On October 16, 2017, the U.S. Department of State (“DOS”) announced that the entry period for the DV-2019 Diversity Visa (“DV-2019”) lottery that was supposed to start on October 3, 2017, has been closed due to technical...more
USCIS Anticipates Resuming H-1B Premium Processing on October 3, 2017 -
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) has advised the American Immigration Lawyers Association (“AILA”) that it anticipates resuming...more
On September 5, 2017, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”) announced that it was rescinding the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (“DACA”) program....more
USCIS Releases Revised Version of Form I-9 and Accompanying Form I-9 Handbook for Employers -
On July 17, 2017, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) released a new version of Form I-9. Form I-9 is used...more
7/21/2017
/ Employment Eligibility Verification ,
Executive Orders ,
Form I-9 ,
H-2B ,
International Entrepreneur Rule ,
NAFTA ,
Travel Ban ,
Trump Administration ,
US Department of State ,
USCIS ,
Visa Bulletins ,
Visa Waiver Program
President Trump Notifies Congress of Intent to Renegotiate NAFTA -
On May 18, 2017, President Trump officially notified Congress of the administration’s intention to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement...more
6/2/2017
/ Conrad 30 Waiver ,
Customs and Border Protection ,
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) ,
F-1 Visa ,
H-1B ,
Immigration Procedures ,
Joint Employers ,
Mobile Devices ,
NAFTA ,
Popular ,
Temporary Protected Status ,
TN-Visas ,
Trump Administration ,
US Department of State ,
USCIS ,
Visas
The 2018 H-1B Cap Has Been Reached -
On April 7, 2017, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) announced that it had reached the congressionally mandated H-1B cap for fiscal year 2018 (“FY18”). This...more
President Trump Issues Revised Executive Order on Travel -
Today, President Trump issued a revised executive order on travel that becomes effective at 12:01 a.m. EDT on March 16, 2017 (“March 16 EO”). The March 16 EO...more
3/7/2017
/ Delinquency Status ,
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) ,
Enforcement Guidance ,
Executive Orders ,
Foreign Nationals ,
Form I-9 ,
H-1B ,
IRS ,
Travel Ban ,
Trump Administration ,
USCIS
Late yesterday, in the case of Washington v. Trump, No. 17-35105 (9th Cir. Feb. 9, 2017), the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit issued a “per curiam” opinion, which refused to vacate the temporary restraining order...more
On January 27, 2017, President Donald J. Trump issued an executive order entitled “Protecting the Nation from Foreign Terrorist Entry into the United States” (“EO”). In pertinent part, the EO...more
2/7/2017
/ Customs and Border Protection ,
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) ,
Dual Citizenship ,
Executive Orders ,
Immigrants ,
New Guidance ,
Refugees ,
Travel Ban ,
TRO ,
Trump Administration ,
US Department of State ,
USCIS
This past week, the Trump administration issued three executive orders (“EOs”) on immigration. Certain provisions of these EOs may immediately impact the immigration programs of, and foreign nationals (“FNs”) working for, our...more
USCIS Updates Fee Schedule for Immigration and Naturalization Benefit Requests -
On October 24, 2016, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) announced a final rule adjusting the fees required for many...more
12/2/2016
/ Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) ,
Class Action ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Disney World ,
Form I-9 ,
Fraud ,
Hiring & Firing ,
New Guidance ,
RICO ,
USCIS ,
Visa Bulletins
Now that the election is over, focus turns to the U.S. immigration policy of President-elect Donald J. Trump’s administration over the next four years. Forecasts of this type are never easy with any new President; the task is...more
11/22/2016
/ Barack Obama ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Customs and Border Protection ,
DACA ,
DAPA ,
Deportation ,
E-Verify ,
EB-1 ,
EB-2 ,
EB-3 ,
Executive Orders ,
F-1 Visa ,
Foreign Nationals ,
Foreign Students ,
Free Trade Agreements ,
H-1B ,
H-4 Spouses ,
I-140 ,
Immigration Reform ,
Inspections ,
L-1B ,
NAFTA ,
OPT ,
PERM ,
Popular ,
STEM ,
Temporary Protected Status ,
Trump Administration ,
US Department of State ,
USCIS ,
Vacated ,
Work Visas ,
Workplace Investigations
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services recently announced that premium processing of cap-subject H-1B petitions selected for fiscal year 2017 will begin on May 12, 2016. This means that, absent a request for evidence,...more
On April 12, 2016, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) announced that it had received more than 236,000 H-1B petitions subject to the quota for fiscal year 2017 (i.e., 65,000 for regular H-1B petitions,...more
On April 7, 2016, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) announced that it had reached the Congressionally mandated H-1B cap for fiscal year 2017 (“FY17”). This announcement applies to both the general cap of...more
On March 31, 2016, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) announced that employers should continue using the current version of Form I-9 until further notice. USCIS guidance was required because the current...more
On March 11, 2016, the Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”) issued its long-awaited final rule (the “2016 Rule”) allowing F-1 graduates to extend their Optional Practical Training (“OPT”) period if they have a degree in...more
I. U.S. Supreme Court to Rule on Obama Immigration Plan -
On January 19, 2016, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear the Obama administration’s appeal from the Fifth Circuit decision that enjoined implementation of its...more
1/27/2016
/ Deportation ,
Discrimination ,
E-Verify ,
Executive Orders ,
Form I-9 ,
H-1B ,
Passports ,
Safe Harbors ,
SCOTUS ,
Simeio ,
STEM ,
US Department of State ,
Visa Caps ,
Wage and Hour
On January 23, 2016, the district court in Washington Alliance of Technology Workers v. U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Civil Action No. 14-529 (D.C.D.C.), issued an order staying its prior decision to vacate the...more
Today, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) issued its long-awaited final rule regarding highly skilled workers from Australia, Chile, Singapore, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (“CNMI”),...more
The Department of State (“DOS”) just released its instructions for the DV-2017 Diversity Visa (“DV-2017”) lottery. The registration period begins on Thursday, October 1, 2015, at 12:00 p.m. EDT (GMT-4) and concludes on...more
The U.S. Department of State (“DOS”) just issued a revised October 2015 Visa Bulletin. As we noted in our last Alert, the DOS recently changed the format of its Visa Bulletin to add cutoffs for application dates. These are...more
On September 9, 2015, the U.S. Department of State (“DOS”) and the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) jointly announced revisions to the process for determining visa availability that will speed up the...more
I. USCIS Issues Guidance on When an Amended H-1B Petition Is Required After Matter of Simeio Solutions, LLC -
On July 21, 2015, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) released a policy memorandum...more
8/17/2015
/ Classification ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
EB-5 ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Form I-9 ,
H-1B ,
Immigration Procedures ,
Labor Contractor ,
Misclassification ,
OCAHO ,
US Department of State ,
USCIS ,
Waivers
On August 12, 2015, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia rendered its decision in Washington Alliance of Technology Workers v. U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Civil Action No. 14-529 (D.D.C. Aug. 12,...more