The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) recently announced updates to the H-1B visa lottery process, availability of online H-1B filings, and increases to most U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) petition filing fees. The H-1B visa lottery and online filing changes will go into effect before the next lottery opens on March 6, 2024, and … Continue Reading
Employers take note: most of you will need to take significant action to update and/or correct your Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification, in the coming weeks due to sunsetting temporary COVID-19 flexibilities relating to physical inspection of employee documents. Failure to take timely action could result in significant monetary and other penalties. The Department of … Continue Reading
Following its November 8, 2021 move to remove and replace all regional COVID-19 Travel bans with a blanket vaccination requirement, the Biden administration announced a new COVID-19 travel ban on those seeking to enter the U.S. from various African nations. The new Proclamation bars most non-U.S. citizens who have been physically present in the following … Continue Reading
On April 30, 2021, the President issued another Proclamation suspending entry into the United States of nonimmigrants and noncitizens who were physically present within the Republic of India during the 14-day period preceding their attempted entry into the United States. These restrictions take effect at 12:01 am EDT on May 4, 2021 and remain in … Continue Reading
On Wednesday, February 24, 2021, President Biden issued a Proclamation removing one of the few remaining major Trump COVID-era Visa Bans. The move repeals Presidential Proclamation 10014, which was set to expire after March 31, 2021, and temporarily paused the issuance of immigrant visas. President Biden justified the action by explaining that the ban “harms … Continue Reading
With the stroke of a pen, President Biden immediately commenced the deconstruction of the Southern Border wall and several other immigration policies of the prior administration, including the pre-Covid travel bans. Here is a summary of the President’s immigration-related executive actions issued during his first days in office. Revoking the Pre-Covid Travel Bans Entitled Presidential … Continue Reading
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) published a Final Rule, which, if left intact, will implement major changes to the H-1B visa program. The new rule would do away with the random lottery system currently used to issue the annual quota of 85,000 new H-1B visas and replace it with a selection system weighted to … Continue Reading
Presidential Proclamations 10014 and 10052 have been extended through March 31, 2021. The two proclamations, which suspend U.S. entry and visa issuance for many immigrant and nonimmigrant visa applicants outside the U.S., were set to end after December 31, 2020. Possible extensions were the subject of internal deliberations at the White House leading up to … Continue Reading
On Wednesday, October 28, 2020, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced another proposed change to the H-1B visa program. The new rule would do away with the random lottery system currently used to issue the annual quota of 85,000 H-1B visas and replace it with a new lottery system weighted to favor applications with … Continue Reading
On August 12, 2020, the U.S. State Department issued new guidance (“State Department Guidance”) on parameters for National Interest Exceptions to Presidential Proclamation 10052. As our previous post outlined, Proclamation 10052 suspended U.S. entry for certain nonimmigrants on H-1B (specialty occupation), H-2B (temporary workers), L-1 (intracompany transferees), and J-1 (exchange visitors participating in the intern, … Continue Reading
On August 3, 2020, President Trump signed an Executive Order (“Aligning Federal Contracting and Hiring Practices With the Interests of American Workers” hereafter “Executive Order”) calling for a broad review of the government’s use of visa holders and outsourcing across its extensive government contracting networks. The White House announced that the Executive Order is, at … Continue Reading
As expected, President Trump signed a presidential proclamation (“Suspension of Entry of Immigrants and Nonimmigrants who Present a Risk to the United States Labor Market During the Economic Recovery Following the 2019 Novel Coronavirus Outbreak” hereafter “Nonimmigrant Proclamation”) extending the duration of his prior suspension of immigrant visas (for those entering the U.S. permanently) and … Continue Reading
On June 18, 2020, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Trump administration’s attempt to end Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) fell short of the legal requirements for ending such a broad executive program. The Court held that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) effort to terminate DACA was “arbitrary and capricious” and … Continue Reading
The Trump administration announced an expansion of its COVID-19 travel ban to include those seeking to enter the U.S. from Brazil. The new Proclamation issued on Sunday, May 24, 2020, bars all non-U.S. citizens who have been physically present in Brazil during the 14-day period prior to entering or attempting to enter the United States. … Continue Reading
Two days after teasing a temporary halt to US immigration, on April 22, 2020, President Trump issued the first of what may be multiple Presidential Proclamations aimed at stemming US immigration in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Proclamation, which is more limited than many expected, centers on a 60-day US entry ban for certain … Continue Reading
United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) recently issued a new version of its Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification, which is used to verify the employment authorization and identity for all employees in the United States. Although employers may now begin to use the new version, which has a 10/21/2019 version date on the bottom, … Continue Reading
The United States Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”) issued a press release on January 30, 2019, announcing revisions to the H1-B visa program, which were made in direct response to President Trump’s April 17, 2017 “Buy American and Hire American” Executive Order (the “Order”). As we discussed in our previous blog post about the then-proposed … Continue Reading
For the third time in 2017, US District Courts have thwarted the Trump administration’s attempt to implement a travel ban. On October 17, 2017, the US District Court for the District of Hawaii issued a temporary restraining order (“TRO”) blocking most of the restrictions President Trump laid out in his newest September 24, 2017 travel … Continue Reading
On September 24, 2017, the White House issued a Presidential Proclamation (Proclamation Travel Ban) to replace expiring portions of the President’s March 6, 2017 Executive Order travel ban (EO Travel Ban) and expand affect countries to eight (8), up from the six countries covered by the most recent EO Travel Ban. According to the White House, the … Continue Reading
On June 26, 2017, the US Supreme Court granted certiorari and consolidated two cases, Trump v. IRAP and Trump v. Hawaii, recently litigated in the US Court of Appeals enjoining the President’s second Executive Order entitled Protecting the Nation from Foreign Terrorist Entry Into the United States (EO2). While this grant of certiorari is a … Continue Reading
On March 5, 2017, the White House issued a revised Executive Order (New EO) entitled “Protecting the Nation from Foreign Terrorist Entry into the United States.” The New EO revokes and replaces the President’s prior EO of the same name, which which was issued on January 27, 2017 (January 27 EO) to significant consternation and … Continue Reading
Significant confusion has arisen in the week since President Trump issued his Executive Order (EO) entitled Protecting the Nation from Foreign Terrorist Entry Into the United States on January 27, 2017. Our previous summary can be found here. Following a frenetic week at U.S. ports of entry and international airports and increased litigation in several … Continue Reading
The new year brings with it changes in immigration law, including implementation of the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) final rule entitled Retention of EB-1, EB-2, and EB-3 Immigrant Workers and Program Improvements Affecting High-Skilled Nonimmigrant Workers (“the new rule”). In practice, the new rule codifies several long‑standing DHS policies and practices, and creates several … Continue Reading
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) recently released a proposed rule to allow foreign entrepreneurs to enter the United States and work at qualifying “start-up” companies under the President’s “parole” authority. Parole allows the President, through DHS, to permit certain individuals to temporarily enter the United States as parolees under fixed conditions. It is often used … Continue Reading
