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
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
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
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
The U.S. Department of State has unexpectedly updated Consular websites with revised eligibility requirements for Visa Interview Waiver (“dropbox”) appointments. Effective immediately, dropbox eligibility is limited to...more
On January 20, 2025, President Trump issued a series of executive orders that imposed significant reforms to the immigration system, many of which may or will have an impact on employment-based visas. The following is a...more
The Department of State (DOS) revised the J-1 Skills List, which lists home countries to which foreign nationals are subject to a two-year foreign home residency requirement. •The 37 countries that have been removed from...more
On December 9, 2024, The Department of State issued two major revisions to its Exchange Visitor Skills list resulting in reducing the number of countries on the Exchange Visitor Skills List by almost half. Countries such as...more
Yesterday, the Biden Administration announced a new immigration program in the United States aimed at promoting family unity. The program will allow some undocumented spouses and undocumented children of U.S. citizens to...more
On April 1, 2024, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that it had selected sufficient H-1B visa preregistrations to reach the congressionally mandated 65,000 regular H-1B cap (bachelor’s degree cap)...more
The Department of State (DOS) will begin a pilot program for issuing nonimmigrant visas inside the United States on Jan. 29, 2024. The pilot program will be available to a narrowly defined class of nonimmigrants for a limited...more
The Department of State announced last month that it would unveil a domestic visa renewal pilot program for some H-1B holders. Currently, all visa holders are required to travel to consulates abroad to renew the visa stamps...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
Updates regarding the H-1B visa cap and a new pilot program to renew passport visas within the United States are included in the latest edition of the Immigration Insider....more
October 2023 not only provided amazing Halloween costumes but big updates to the United States and global immigration. The Cozen O’Connor catch-up this month highlights these changes and provides the details you need to...more
On October 17, 2023, the Department of State (DOS) took the first steps to implement stateside processing of nonimmigrant visas. The DOS notified the federal Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs that it will introduce...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
Happy New Year! As we begin 2023, we would like to share the following recent U.S. immigration-related updates: Nonimmigrant Visa Interview Waivers Extended Until December 31, 2023 On December 23, 2022, the U.S....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
J-1 exchange visitors who received graduate medical education or training in the U.S. are subject to the two-year foreign residence requirement under Section 212(e) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA). This...more
COVID-19 has caused significant disruptions in every aspect of our daily lives. Several policies have been enacted, affecting millions of foreign national workers, both in the U.S. and abroad, along with the businesses that...more