Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Yemen has been extended and redesignated for 18 months from Sept. 4, 2024 until Mar. 3, 2026. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro N. Mayorkas announced that the...more
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has extended and redesignated Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Haiti until Feb. 3, 2026. According to DHS Secretary Alejandro N. Mayorkas, the decision to renew and redesignate...more
Students studying in the United States in F or M visa status must have a foreign residence that they have no intention of abandoning. A new USCIS policy manual update has clarified that being the beneficiary of a PERM...more
3/15/2024
/ E-Verify ,
F-1 Visa ,
Foreign Nationals ,
Green Cards ,
Immigration Procedures ,
OPT ,
PERM ,
Sponsors ,
STEM ,
Students ,
USCIS
At the end of September, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced the extension and redesignation of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Venezuela. The detailed instructions are now available in the Federal...more
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has announced the extension and redesignation of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for individuals from Cameroon from December 8, 2023, until June 7, 2025. The extension will affect...more
Diversity Visa (DV) Electronic Registration for Fiscal Year (FY) 2025 opens at noon ET on October 4, 2023, and closes at noon ET on November 7, 2023. There will be 55,000 Diversity Visas available for FY 2025....more
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is extending and redesignating Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for South Sudan for 18 months, from November 4, 2023, through May 3, 2025, due the ongoing armed conflict and other...more
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is extending and re-designating Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for both Ukraine and Sudan for 18 months from October 20, 2023 to April 19, 2025.
The Secretary of Homeland...more
The Diversity Visa (DV) Lottery is open for FY 2024. Applications may be filed online until 12:00 p.m. ET on November 8, 2022.
The DV Lottery program makes 50,000 immigrant visas (“green cards”) available every year to...more
Syrian Temporary Protected Status (TPS) has been extended and redesignated until March 31, 2024.
Those already holding Syrian TPS must apply for the extension of their status and employment authorization (if desired)...more
As of 12:01 a.m. on Sunday, June 12, 2022, passengers flying to the United States from abroad will no longer need to present a negative COVID-19 test to board (or prove that they have recovered from COVID-19 within the prior...more
The United States has joined many European countries that are opening their doors and offering humanitarian assistance to fleeing Ukrainians.
Ireland, Great Britain and Canada have all started private sponsorship...more
USCIS has changed its mission statement again – this time to adopt a more immigration-friendly stance.
In 2018, USCIS, under the Trump Administration, changed its mission statement to align with President Donald Trump’s...more
As 2021 comes to an end, the White House and the Department of State have announced:
1.South African Travel Restrictions Lifted.
The 14-day travel restrictions on southern African countries will be lifted as of...more
12/28/2021
/ Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Electronic Travel Authorization Program (eTA) ,
Foreign Nationals ,
Travel Restrictions ,
US Department of State ,
USCIS ,
Vaccinations ,
Vaccine Passports ,
Virus Testing ,
Visas ,
Waivers
In a tweet on August 20, 2021, the Department of Homeland Security announced that:
“To minimize the spread of COVID19, including the Delta variant, the United States is extending restrictions on non-essential travel at...more
The Healthcare Workforce Resilience Act (HWRA) has been introduced in the Senate again. The bill would recapture 15,000 immigrant visas for doctors and 25,000 for nurses.
The bill has bipartisan support. Introduced by...more
On September 15, 2020, Judge Amit P. Mehta filed an amended order in Gomez v. Trump in response to the Department of State’s (DOS) guidance regarding the processing of Diversity Visa applications...more
With a breakdown in talks on the latest COVID-19 stimulus package and with most senators and representatives out of town (though the House has been recalled from vacation to address the U.S. Postal Service crisis), USCIS has...more
The reported failure of USCIS to renew its contract with an outside vendor in June, because it planned to bring all printing of Green Cards in-house, may be the reason foreign nationals who have managed to make it through the...more
ICE has announced that its flexibility regarding the physical presence requirements for I-9 inspection will be extended for another 30 days, until June 18, 2020 due to continued COVID-19 precautions. The terms and details of...more
As employers respond to workplace issues pertaining to COVID-19 (Coronavirus), it is important not to forget about foreign nationals working pursuant to temporary non-immigrant visas. Employers must avoid discriminatory...more
USCIS has announced that Iranians in the U.S. will not be eligible for extensions of E-1 or E-2 visa status or changes to that status from another visa classification. The announcement comes more than a year after the U.S....more
Four thousand Liberian holders of Deferred Enforced Departure (DED) status and their roughly 4,000 U.S. citizen children may have to leave the United States because of the decision in African Communities Together v. Trump....more
The Trump Administration would like to institute a “points-based” or “merit-based” immigration system, cut down on family-based immigration and eliminate the Diversity Lottery. To date, Congress has not passed any such...more
Despite litigation that enjoined USCIS from proceeding with the implementation of the Public Charge Rule, Department of State (DOS) seemed ready to proceed with it at Consulates abroad.
But, as of this week, DOS is no...more