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
H-1B Registrations for the FY2026 cap season will open at noon ET on March 7, 2025, and run through noon ET on March 24, 2025. The USCIS filing fee is $215 per registration this year (a significant increase from $10)....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
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
It’s hard to keep up with all the recent changes to labor and employment law. While the law always seems to evolve at a rapid pace, there have been an unprecedented number of changes for the past few years — and this past...more
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has started to offer premium processing service for certain long-pending, employment-based permanent resident petitions. Consistent with its previous announcement, USCIS is...more
US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) on May 3 announced a temporary increase—up to 540 days—to the automatic extension period for employment authorization and employment authorization documents (EADs) for certain...more
On May 4, 2022, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced a vast increase in the length of automatic extensions for certain renewal applicants. A Temporary Final...more
Today, March 30, 2022, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) published a final rule expanding premium processing for multinational managers, advanced degree holders seeking a national interest waiver, nonimmigrant...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
On May 13, 2021, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that it will temporarily suspend the biometrics requirements for certain I-539 applicants for a two-year period beginning on May 17, 2021. ...more
On May 3, 2021, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services’ (USCIS) acting associate director of the Service Center Operations Directorate, Connie L. Nolan, indicated in a court filing that USCIS is finalizing a policy that...more
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) intends to suspend collecting biometrics for individuals requesting E, H-4 and L-2 status on Form I-539, Application to Extend/Change Nonimmigrant Status. The policy,...more
Effective October 2, 2020, filing fees for certain non-immigrant, immigrant, and naturalization benefit requests will be adjusted to help meet U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) operational needs. As a...more
Join Ulmer for a live webinar on January 14 at 2 p.m. (ET) as Partner David W. Leopold discusses what corporate counsel must know about navigating increasingly complicated policies aimed at business immigration....more
In this episode, Jamie Dietz and Tina Ho discuss the current business immigration landscape, from recent guidance and policy memos to practical insights for employers on understanding and preparing for this constantly...more
Following the arrest of a Turkish national employee of the U.S. Embassy in Ankara, the U.S. has suspended all nonimmigrant visa services at its consulates in Turkey. In response, Turkey has suspended all visa services for...more