U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced on April 1 that it has received enough electronic registrations during the initial registration period to reach the Fiscal Year (FY) 2025 H-1B cap. Applicants...more
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is issuing policy guidance regarding F and M students, including USCIS’s role in adjudicating applications for employment authorization, change of status, extension of stay,...more
Following reports of competing bills in the House and Senate, the U.S. government is potentially headed for a shutdown, which would begin on October 1, 2023, the beginning of the 2024 fiscal year. This would directly affect...more
9/28/2023
/ Customs and Border Protection ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Retention ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) ,
Foreign Workers ,
Government Shutdown ,
H-1B ,
H-2A ,
H-2B ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Immigration ,
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) ,
Immigration Procedures ,
Labor Certifications ,
US Department of State ,
USCIS ,
Visas
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced today an extension of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Ukraine. The extension begins October 20, 2023, and ends April 19, 2025. DHS cited “ongoing armed conflict and...more
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) released a final rule Friday that will allow certain employers who use E-Verify to continue verifying employees’ I-9 documents remotely, making permanent a flexibility implemented...more
On September 7, 2022, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) posted for public inspection a Federal Register notice describing how beneficiaries under Venezuela’s existing TPS designation can re-register to retain TPS and...more
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced yesterday updated COVID-19 vaccination requirements for beneficiaries paroled into the United States under Uniting for Ukraine, which provides a pathway for Ukrainian...more
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced today the designation of Afghanistan for Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for 18 months. TPS will apply only to those Afghan nationals residing in the United States as of...more
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced on Friday that the initial registration period for fiscal year 2023 H-1B cap numbers will open at noon Eastern on March 1 and run through noon Eastern on March 18,...more
The Departments of State and Homeland Security announced today new immigration actions to expand opportunities for foreign STEM scholars, students, researchers, and experts and the U.S. businesses that seek to employ them, as...more
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services just released the following guidance on expedited Employment Authorization Document (EAD) renewal applications for health care workers:
“Effective immediately, if you are a...more
Immigration Settlement Clears the way for thousands of H-1B and L-1 spouses to work in the U.S., Ulmer Immigration Group Leader David Leopold explains....more
11/15/2021
/ Employment Authorization Documents (EAD) ,
Foreign Workers ,
H-1B ,
H-4 ,
H-4 Spouses ,
Highly-Skilled Workers Visa ,
Immigration Procedures ,
L-1 ,
L-2 Visas ,
Spouses ,
USCIS ,
Visas
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced today that, effective October 1, 2021, applicants subject to immigration medical examinations, including applicants for lawful permanent residence (green cards),...more
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that beginning on March 1, 2021, it is reverting to the 2008 version of the naturalization civics test.
On Dec. 1, 2020, during the final days of the Trump...more
The Supreme Court on Thursday rejected the Trump administration’s attempt to dismantle the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which protects undocumented immigrants brought to the country as children. The...more
6/19/2020
/ 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
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced today that it will resume premium processing for Form I-129, Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker and Form I-140, Immigrant Petition for Alien Workers, in phases...more
Department of Labor (DOL) regulations require employers to abide by the terms and conditions of the H-1B visa program, including all DOL and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) guidelines. With the sudden...more
ICE Temporarily Relaxes I-9 Employment Verification Rules Due to COVID-19 Crisis -
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced it will permit employers to electronically review Form I-9 employment verification...more
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), the federal agency that oversees business and family immigration to the United States, is suspending in-person services at its field offices, asylum offices, and Application...more
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) opened its initial registration period for the fiscal year (FY) 2021 H-1B cap on March 1, which will run through noon Eastern on March 20. During this time, employers who plan...more
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced Friday that it will begin implementing the Inadmissibility on Public Charge Grounds Final Rule starting February 24, 2020. The rule’s implementation will occur...more
Join Ulmer for a live webinar on January 14 at 2 p.m. (ET) as Partner David W. Leopold discusses what corporate counsel must know about navigating increasingly complicated policies aimed at business immigration....more
1/3/2020
/ Business Immigration ,
Business Strategies ,
Continuing Legal Education ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Employee Retention ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Executive Orders ,
Foreign Workers ,
Form I-9 ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) ,
Non-Immigrant Visas ,
Policies and Procedures ,
Recruitment Policies ,
Requests for Evidence ,
Risk Management ,
USCIS ,
Visa Applications ,
Visa Denials ,
Visas ,
Webinars ,
Work Visas ,
Workplace Investigations
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has announced that it will use its new online registration system in next year’s filing season for H-1B specialty occupation visas, which will allow employers to wait until...more
12/10/2019
/ Electronic Filing ,
Filing Requirements ,
Foreign Nationals ,
Foreign Workers ,
H-1B ,
Highly-Skilled Workers Visa ,
Immigrants ,
Immigration Procedures ,
Registration Requirement ,
USCIS ,
Visas
A federal judge in New York has ruled that Canadian physicians who are subject to the J-1 two-year foreign residency requirement may enter the United States in H-1B status, even though they have not spent two years in Canada...more
4/1/2019
/ Abuse of Discretion ,
Arbitrary and Capricious ,
Canada ,
Customs and Border Protection ,
Foreign Workers ,
H-1B ,
Health Care Providers ,
Hospitals ,
J-1 Visas ,
Physicians ,
Residency Requirements ,
USCIS ,
Visas ,
Waivers
Yesterday, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced the start of the fiscal year (FY) 2020 cap season, the start dates for premium processing of cap-subject H-1B petitions, and the launch of USCIS’s new...more
3/20/2019
/ Amended Regulation ,
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) ,
Final Rules ,
Foreign Nationals ,
Foreign Students ,
Foreign Workers ,
H-1B ,
Highly-Skilled Workers Visa ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Immigrants ,
Lottery ,
USCIS ,
Visa Caps ,
Visas