U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has extended through February 1, 2021 its accommodation permitting certain foreign nationals to use an Employment Authorization Document (EAD) approval notice as a List C document to establish employment authorization during the I-9 verification process, even…
Judge Reggie B. Walton of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia has issued a summary judgment order upholding the Department of Homeland Security’s post-graduate Optional Practical Training (OPT) programs. The ruling comes in response to a…
A federal district court in California has set aside two new immigration regulations that were promulgated on a fast track by the Departments of Labor (DOL) and Homeland Security (DHS) in early October. Ruling on summary judgment, the court found that the agencies did…
This year, foreign nationals hoping to travel abroad during the holiday season face several additional considerations: What are the travel and COVID-19 restrictions in your destination country? Nearly all countries and jurisdictions have implemented some combination of entry, quarantine, and…
According to the State Department’s December Visa Bulletin, final action cutoff dates for issuance of an immigrant visa will be: EB-1: All countries except for China and India will remain current in November. China and India will advance by four months to…
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced today that it is extending until December 31, 2020 its relaxed enforcement of the normal requirement to physically inspect the original documents presented by new hires during the I-9 process and thus allow eligible employers…
This weekend, Judge Nicholas Garaufis of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York invalidated the July 28, 2020 DHS memorandum that rolled back the DACA program by prohibiting new initial Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) applications, limiting renewals to…
The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals has put the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) public charge rule back in effect by placing an administrative stay on a November 2 lower court ruling blocking the rule. The case is Cook County et al. v…
Today a federal district court in Illinois vacated the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) public charge regulation on the basis that the rule violates the Administrative Procedures Act (APA). The court order takes effect nationwide immediately, and prevents U.S. Citizenship…
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is proposing a regulation that seeks to replace its random, computerized H-1B lottery with a system that allocates H-1B visa numbers according to the Department of Labor’s four-level wage system. The proposed rule, which is…