The indictment this week of the owners of a Texas bakery on harboring charges is proof that the Trump administration has made immigration enforcement a top priority, targeting both unauthorized foreign nationals and the...more
3/5/2025
/ Compliance ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Foreign Nationals ,
Foreign Workers ,
Immigration Procedures ,
Trump Administration ,
USCIS
An executive order by President Trump is set to reshape immigration procedures, increasing security screening, and tightening visa processing. Employers of foreign nationals should prepare for delays in employee travel to the...more
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has officially announced the FY2026 H-1B Cap Registration dates. Below is a summary of some information that you should know:...more
Immigration enforcement has quickly become a pressing issue for employers in the first few weeks of the Trump administration, and many companies are re-evaluating their policies, reviewing their I-9 compliance and preparing...more
2/11/2025
/ Compliance ,
Criminal Penalties ,
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Eligibility Verification ,
Employment Policies ,
Foreign Workers ,
Form I-9 ,
Immigrants ,
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) ,
Immigration Procedures ,
Penalties ,
USCIS ,
Wage and Hour
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) will no longer follow guidelines that once limited immigration enforcement in so-called “protected” or “sensitive” locations. The change stems from President Trump’s Executive Order...more
2/7/2025
/ Department of Homeland Security (DHS) ,
Educational Institutions ,
Employment Policies ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Executive Orders ,
FERPA ,
Foreign Nationals ,
Immigrants ,
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) ,
Immigration Procedures ,
Immigration Reform ,
Warrants
USCIS recently announced that the agency received enough H-1B petitions to reach the congressionally mandated 65,000 H-1B visa regular cap and the 20,000 H-1B visa U.S. advanced degree exemption, known as the master’s cap,...more
On July 30th, USCIS determined that not enough H-1B petition filings in the regular cap were submitted during the initial filing period from April 1, 2024 through June 30, 2024. USCIS will select additional registrations to...more
The U.S. State Department (U.S. DOS) has taken a step toward resuming issuance of H-1B visa stamps from within the United States. It is anticipated that this could begin in early 2024 with a limited pilot program to test the...more
Yesterday afternoon USCIS announced that the second round of the H-1B cap-subject lottery just recently announced is now complete.
All prospective petitioners from this round of selection have been notified of the selected...more
In an announcement on July 27th, USCIS determined that not enough H-1B petition filings were submitted during the initial filing period from April 1, 2023 through June 30, 2023. USCIS will select additional registrations to...more
Today, United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced the number of FY2024 Cap H-1B Registrations received, with approximately 781,000 total. Of those registrations, 758,994 were found to be eligible and...more
Yesterday marked another occurrence of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) placing a bandage on processing backlogs with the announcement of a temporary rule that increases the automatic extension period to up...more
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) recently announced revisions to the naturalization civics test. The changes will affect those applicants who apply after December 1, 2020. These applicants will need to take...more
USCIS recently announced that it will not furlough employees as was previously scheduled to begin on August 30, 2020. USCIS had previously pushed back the anticipated furlough from earlier in August and now has ultimately...more
United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced the temporary suspension of premium processing for all FY 2021 cap-subject petitions. USCIS expects this suspension to last until no later than May 27, 2020...more
As of February 24, 2020, all applications for Adjustment of Status will be subject to the enhanced Public Charge Rule after a rule by the U.S. Supreme Court on January 27, 2020. This rule, originally scheduled to take effect...more
To update my September 5, 2019 post, USCIS has announced a final rule that requires a $10 non-refundable registration fee for each cap-subject H-1B submitted by petitioning employers. USCIS announced that this registration...more
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has published a notice in the Federal Register of a proposed rule to amend its regulations to allow for USCIS to require a $10 registration fee for each petitioner seeking to file...more
USCIS’ previous practice of adjudicating the I-539, Application to Extend/Change Nonimmigrant Status, filed with a qualifying I-129 petition under Premium Processing has ended. USCIS now requires every I-539 applicant pay a...more
Yesterday, United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that the agency has completed data entry for all fiscal year 2020 H-1B cap-subject petitions selected in the lottery. USCIS is still issuing...more
Yesterday, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced start dates for premium processing of fiscal year (FY) 2020 cap-subject H-1B petitions. USCIS will review premium processing requests in two phases. ...more
It has been widely reported, including by the American Immigration Lawyers Association, that on February 20, 2019 the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) sent a proposal to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) as per...more
On January 25, 2019, USCIS announced that it would resume premium processing for all fiscal year (FY) 2019 H-1B cap petitions on Monday, January 28, 2019. There is some confusion among employees and employers thinking that...more
On May 21, 2018, I posted a blog regarding the then Proposed USCIS Policy Change for F, J, and M Nonimmigrants and Unlawful Presence implications. On August 9, 2018, USCIS issued a revised final policy memorandum, effective...more
On May 11, 2018, United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) issued a Policy Memorandum for Public Comment, with the comment period set to end on June 11, 2018. ...more