In response to the horrific November attack on National Guard members in Washington, D.C. and other geopolitical events, the President and U.S. immigration agencies have implemented initiatives and rolled out proposals to expand existing travel bans and dramatically increase vetting and personnel data collection of visa applicants and travelers entering and exiting the United States. … Continue Reading
Overview U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has implemented major changes to Employment Authorization Document (EAD) policies. These updates end the automatic 540‑day extension for most EAD renewals and reduce the maximum EAD validity period to 18 months for certain categories, including adjustment of status applicants, asylum seekers and refugees.… Continue Reading
The UK Government’s recent Command Paper – A Fairer Pathway to Settlement signals the most significant overhaul of immigration and settlement policy in decades. The proposals aim to replace the current five year route to Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR) with a merit-based system where settlement is earned through contribution and integration rather than granted … Continue Reading
One month after issuing a Proclamation entitled “Restrictions on Entry of Certain Nonimmigrant Workers” that imposed a $100,000 fee for certain H-1B visa petitions, United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) published clarifying updates that echo similar updates from other agencies. The USCIS update is available HERE under the drop-down “Presidential Proclamation on Restriction on … Continue Reading
On September 19, 2025, President Trump issued an Executive Order (EO) establishing the “Gold Card” program, designed to facilitate and expedite the immigrant visa (“green card”) process for individuals who make a $1 million donation (or $2 million if made by a corporation on behalf of the individual) to the United States. Unlike the traditional … Continue Reading
On Friday, September 19, 2025, President Trump issued a Proclamation entitled “Restrictions on Entry of Certain Nonimmigrant Workers” that imposes a $100,000 fee for most new H-1B visa petitions and restricts the ability of certain H-1B visa holders to enter the United States. The H-1B visa is the workhorse of the U.S. immigration system, currently used … Continue Reading
The first half of 2025 is off and running with U.S. state and local jurisdiction employment law developments concerning topics such as paid sick leave, family leave, restrictive covenants, anti‑discrimination and AI, pay stub requirements, gender identity protections, and meal and rest breaks, to name a few. As always, minimum wages continue to increase in … Continue Reading
On June 4, 2025, President Trump announced a new travel ban through a proclamation titled “Restricting the Entry of Foreign Nationals to Protect the United States from Foreign Terrorists and Other National Security and Public Safety Threats.” The ban, which echoes his 2017 efforts to restrict entry to the United States for nationals of certain … Continue Reading
Effective April 11, 2025, certain foreign nationals in the US must register online with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), while others are already registered based on their status. This requirement is based on a 1940 law that mandates every foreign national who is in the US for 30 days must be registered and fingerprinted … Continue Reading
On 19 March, the UK Home Office announced increases to visa and sponsorship fees to take effect from 9 April. There are increases for most fees listed which will impact almost everyone including Skilled Worker visa holders, sponsors, and those applying for settlement and citizenship. The increases range from as little as £8.50 (which leads … Continue Reading
Employers should expect changes to their immigration and hiring enforcement regimes under a second Trump administration. Based on campaign rhetoric and promises, those changes will include emboldened and focused immigration policies to remove millions of undocumented workers and tighten the legal immigration system. Below is a summary of expected employment-related immigration changes and practical steps … Continue Reading
In this mini blog series we will provide an overview of the key aspects to consider when sending one of your employees to and from Germany. First, we will take a look at short term assignments (up to six months) from an inbound and outbound perspective for citizens of certain countries outside the EU.… Continue Reading
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
On December 21, 2023, the United States Department of State (DOS) published a notice detailing the implementation of a domestic visa renewal through a limited pilot program. The pilot program resurrects a process the DOS discontinued in 2004 and will allow certain eligible applicants to renew an H-1B visa in the United States without needing … Continue Reading
Join Gregory Wald and Annabel Mace for an insightful and comprehensive webinar reviewing recent changes and trends in US I-9 and UK right to work rules and regulations on Wednesday, October 18, from 8:30 – 9:45 a.m. PDT / 4:30 – 5:45 p.m. BST. This webinar brings together legal experts in immigration and employment verification … Continue Reading
The Home Office is picking up the pace on immigration compliance matters – we have seen increased activity on everything from right to work enforcement to visa curtailments as well as requests for further evidence across all aspects of sponsorship. We will be focusing on these and other challenges in our webinar on 14 September … Continue Reading
The UK government has announced changes to the EU Settlement Scheme from September 2023 which will affect those living in the UK with pre-settled status. The changes have been made following the case of R (Independent Monitoring Authority for the Citizens’ Rights Agreements) v the Secretary of State for the Home Department [2022] in which … Continue Reading
Now that we’re almost half-way through 2023, it’s time again to review the developments in state and local labor and employment laws. State legislatures and city councils continue to be very busy making new laws and amending existing laws. In fact, due to the large number of updates, we are splitting our post into two parts. … Continue Reading
This is the second in our series of GCC updates, focusing on new developments in UAE immigration, personal data and Emiratisation rules.… Continue Reading
The Home Office has published its latest Statement of Changes to the Immigration Rules, most of which will take effect from 12 April this year. The key changes of interest to employers are likely to be these:… Continue Reading
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has announced that the initial registration period for the fiscal year (FY) 2023 H-1B cap will open at noon EST on March 1st and run through noon EST on March 17, 2023. USCIS intends to notify selected registrants by March 31st. Employers sponsoring selected registrants will be able to file cap-subject H-1B petitions in April.… Continue Reading
On January 12, 2023, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced two significant updates to its premium processing expansion plan: (1) implementation of premium processing for all EB-1 Multinational Executive and Manager and EB-2 National Interest Waiver (NIW) categories and (2) a future expansion of premium processing for F-1 Students Seeking OPT and STEM OPT … Continue Reading
