. employers must demonstrate their ability to pay prospective...more
On February 14, 2023, United States Citizenship and Immigration Services announced it is updating the method by which the agency calculates a child’s age under the Child Status Protection Act for children charged to the...more
For the last several years, unnecessary delays and long processing times of H-4 and H-4 EAD (Employment Authorization) applications have caused frustration for H-1B dependents attempting to change or extend their status,...more
On June 24, 2022, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services issued new guidance in its Policy Manual on inadmissibility under section 212(a)(9)(B) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA). The new guidance clarifies that...more
Employment Authorization Documents (“EAD cards”) authorize certain foreign nationals to work in the United States during their validity period. An EAD card is one of many documents an employee may present as the basis for his...more
Today USCIS has released a Temporary Final Rule (TFR) that is scheduled to be published in the Federal Register tomorrow, May 4, 2022, and which will be effective immediately upon publication. The TFR increases the automatic...more
We previously reported that USCIS reached a settlement agreement that allows the spouses of foreign nationals holding E-1, E-2, E-3, and L-1 status to work “incident to status.” This means that these spouses can work for any...more
Pandemic-related slow-downs in U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services processing times have continued late into 2021. USCIS pandemic protocols require limiting the number of individuals in the waiting rooms of USCIS field...more
All applicants for lawful permanent residency in the United States are required to submit to a medical examination to ensure that they are not carrying any communicable diseases of public health significance, and that they...more
The H-1B cap selection process has ended and the race to file petitions for selected registrants has begun.
USCIS announced that on March 30, 2021, enough electronic registrations had been received during the initial...more
On March 9, 2021, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced that it will no longer seek judicial review of any court decisions invalidating the 2019 Public Charge Final Rule, noting:
Today, DHS Secretary...more
On February 24, 2021, USCIS announced it is adding I-129 petitions for E-3 status to the list of case types eligible for Premium Processing. The USCIS Premium Processing service allows petitioners to pay an additional filing...more
On Feb. 5, 2021, USCIS announced that the H-1B cap registration process for this year will open on March 9, 2021 and close on March 25, 2021. USCIS will notify selected registrants by March 31 that they have been selected,...more
The global pandemic has had a significant adverse impact on United States Citizenship & Immigration Services (“USCIS”) operations. We previously reported on the impact of COVID-related office closures on U.S. consular...more
On November 2, 2020, the Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”) published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) to effectively end the random H-1B visa lottery selection process used when U.S. Citizenship and Immigration...more
11/23/2020
/ Corporate Counsel ,
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
F-1 Visa ,
H-1B ,
Immigration and Nationality Act ,
Interim Final Rules (IFR) ,
Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NOPR) ,
Trump Administration ,
USCIS ,
Visas
In March 2020, the U.S. Department of State announced suspension of routine visa services in light of the global pandemic. On July 14, the agency announced the phased resumption of routine visa services. According to the...more
The Deputy Director for Policy at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) issued a statement on June 25, 2020 indicating that if USCIS does not receive additional funding from Congress by Aug. 3, it will need to...more
On March 20, 2020, due to the global pandemic, U.S. and Canadian officials mutually agreed that non-essential travel between the United States and Canada should be temporarily suspended. U.S. Customs and Border Protection...more
6/23/2020
/ Ambiguous ,
Canada ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Customs and Border Protection ,
J-1 Visas ,
L-1 Visas ,
NAFTA ,
O-1 Aliens of Extraordinary Ability ,
Travel Restrictions ,
United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) ,
USCIS
It’s strikingly apparent that the current global pandemic of COVID-19 is impacting travel and visa/immigration processes worldwide. As of right now, all USCIS processing centers for visa petitions remain open and...more
Escalating tensions between the U.S. and Iran are significantly impacting the ability of Iranian nationals to immigrate to, or remain in, the United States. Most recently, on January 23, 2020, USCIS announced via notice in...more
1/24/2020
/ E-1 ,
E-2 ,
Foreign Nationals ,
Foreign Relations ,
Immigrants ,
Immigration Procedures ,
Iran ,
Travel Ban ,
Trump Administration ,
USCIS ,
Visas
Immigration attorneys in states where marijuana is legal for recreational purposes have recently reported that their clients are now being questioned at their permanent residency interviews about whether they have ever used...more