On January 20, 2025, President Trump signed numerous executive orders related to his immigration policy objectives, including a declaration of a national emergency at the southern border, which will allow the use of federal...more
As we previously reported, this summer, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) and U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced significant updates to enhance the employment verification process. In...more
When the pandemic abruptly shifted many employment relationships from offices and other physical workplaces to remote environments, many governmental and regulatory authorities responded by modifying existing protocols to...more
8/10/2023
/ Department of Homeland Security (DHS) ,
E-Verify ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Eligibility Verification ,
Foreign Workers ,
Form I-9 ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Immigrants ,
Immigration Procedures ,
Required Forms ,
USCIS
USCIS’s FY 2022 H-1B Cap Electronic Registration Completed -
On March 30, 2021, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) completed the initial selection of H-1B cap-subject registrations for fiscal year (“FY”)...more
USCIS’s FY 2022 H-1B Cap Electronic Registration Begins Beginning 12:00 p.m. ET (9:00 a.m. PT) on March 9, 2021, until 12:00 p.m. ET (9:00 a.m. PT) on March 25, 2021, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) will...more
3/12/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
E-3 ,
Foreign Workers ,
Form I-9 ,
H-1B ,
Highly-Skilled Workers Visa ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Human Resources Professionals ,
Immigrants ,
Immigration Procedures ,
USCIS ,
Venezuela ,
Visas
Lawsuits Filed in California and DC Federal Courts Challenge New DOL and USCIS H-1B Regulations -
In October 2020, the U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) each published...more
USCIS and DOL Will Implement Changes to H-1B Regulations
That Will Likely Be Subject to Legal Challenge -
On September 3, 2020, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) submitted an interim final rule (“IFR”)...more
10/9/2020
/ Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Foreign Workers ,
H-1B ,
Highly-Skilled Workers Visa ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Immigrants ,
Immigration Procedures ,
Immigration Reform ,
USCIS ,
Visa Caps ,
Visas
Updates to USCIS Policy on New Forms, Premium Processing, and Filing Fee Increases Take Effect on October 2, 2020 -
As previously reported in Epstein Becker Green’s August 2020 Immigration Alert, U.S. Citizenship and...more
9/17/2020
/ Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
DACA ,
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) ,
Employment Authorization Documents (EAD) ,
Filing Fees ,
Form I-9 ,
Green Cards ,
Immigration Procedures ,
Immigration Reform ,
Permanent Residence Cards ,
USCIS ,
Visas
USCIS Will Increase Filing Fees as of October 2, 2020 -
On July 31, 2020, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (“USCIS”) announced it will increase filing fees effective October 2, 2020. The fee increases will...more
8/12/2020
/ Administrative Procedure Act ,
DACA ,
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Filing Fees ,
H-1B ,
H-1B1 ,
H-2B ,
Hong Kong ,
Immigration Procedures ,
J-1 Visas ,
L-1 Visas ,
Labor Condition Applications ,
Memorandum of Agreement ,
OFLC ,
Presidential Proclamations ,
Travel Ban ,
Trump Administration ,
USCIS ,
Visas
Presidential Proclamation Temporarily Suspends New H-1B, H2B, J-1, and L-1 Visa and Travel from Abroad -
On June 22, 2020, President Trump issued a proclamation (“Proclamation”) suspending and limiting the entry of...more
6/25/2020
/ Department of Homeland Security (DHS) ,
Foreign Nationals ,
Form I-9 ,
H-1B ,
H-2B ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Immigration Procedures ,
J-1 Visas ,
L-1 Visas ,
Non-Immigrant Visas ,
Trump Administration ,
USCIS
USCIS Resumes Premium Processing -
USCIS has announced here that beginning the month of June 2020, it will again start accepting certain petitions for premium processing. Premium processing was indefinitely suspended as...more
6/3/2020
/ F-1 Visa ,
Foreign Workers ,
Form I-9 ,
H-1B ,
Highly-Skilled Workers Visa ,
Hiring & Firing ,
I-129 ,
I-140 ,
Immigrants ,
Immigration Procedures ,
L-1 ,
O-1 Aliens of Extraordinary Ability ,
OPT ,
STEM ,
USCIS ,
Visas
President Trump Signs Executive Order to “Temporarily Suspend Immigration into the United States” -
On April 20, 2020, President Trump tweeted, “In light of the attack from the Invisible Enemy, as well as the need to...more
USCIS Completes the Initial Selection Process -
On April 1, 2020, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (‘USCIS”) announced that the initial selection of H-1B cap-subject registrations for fiscal year (“FY”) 2021 was...more
Department of State Suspends Routine Visa Services -
On March 20, 2020, in response to significant worldwide challenges related to the novel coronavirus (“COVID-19”) pandemic, the Department of State announced that routine...more
On March 20, 2020, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”) announced that it is temporarily amending the Form I-9 verification and reverification procedures that require company representatives to physically review...more
The Coronavirus and Its Impact on U.S. Immigration -
In last month’s Alert, we provided notice of the Trump administration’s presidential proclamation that indefinitely barred foreign nationals (not U.S. citizens or...more
USCIS Officially Releases Regulations Regarding
Its H-1B Electronic Registration Tool for the FY 2021 H-1B Cap -
On January 9, 2020, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) officially released regulations to...more
USCIS Announces Implementation of Its H-1B Electronic Registration Tool -
After several months of vetting public commentary, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) will roll out its H-1B electronic...more
12/19/2019
/ Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Electronic Filing ,
Employment Eligibility Verification ,
F-1 Visa ,
Foreign Affairs Manual (FAM) ,
Form I-9 ,
Green Cards ,
H-1B ,
Highly-Skilled Workers Visa ,
Immigration and Nationality Act ,
Immigration Procedures ,
Registration Requirement ,
US Department of State ,
USCIS ,
Visas
On March 19, 2019, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) announced that it will accept premium processing requests (i.e., Form I-907, Request for Premium Processing Service) for fiscal year (“FY”) 2020 H-1B cap...more
Fiscal Year 2020 H-1B Cap Petition Filings Are Not Eligible for Premium Processing -
On March 12, 2019, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) opened premium processing eligibility for all H-1B petitions...more
On March 11, 2019, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) announced that it will open premium processing for all H-1B petitions beginning March 12, 2019. As a result of this announcement, even H-1B petitions...more
USCIS Will Reinstate Premium Processing for All H-1B Petitions Filed on December 21, 2018, or Earlier -
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) officially announced that it will resume accepting premium...more
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) has officially announced that as of Monday, January 28, 2019, it will begin accepting premium processing for Fiscal Year 2019 H-1B Cap cases pending adjudication. These H-1B...more
Partial Federal Government Shutdown and How It Applies to an Immigration Workforce -
On December 22, 2018, the United States government began its shutdown based on the inability of the Executive Office and Congress to...more
1/25/2019
/ Customs and Border Protection ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
E-Verify ,
Employment Eligibility Verification ,
Federal Budget ,
Foreign Workers ,
Form I-9 ,
Government Shutdown ,
H-1B ,
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) ,
Immigration Procedures ,
Labor Condition Applications ,
PERM ,
US Department of State ,
USCIS ,
Visas
USCIS Proposes New Registration Requirement to File H-1B Cap Petitions for Fiscal Year 2020 and Reverses Order of H-1B Cap Lottery -
On December 3, 2018, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USICS”) proposed new...more