On May 29, 2020, the President issued a proclamation blocking certain nationals of the Peoples Republic of China (PRC) from entering the United States in F-1 or J-1 nonimmigrant status in order to study or conduct research. The proclamation takes effect on June 1, 2020 at 12:00 pm (EDT) and remains in effect until terminated … 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
USCIS has suspended in-person services from March 18, 2020, until at least April 1, 2020, to help mitigate the spread of COVID-19. During this period, the agency will not conduct in-person adjustment of status or naturalization interviews, naturalization ceremonies, or Application Support Center biometrics appointments. USCIS field offices will send cancellation notices to applicants with … Continue Reading
Just three days after issuing a Proclamation expanding the scope of the temporary travel (entry) bans, due to the global outbreak of the SARS-CoV-2 virus (COVID-19), which restricted entry and travel to the United States of foreign nationals (immigrants or nonimmigrants) who were physically present within the European Schengen Area, President Trump’s Proclamation now includes … Continue Reading
President Trump has issued another Presidential Proclamation expanding the scope of two previously issued travel bans suspending entry of immigrants and nonimmigrants into the United States, subject to certain exceptions detailed below, due to the global outbreak of the SARS-CoV-2 virus (also referred to the as the coronavirus disease 2019 or“COVID-19”). This Proclamation, entitled, Suspension … 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 Proposed Rule On November 14, 2019, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) published a notice of a proposed rule that will considerably alter the fees associated with US filings and immigration benefits. The proposal also includes significant changes to some of the immigration forms published by the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). DHS … Continue Reading
On December 6, 2019, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that it has completed pilot testing and is implementing the long-anticipated electronic registration tool for the next H-1B lottery of fiscal year (FY) 2021 H-1B visas. In its announcement, USCIS indicated that the initial H-1B cap registration period will run from March 1, 2020 … Continue Reading
On 9 September 2019, the UK government announced changes to the Immigration Rules, which go on for nearly 100 pages. Read a summary of the key changes of most direct relevance to employers, sponsors and recruiters, and view the full Statement of Changes online. In addition to these changes, there has been another important and very … Continue Reading
On April 11th, USCIS announced that its computer-generated random selection process was completed. USCIS drew the numbers of the lucky H-1B petitions that made the cut under the congressionally-mandated regular cap of 65,000 visa numbers and the U.S. advanced degree exemption of 20,000 visa numbers for fiscal year (FY) 2020.… Continue Reading
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) recently announced the reinstatement of premium processing service for H-1B nonimmigrant petitions, with an exception. Premium processing permits an employer to pay an extra fee (currently $1410) to receive expedited processing for certain employment-based petitions. If requested, USCIS guarantees 15 calendar day processing or it will refund the premium … Continue Reading
The UK government has now published its long-awaited Immigration White Paper, including proposals for new rules to be phased in from 2021. It has also indicated that a wider public test phase for the EU Settlement Scheme will be open from 21 January 2019. What does this mean for your business and what should you … Continue Reading
In a proposed rule published in today’s Federal Register, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is resurrecting and modifying a previous proposal from 2011 to implement an electronic pre-registration system for H-1B cap petitions. H-1B visas are for high-skilled “specialty workers” in positions that require at least a Bachelor’s degree in a specific related … Continue Reading
The Social Security Administration (“SSA”) recently announced that in 2019, it will restart its mismatch letter notification program. Through “mismatch” letters, formally titled “Employer Correction Requests,” the SSA notifies employers that the social security number (“SSN”) and name reported for one or more employees does not match SSA records. These notification letters advise employers that … Continue Reading
In his first State of the Union Address, President Trump made the case for his first year in office as one of extraordinary legislative and regulatory accomplishments as part of his Administration’s efforts to build a “Safe, Strong, and Proud America.” In fact, 2017 was not a year of major legislative accomplishments, with the exception … Continue Reading
No one would deny that 2017 was a frenetic year when it came to US Immigration. From the initial chaos of the Travel Ban to the drama of DACA, we witnessed the new administration initiate profound shifts in immigration policy and practice. When it comes to employer-sponsored immigration, perhaps the most lasting impact of 2017 … Continue Reading
California Governor Jerry Brown recently signed a package of bills into law, affectionately known as “Sanctuary State” legislation. Collectively, these new laws, which take effect on January 1, 2018, will prevent State and local enforcement agencies from acting as deputies for federal immigration enforcement authorities, prevent local authorities from detaining immigrants beyond scheduled release dates … 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
Executive Order Travel Ban Update In recent days, the US Supreme Court (SCOTUS) has once again weighed in and issued a preliminary ruling regarding the Executive Order Travel Ban (EO) challenge in Trump v. Hawaii. For background, please see our prior blog posts detailing the travel ban EO’s history and SCOTUS’ decision of June 26th. … Continue Reading
The Executive Order Travel Ban saga continues into the dog days of Summer. On June 19, 2017, the US Supreme Court issued an order (See Trump v. Hawaii) partially upholding a lower court’s modification of the preliminary injunction exempting from the travel ban impacted grandparents, grandchildren, brothers-in-law, sisters-in-law, aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, and cousins of … Continue Reading
On July 17, 2017, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) announced the release of a revised version of Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification. This is the second version of the “smart” I-9 initially released in November 2016. (For details regarding the “smart” functions please see our previous blog post). Employers can use the revised … 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
