Effective April 11, 2025, an Interim Final Rule promulgated by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) amends existing regulations to require certain foreign nationals to complete a new online registration form, as well as...more
President Donald Trump announced on Feb. 25 that he is creating a new program to offer residency and a path to citizenship to foreign investors who pay $5 million directly to the U.S. government. While the full scope of this...more
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Announces FY 2026 H-1B Cap Registration Period U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that it will hold the H-1B electronic registration process for the fiscal...more
On Jan. 20, 2025, the Trump Administration issued scores of Executive Orders (EOs). Among them was one that requires U.S. agencies to ensure immigrants “are vetted and screened to the maximum degree possible.” The EO...more
On Dec. 18, 2024, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) finalized new H-1B regulations with changes that will impact both employers and employees. While the regulations will introduce significant benefits and...more
Today, USCIS announced that it will be making additional selections from the FY25 H-1B registrations it received in order to reach the FY25 numerical allocation. The agency’s announcement was silent on timing, numbers and the...more
Updates to Kramer Levin’s Immigration Tracker System Two-Factor Authentication for Tracker Beginning on Monday, May 20, 2024, Tracker will require “two-factor authentication” in order to access our immigration system. We are...more
In anticipation of the upcoming U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) H-1B electronic registration process (see our prior client alert for details), we want to call your attention to an update that will affect all...more
Recently, USCIS published a final rule increasing certain government filing fees effective April 1, 2024. In addition, it announced a final rule that will increase the premium processing fees effective Feb. 26, 2024....more
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that it will hold the H-1B electronic registration process for the fiscal year 2025 H-1B cap (from which the annual H-1B lottery will be run). Registration begins at...more
Today, USCIS announced that it will be making additional selections from the FY24 H-1B registrations it received in order to reach the FY24 numerical allocation....more
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced a new process for obtaining temporary proof of LPR (lawful permanent resident, or “green card”) status for those who do not have valid green cards in their...more
USCIS has expanded premium processing for certain F-1 students seeking Optional Practical Training (OPT) and STEM OPT extensions. Specifically, for a fee of $1,500, eligible applicants can request that USCIS adjudicate their...more
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that it will hold the H-1B electronic registration process for the fiscal year 2024 H-1B cap (from which the annual H-1B lottery will be run). Registration begins at...more
On Jan. 20, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) agreed to settle a class action lawsuit challenging H-4 and L-2 adjudication delays. According to this settlement, USCIS will now adjudicate I-539s and I-765s...more
Beginning Jan. 30, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will accept I-907 Premium Processing requests for all new and pending EB-1 Multinational Executive and Manager I-140 petitions and EB-2 National Interest...more
Effective Sept. 26, 2022, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) automatically extended the validity of Permanent Resident Cards (also known as Green Cards) to 24 months for lawful permanent residents who file Form...more
In a long overdue development, United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced it is finally taking action in tackling its massive backlogs — a major problem that has plagued the agency for several years...more
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that it will hold the H-1B electronic registration process for the fiscal year 2023 H-1B cap (from which the annual H-1B lottery will be run). Registration begins at...more
In our Nov. 11 client alert, we described the dramatic and beneficial changes to the employment authorization rules affecting dependent spouses of certain nonimmigrant visa holders. On Nov. 12, U.S. Citizenship and...more
11/17/2021
/ Department of Homeland Security (DHS) ,
Employment Authorization Documents (EAD) ,
Form I-9 ,
Form I-94 ,
H-4 Spouses ,
Immigration Procedures ,
L-Visas ,
Non-Immigrant Visas ,
Spouses ,
Time Extensions ,
USCIS ,
Visas
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that it will hold the H-1B electronic registration process for the fiscal year 2022 H-1B cap (from which the annual H-1B lottery will be run). Registration begins at...more
2/9/2021
/ Corporate Counsel ,
E-3 ,
F-1 Visa ,
Foreign Workers ,
H-1B ,
Highly-Skilled Workers Visa ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Immigrants ,
Immigration Procedures ,
J-1 Visas ,
L-1 Visas ,
TN-Visas ,
USCIS ,
Visa Caps ,
Visas
We anticipate that in March 2021, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will open the electronic registration process for the fiscal year 2022 H-1B cap for professional positions. Please review your employment...more
1/14/2021
/ Foreign Workers ,
Green Cards ,
H-1B ,
Highly-Skilled Workers Visa ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Immigrants ,
Immigration Procedures ,
Immigration Reform ,
International Travel ,
Registration Requirement ,
Travel Restrictions ,
USCIS ,
Visa Caps ,
Visas
On Jan. 8, the Department of Homeland Security published a final rule, effective March 9, changing the way the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will select H-1B cap-subject registrations. Instead of using a...more
On Dec. 1, the United States District Court in the Northern District of California set aside two Interim Final Rules affecting the H-1B program, holding that the Rules were promulgated in violation of the Administrative...more
12/4/2020
/ Administrative Procedure Act ,
Domestic Hiring Policy ,
Foreign Workers ,
H-1B ,
Highly-Skilled Workers Visa ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Immigrants ,
Immigration Procedures ,
Immigration Reform ,
Motion to Set Aside the Verdict ,
Prevailing Wages ,
Trump Administration ,
USCIS ,
Visas