On December 16, 2025, the Trump Administration, by Proclamation (Restriction and Limiting the Entry of Foreign Nationals to Protect the Security of the United States), announced sweeping travel restrictions for foreign...more
President Trump announced the launch of the Trump Gold Card immigration initiative on December 10, 2025, activating a new web page for Form I-140G, the Immigrant Petition for the Gold Card Program....more
United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has announced that the $100,000 H-1B fee does not apply to workers already in the U.S., even in some other status such as visitor or student, as long as they are...more
10/23/2025
/ Business Immigration ,
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) ,
Filing Requirements ,
Foreign Workers ,
Form I-129 ,
H-1B ,
Immigration Procedures ,
Non-Immigrant Visas ,
Presidential Proclamations ,
Temporary Work Visas ,
USCIS
As of 12:01 a.m. ET on October 1, 2025, the U.S. Government has shut down due to Congress' failure to pass a Continuing Resolution to fund the Government until later this year. The government shutdown will likely cause...more
On June 4, 2025, President Trump issued a proclamation restricting entries for people from 19 countries based on national security concerns about deficient vetting and screening processes with a June 9, 2025 start date. A...more
It's no secret that President-Elect Donald Trump has intentions to carry out what he has called the largest mass deportation in U.S. history shortly after taking office. U.S. employers, particularly those in the...more
11/27/2024
/ Audits ,
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) ,
Deportation ,
E-Verify ,
Foreign Workers ,
Form I-9 ,
Immigrants ,
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) ,
Trump Administration ,
USCIS ,
Visas
The Biden administration has issued a regulation exercising its discretion to use "parole in place" to create a path to the green card within the U.S. for certain foreign nationals: (a) who illegally entered the U.S. only...more
On October 11, 2023, USCIS published on its web site a new Guidance on numerous aspects of the EB-5 program as affected by enactment on March 15, 2022, of the EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act of 2022 (RIA). While the guidance...more
EB-5 regional centers approved before the enactment of the EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act of 2022 (RIA) have been given new clarity and mercy about the new Integrity Fee, but they remain in limbo about filing I-956 amendments...more
USCIS has issued meaningful new guidance about some important topics relating to the EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act of 2022 (RIA), i.e., the new $20,000 or $10,000 per year regional center (RC) integrity fee, USCIS...more
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has published a draft Form I-956K for public comment with instructions for use by EB-5 securities "promoters," implementing a new and unusual statutory requirement for...more
An agreement settling litigation against USCIS overturns its initial interpretation of the EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act of 2022 (RIA) and allows regional centers (RCs) that were designated before RIA enactment to sponsor new...more
On March 15, 2022, the United States enacted the EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act of 2022 (the 2022 Act) as part of a large omnibus budget package of legislation. The 39-page compromise legislation grandfathers existing workers...more
Prospective EB-5 investors have watched 2019 regulations nearly double minimum investment amounts, only then to see those regulations judicially vacated in 2021 just as the regional center legislation expired on June 30,...more
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has published on its website that full COVID-19 vaccination will become much more central to U.S. land border travel "in January." The announcement is supported by Federal...more
With regional center legislation expired for now, and almost all investors born in Mainland China having used a regional center sponsorship, there should be nearly zero Chinese investors waiting for an EB-5 visa number and...more
Spouses of H-1B, L-1, and maybe E-1/E-2/E-3 workers or investors will have an easier time maintaining work authorization under a litigation settlement entered by United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). The...more
On October 25, 2021, the White House issued a new COVID-related Proclamation about air travel to the U.S. effective at 12:01 EST on November 8, 2021. It revoked prior country-specific bans in favor of a complex combination...more
The Biden Administration has disclosed preliminary plans to provide exemption to the ban on visas and entry for travelers to the U.S. from many countries if they are fully vaccinated and submit to enhanced contact tracing...more
On June 30, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) issued clear guidance about how it will implement the expiration of the regional center law as of midnight, until any renewal legislation becomes enacted or...more
This week two major events occurred in the EB-5 investment visa program: (1) Congress failed to enact a law renewing the law authorizing regional centers and indirect investment and job creation, which expires June 30; and...more
A magistrate judge in federal court in California seems likely soon to issue an order invalidating the 2019 EB-5 regulations despite current DHS Secretary Mayorkas' recent ratification of same. The probable results: (1)...more
More than 78 days into the Biden Administration, less dust than expected or hoped has settled on the landscape for business and family immigration to the U.S. This article briefly assesses the state of play concerning...more
4/8/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) ,
F-1 Visa ,
H-1B ,
H-4 Spouses ,
Immigration ,
Presidential Proclamations ,
Travel Restrictions ,
USCIS ,
Visas
USCIS has finalized a new regulation that would allocate new cap-subject H-1B petitions to the highest paid workers. It seems likely that President-Elect Biden will extend the effective date from early March by 60 more days,...more
On October 16, USCIS announced that, effective Monday, October 19, the fee for currently designated case types will increase from $1,440 to $2,500. Congress authorized this in a bill we summarized after its enactment....more