Demystifying Immigration Law
The Latest on E-2 Visa with Citizenship-by-Investment
Law Brief: H-1B Visas – New Process and New (Upcoming) Deadlines
Employment Visa Restrictions: Past, Present, and Future by Sang Shin
Update from Washington: Employer's Preview of Immigration Restrictions from the Administration
On April 30, 2025, the U.S. Department of State launched two new tools to monitor immigrant and nonimmigrant visa interview availability: (1) the Immigrant Visa (IV) Scheduling Status Tool, and (2) the Global Visa Wait Times...more
On February 18, 2025, the US Department of State announced a new policy requiring more foreign nationals to attend in-person interviews to apply for nonimmigrant visas....more
International travelers seeking to renew their U.S. visas must meet stricter requirements and may see longer wait times. Effective February 18, 2025, DOS has officially reverted the special pandemic-era eligibility criteria...more
On February 18, 2025, the U.S. Department of State updated visa interview waiver (“drop box”) eligibility criteria for individuals renewing their visa stamps, resulting in sudden drop box appointment cancellations and...more
After quietly updating consular websites, signaling a significant change to Visa Interview Waiver (“dropbox”) eligibility requirements, on Feb. 18, 2025, the Department of State (DOS) officially announced the reversion to...more
The U.S. Embassy and Consulates in India recently announced updates to nonimmigrant visa processing that took effect last week, including changes to interview waiver (drop box) eligibility and the centralization of visa...more
Due to increased travel to France for the eightieth anniversary of D-Day and the 2024 Summer Olympic Games, the U.S. Department of State expects significant delays in visa processing in France in 2024. Individuals seeking to...more
Executive Summary: Recent reports from the U.S. Department of State (DOS) make clear that American companies need foreign talent more than ever before, and...more
On December 21, the U.S. Department of State announced that for 2024 it would continue to waive the requirement of consular interviews for certain nonimmigrant visa applications. However, the 2024 waiver requirements are...more
The H-1B visa, highly sought after and a valuable route for foreign nationals to ultimately pursue U.S. residence status, will become available for pre-registrations in the lottery submission process in March 2024. We await...more
On December 21, the U.S. Department of State issued regulations with details of its pilot program for issuance of renewed H-1B visa stamps in the United States. The pilot program eliminates the need for applicants to obtain...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: The below summarizes the Department of State’s Formal Notice to Resume Renewal of H-1B Nonimmigrant Visas in the United States for Certain Qualified Noncitizens....more
On December 20, 2023, the Department of State (“DOS”) released details of the domestic visa renewal pilot program, as noted in their announcement earlier this month. Per the draft regulation, the pilot program is limited to...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: Department of State expects to start the stateside visa renewal pilot in early 2024....more
The U.S. Department of State is expected to launch a pilot program to resume stateside H-1B visa renewal early in 2024. On October 17, 2023, the State Department sent the proposed Pilot Program to Resume Renewal of H-1B...more
On May 26, 2023, the U.S. Department of State announced the delay of the implementation of the final rule raising nonimmigrant visa (NIV) application processing fees and the fee for a Border Crossing Card (BCC) for Mexican...more
Bloomberg Law has reported that the U.S. Department of State intends to implement a pilot program this year that will allow certain nonimmigrants to renew their visas in the U.S., obviating the need to travel internationally...more
As the new year begins, federal immigration officials are implementing rules to help the over 500,000 backlogged visa appointments – three of which will be quite welcome news to employers across the country. Most of these...more
A new US Department of State policy that took effect on January 24 makes it more difficult for pregnant women to obtain B nonimmigrant visas to visit the United States if the consular officer has reason to believe that the...more
The United States Department of State (DOS) recently made a number of significant changes to visa “reciprocity” tables. Reciprocity involves either additional fees, or shorter validity periods (or both) for visa applicants...more
On May 31, 2019, the Department of State added new questions to Forms DS-160/DS-156 Nonimmigrant Visa Application and Form DS-260, Immigrant Visa Application. These additional questions require the foreign national to...more
The U.S. State Department has temporarily suspended the issuance of non-immigrant visas at all U.S. government diplomatic facilities in Turkey on October 8, 2017. ...more