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 July 25, the U.S. Department of State announced a sweeping rollback of the nonimmigrant visa interview waiver program — often called the “drop box” system. Under the drop box system, many applicants for nonimmigrant visas...more
Effective September 2, 2025, the U.S. State Department is eliminating visa waiver of appointments (otherwise called dropbox appointments) for many visa applicants. Many visa applicants and their dependents previously...more
On July 25, 2025, the U.S. Department of State announced a new policy that will significantly limit the eligibility of visa applicants to obtain visas without consular interviews. The new policy will go into effect on...more
The U.S. Department of State announced that effective September 2, 2025, the categories of applicants that may be eligible for the Dropbox Program (a/k/a Interview Waiver) will be updated, adding further restrictions to those...more
The U.S. Department of State (DOS) recently revised its visa reciprocity schedules for numerous countries, significantly reducing the duration of nonimmigrant visa validity to three months and a single entry in many cases....more
On July 18, 2025, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced enough petitions have been received and the congressionally mandated 65,000 H-1B visa regular cap and the 20,000 H-1B visa U.S. advanced degree...more
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has received enough 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 18, 2025, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that they received enough H-1B petitions to reach the congressionally mandated fiscal year (FY) 2026 H-1B cap of 85,000, including the master’s...more
Effective June 10, 2025, the U.S. Embassy and Consulates General in China have implemented important updates to the nonimmigrant visa application process for applicants under the age of fourteen. These changes are designed to...more
In a closely watched decision issued on June 27, 2025, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled in Trump v. CASA, Inc., No. 24A884, that federal district courts lacked authority to issue universal (nationwide) injunctions...more
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has updated its Policy Manual, clarifying—and in some cases, narrowing—the eligibility criteria for the TN nonimmigrant classification under the United States-Mexico-Canada...more
Recent United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) and U.S. State Department updates require businesses and individuals to adhere to new TN visa eligibility criteria—such as prohibiting self-employment,...more
Adjudication of F, M, and J nonimmigrant visas – paused for the last month – will soon resume, and applicants will be subject to heightened screening and vetting, including of their social media accounts....more
USCIS has released an update to its Policy Manual, bringing significant changes to regulations on the TN nonimmigrant visa classification and perhaps some employers’ practices. For instance, because of changes to the...more
On June 4, 2025, President Trump signed a travel ban that will completely bar foreign nationals from 12 countries from traveling to the United States and places strict limited-travel restrictions on seven others....more
The following information updates the alert we distributed on June 9: In line with the Presidential Proclamation restricting the entry of certain foreign nationals from the United States, the Department of State has issued...more
The Trump Administration announced a new travel ban impacting 19 countries earlier this week, effective Monday, June 9 at 12:01 a.m....more
President Donald Trump signed a proclamation on June 4, 2025, placing restrictions on certain foreign nationals from entering the U.S., effective June 9, 2025. President Trump cited the need to protect the U.S. from foreign...more
Given the heightened vetting and scrutiny of foreign nationals entering the U.S. by the Department of Homeland Security, all foreign nationals, including the U.S. permanent residents, should be vigilant, when facing CBP...more
Last week, an internal U.S. Department of State (DOS) correspondence pertaining to visa processing for international student and exchange visitors in the F, M, and J visa classifications was leaked and published by various...more
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
There has been a significant increase in media coverage of travelers subjected to increased scrutiny at ports of entry to the United States. In some cases, individuals have been refused entry and detained until sent back...more
WHAT IS ALIEN REGISTRATION? The alien registration requirement dates back to 1940, when Congress passed a law to require all foreign nationals to register with the federal government, provide biographic details, and carry...more
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that it completed its annual H-1B cap lottery selection process for fiscal year (FY) 2026. Given the high number of lottery registrations and fixed number of...more
In recent weeks, international travel has become more complicated for many U.S.-based travelers. A series of executive orders and policy shifts in 2025 seem to have altered the landscape of immigration enforcement and border...more