Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security Alejandro N. Mayorkas has announced several new USCIS policies meant to improve the legal immigration system, eliminate barriers, and reduce burdens on applicants...more
The Department of Homeland Security will no longer be collecting civil financial penalties for noncitizens who fail to depart from the United States. Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas announced that “[t]here is no indication that...more
By tweet, the Department of Homeland Security announced an extension of the travel restrictions at the Northern and Southern land and sea borders until June 21, 2021. These borders have been closed to “non-essential” travel...more
The COVID-19 pandemic has forced DHS to delay full enforcement of the REAL ID law from October 1, 2021, to May 3, 2023, the agency has announced.
The REAL ID law requires every air traveler 18 years or older to show...more
Syrian Temporary Protected Status (TPS) has been extended until September 30, 2022. DHS announced that the 60-day registration and re-registration period for Syrian TPS and Employment Authorization Documents (EADs) was to...more
Eligible Venezuelans in the United States may now apply for Temporary Protected Status (TPS) according to an announcement made this week by Alexajandro Mayorkas, Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). TPS is...more
On January 19, 2021, just before the end of his term, President Donald Trump issued a memorandum granting Deferred Enforced Departure (DED) for certain Venezuelans for a period of eighteen months. DED is a humanitarian grant...more
On January 29, 2021, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced the extension of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Syrian nationals for a period of 18 months until September 2022. This will affect approximately...more
Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for South Sudan has been extended again until May 2, 2022. The instructions for beneficiaries have been published in the Federal Register. Through January 4, 2021, TPS beneficiaries who have...more
Announced via Tweet by Chad Wolf, Acting Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, the COVID-related restrictions at the Canadian and Mexican borders have been extended yet again until November 21, 2020. These...more
On September 11, 2020, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) will release a new regulation for notice-and-comment that proposes to expand the collection of biometric data and give DHS increased flexibility to deal with...more
Foreign students wishing to study in this country may have whiplash over the Trump Administration’s many moves.
Early in 2020, a federal court blocked the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) from changing the rules...more
On April 20, 2020, Chad Wolf, Acting Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), announced that the previously announced travel restrictions on the Northern and Southern U.S. borders would be continued for another...more
New York Attorney General Letitia James is suing the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in federal court (State of New York v. Wolf et al, 1:20-cv-01127) over its new policy prohibiting New Yorkers from registering or...more
U.S. District Court Judge George S. Daniels of the Southern District of New York enjoined the Trump Administration’s new Public Charge Rule scheduled to go into effect on October 15, 2019. The new Rule has been the subject of...more
In August 2019, the Department of Homeland Security extended Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Syrian beneficiaries until March 31, 2021. Now is the time for these beneficiaries to re-register and apply to extend their...more
The Trump Administration has been trying to put an end to Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for many countries including: El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras, Nepal and Sudan. Upon legal challenges to TPS termination, the courts have...more
There has been ongoing debate about how to stop the opioid crisis in the United States. To stem the flow of illegal drugs through the mail, DHS Science and Technology Directorate, in collaboration with CBP, the Office of...more
President Donald Trump surprised the immigration community recently with an encouraging tweet about H-1B visa holders: -
"H-1B holders in the United States can rest assured that changes are soon coming which will bring...more
Although the number of petitions filed has decreased slightly over the past couple of years, the H-1B cap has been reached every year for the last six years. Due to the high demand, businesses must be ready to file their H-1B...more
The Department of Homeland Security’s latest Regulatory Agenda promises some big changes, especially for the H-1B visa program.
Many of these changes have been proposed before, but have not yet made it to the rulemaking...more
California Federal Judge Edward M. Chen has issued a nationwide preliminary injunction in Ramos v. Nielsen, preventing the Administration from implementing its decisions to terminate Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for El...more
Chad is no longer on the Travel Ban 3.0 list of restricted countries. President Donald Trump lifted this restriction because “Chad has made improvements and now sufficiently meets the baseline. . . ” The President’s...more
Following up on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit Order of February 21, 2018, DHS has requested still more time to review the H-4 EAD Rule. In a status report filed on February 28, 2018, just a week after the...more
The DOJ and the DHS have made clear on numerous occasions that they intend to rescind employment authorization documents (EADs) for H-4 visa status holders and it appears that rescission may be just around the corner. Family...more