President Trump has signed a presidential proclamation that suspends certain immigrant visa issuance to foreign nationals from several countries, primarily in Africa, with some exceptions. Foreign nationals from Eritrea, Kyrgyzstan, Myanmar (Burma), and Nigeria will not be issued any immigrant visas under…
Starting February 24, 2020, a regulation that broadens USCIS’s authority to determine whether certain foreign nationals will become a public charge of the United States and expands the inquiry to nonimmigrants seeking an extension or change of status is set to…
The White House has issued a presidential proclamation that will impose travel restrictions and quarantines on travelers from China. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex M. Azar II announced late Friday in a White House press conference that the coronavirus…
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) data for the first quarter of FY 2020 show continued high rates of requests for evidence (RFEs) and denials in key employer-sponsored nonimmigrant categories, though there was some improvement in H-1B outcomes. The overall…
A new version of the I-9 employment eligibility form (10/21/2019 edition) is expected to be available to employers tomorrow, but the prior version (07/17/17 edition) will remain in effect for 90 days thereafter, according to an advance notice. Specific implementation dates for the…
President Trump today signed H.R. 5430, the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement Implementation Act, which ratifies the trade agreement that will soon replace the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). H.R. 5430 was passed by Congress on January 16. The leaders of Canada,…
A new State Department regulation prohibits a pregnant foreign national from obtaining a U.S. B-1/B-2 visitor visa if a consular officer determines that the primary purpose of her trip is to obtain U.S. citizenship for the child by giving birth…
The Department of State posted the visa bulletin for February today. USCIS advised that it will accept family and employment-based adjustment of status petitions for February based upon the filing date. See https://www.uscis.gov/visabulletininfo for the updated information. Overview of Visa Bulletin…
USCIS formally announced details of its H-1B cap registration process for fiscal year 2021 in Thursday's Federal Register, though important details are still unknown. The announcement confirms the dates of the registration period as March 1 through March 20, 2020 and provides…
The U.S. Supreme Court has lifted the last nationwide injunction barring implementation of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) public charge rule. The rule can now be enforced temporarily in all states except for Illinois while lawsuits challenging the legality of…