On January 31, 2019, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) published its H-1B registration rule in the Federal Register, formalizing changes to the H-1B selection process. The new regulation, which will take effect on...more
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced the reinstatement of the premium processing program for a limited number of H-1B petitions. Premium processing will resume on January 28, 2019, for fiscal year (FY)...more
On December 6, 2018, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) reached the statutory numerical limit or “cap” on the number of petitions for temporary nonagricultural workers “who may be issued H-2B visas or otherwise...more
On December 3, 2018, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) introduced a new plan that would require employers to pre-register all potential H-1B candidates for selection in the H-1B lottery. Pursuant to the proposal,...more
On November 16, 2018, United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Director L. Francis Cissna suggested that USCIS will discontinue its policy of denying certain pending I-131, Application for Travel Document...more
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) released its fall 2018 regulatory agenda, laying out its rulemaking goals through 2019. The published timeline is aspirational and does not represent a strict schedule....more
10/26/2018
/ B-1 ,
B-2 ,
Biometric Information ,
Comment Period ,
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) ,
F-1 Visa ,
Facial Recognition Technology ,
H-1B ,
H-4 Spouses ,
Immigration Procedures ,
Proposed Regulation ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Students ,
USCIS
Beginning October 1, 2018, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) will begin a staggered rollout of a new notice to appear (NTA) policy. The first phase of the rollout does not include employment-based petitions....more
There were no lazy days of summer to be had in 2018—at least not when it came to the introduction of new immigration policies by the Trump administration. The momentum with which it announced and implemented new policies over...more
9/21/2018
/ Corporate Counsel ,
Deportation ,
Foreign Nationals ,
Foreign Workers ,
H-1B ,
Immigration Procedures ,
Notice to Appear ,
OPT ,
Popular ,
STEM ,
Students ,
USCIS ,
Visas
Chief executive officers (CEOs) from more than 50 companies signed a letter sent to Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen expressing their concern about the current course of immigration policy in the United States....more
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced the extension of its suspension of premium processing for all H-1B cases subject to the annual quota (also known as “cap cases”) for fiscal year 2019. The suspension...more
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has issued a revised final policy memorandum updating the recently implemented unlawful presence policy that changed the way USCIS calculated unlawful presence for foreign...more
On August 3, 2018, Judge John D. Bates of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia ruled in favor of fully reinstating the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program but stayed the effective date of the...more
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that it is postponing the enforcement of its June 28, 2018, policy memorandum allowing USCIS officers to issue notices to appear to those deemed unlawfully present...more
The rate of requests for evidence (RFEs) and denials issued for H-1B and L-1 petitions by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is up considerably, according to a new report by the National Foundation for American...more
Effective September 11, 2018, adjudicators for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will have the authority to deny any application or petition that is incomplete or lacks sufficient evidence without first...more
A new U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) policy published on July 5, 2018 instructs USCIS officers to issue a notice to appear (NTA) to any individual who is “not lawfully present” in the United States at the...more
On July 5, 2018, U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced an 18-month extension of temporary protected status (TPS) for eligible nationals of Yemen. This is the second extension granted to Yemen due to the ongoing...more
On May 10, 2018, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) issued a policy memorandum changing the way the agency will calculate the accrual of unlawful presence for students (F-1), exchange visitors (J-1), and...more
On May 4, 2018, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced that temporary protected status (TPS) will end for approximately 57,000 Hondurans, effective January 5, 2020. DHS originally granted TPS to Honduran...more