In a flurry of immigration developments closing out 2025, US Citizenship and Immigration Services issued a weighted lottery rule for the H-1B lottery, the US District Court for the District of Columbia upheld the $100,000...more
1/2/2026
/ Foreign Nationals ,
Foreign Workers ,
H-1B ,
Highly-Skilled Workers Visa ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Immigration Procedures ,
Non-Immigrant Visas ,
Presidential Proclamations ,
Technology Sector ,
Travel Ban ,
Trump Administration ,
USCIS ,
Visas
Significant rescheduling of H-1B/H-4 visa appointments in India, ongoing restrictions on third-country processing, and expanded visa applicant screening and vetting have constrained visa-processing options and heightened...more
12/11/2025
/ Business Immigration ,
Foreign Workers ,
H-1B ,
H-4 ,
International Travel ,
Non-Immigrant Visas ,
Travel Delays ,
U.S. Embassies ,
US Department of State ,
Vetting ,
Visa Applications
This LawFlash discusses recent developments in US immigration, including the end of auto-extension of employment authorization documents, clarification of the applicability of H-1B proclamation, and information on the...more
10/31/2025
/ Adjustment of Status ,
Application Fees ,
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) ,
EB-1 ,
EB-2 ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Authorization Documents (EAD) ,
Executive Orders ,
Foreign Workers ,
Form I-765 ,
Green Cards ,
H-1B ,
Highly-Skilled Workers Visa ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Trump Administration ,
USCIS ,
Visa Applications
As the US federal government shutdown enters its ninth day, the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has announced that the E-Verify system is now operational. Employers that participate in E-Verify and were unable...more
10/10/2025
/ Department of Homeland Security (DHS) ,
E-Verify ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employer Responsibilities ,
Employment Eligibility Verification ,
Federal Contractors ,
Form I-9 ,
Government Shutdown ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Immigrants ,
Immigration Procedures ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Trump Administration ,
USCIS
The US federal government has entered a shutdown due to the lapse in appropriations as of October 1, 2025. This development impacts many aspects of the immigration system. While some agencies are fee-funded and will continue...more
10/2/2025
/ Department of Homeland Security (DHS) ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
E-Verify ,
Foreign Workers ,
Form I-9 ,
Government Shutdown ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Immigrants ,
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) ,
Immigration Procedures ,
Passports ,
PERM ,
Trump Administration ,
US Department of State ,
USCIS ,
Visas
The facilities and residential services sector is labor-intensive and heavily dependent on large workforces with frequent turnover. This dependence on manual labor, often sourced through subcontractors or staffing agencies,...more
9/30/2025
/ Acquisition Agreements ,
Business Continuity Plans ,
Corporate Sales Transactions ,
Due Diligence ,
Employment Eligibility Verification ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Foreign Workers ,
Form I-9 ,
Immigration Enforcement ,
Merger Agreements ,
Risk Management ,
USCIS
The White House has announced significant changes to the H-1B program, including a new $100,000 petition fee, revised prevailing wage rules, a tiered lottery system, and expanded enforcement measures. These developments...more
9/29/2025
/ Department of Homeland Security (DHS) ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Foreign Workers ,
H-1B ,
Highly-Skilled Workers Visa ,
Immigration Enforcement ,
Immigration Procedures ,
Immigration Reform ,
Labor Condition Applications ,
Temporary Work Visas ,
USCIS ,
Visa Applications ,
Visas ,
Wage and Hour
The US Department of Labor has launched Project Firewall, a new enforcement initiative focused on safeguarding the rights, wages, and job opportunities of American workers. The program signals heightened scrutiny of H-1B...more
9/29/2025
/ Criminal Investigations ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employer Responsibilities ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Foreign Workers ,
H-1B ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Immigration Procedures ,
Immigration Reform ,
Labor Condition Applications ,
Trump Administration ,
Visas ,
Wage & Hour Division (WHD) ,
Wage and Hour
The US administration is prioritizing immigration enforcement, including through investigations and large-scale raids at prominent multinational corporations. ...more
9/24/2025
/ Best Practices ,
Crisis Management ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employer Responsibilities ,
Form I-9 ,
Immigrants ,
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) ,
Immigration Enforcement ,
Immigration Reform ,
Independent Contractors ,
Internal Investigations ,
Risk Management ,
Trump Administration ,
Visas
In the past two weeks, the landscape of immigration enforcement in the United States has seen a significant shift. President Donald Trump’s executive orders have greatly impacted both employers and foreign workers across...more
President Donald Trump on his first day in office signed immigration executive orders focusing on border enforcement, removal, asylum, and birthright citizenship....more
The US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will use the Final Action Dates for Employment-Based Adjustment of Status Applications chart in February 2025. The Final Action Dates chart reflects minor advancement in...more
As part of our Spotlight series, we invited Shannon Donnelly, a partner in our Washington, DC office who works with clients on a wide range of complex global immigration and mobility issues, to discuss the proposed H1B...more
The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) recently released a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) with respect to the regulations governing the H-1B nonimmigrant visa classification. The proposed rule seeks to improve the...more
President Joseph Biden issued an executive order on October 30 designed to protect against the risks of artificial intelligence (AI) while encouraging the global growth and expansion of AI development and use....more
A federal government shutdown will impact some, but not all, US immigration and visa programs. The principal distinction is between those programs that are fee-funded and those that rely on congressional appropriations for...more
The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced on May 4, 2023 that employers will have until August 30, 2023 to complete the physical inspection of identity and...more
With the recent announcement from the Biden administration that the COVID-19 national and public health emergencies will end this May, the temporary US Department of Homeland Security guidance that permitted businesses...more
US restrictions on international travel will be lifted November 8 for fully vaccinated international visitors and temporary workers, including those from nearly three dozen nations who have been barred from entering the...more
A new travel policy requiring foreign nationals traveling to the United States to demonstrate proof of full vaccination against COVID-19 will take effect November 8, as announced by the White House on October 15. The accepted...more
The Biden-Harris administration plans to lift travel restrictions on visitors from most European countries, including the United Kingdom and Ireland, and other countries that have been in place since the start of the...more
US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has extended a policy permitting acceptance of remote employment eligibility verification in limited circumstances through December 31, 2021.
On August 31, the day the current...more
Effective June 30, 2021, the US Department of Labor will determine the prevailing wage for permanent labor certifications and labor condition applications based on a new formula for computing prevailing wage levels, resulting...more
1/13/2021
/ Department of Labor (DOL) ,
E-3 ,
Foreign Workers ,
H-1B ,
H-1B1 ,
Immigrants ,
Immigration Procedures ,
Labor Condition Applications ,
PERM ,
Prevailing Wages ,
Wage and Hour
Effective October 8, 2020, the US Department of Labor will determine the prevailing wage for permanent labor certifications and labor condition applications based on a new formula for computing prevailing wage levels,...more
10/9/2020
/ Buy American and Hire American ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
E-3 ,
Foreign Workers ,
H-1B ,
H-1B1 ,
Highly-Skilled Workers Visa ,
LCA ,
Minimum Wage ,
PERM ,
Prevailing Wages ,
Trump Administration ,
USCIS ,
Visas ,
Wage and Hour
A policy permitting acceptance of remote verification in limited circumstances has been extended 30 days through August 19.
The US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced on July 18 that it has extended the...more