January 31, 2020
The United Kingdom will exit the European Union on January 31 at 11 PM GMT (6 PM EST), bringing an end to the process that began with the 2016 Brexit Referendum. On January 24, 2020, Prime Minister Boris Johnson signed the Withdrawal Agreement, witnessed by ...
January 31, 2020
President Donald Trump signed an order for the U.S. to deny entry to all foreign nationals who have traveled to China within the past two weeks, aside from the immediate family of U.S. citizens. This order goes into effect on February 2nd at 5 pm. ...
January 31, 2020
The Trump Administration has expanded the travel ban to include six additional countries. Citizens from Nigeria, Eritrea, Myanmar, and Kyrgyzstan will not be allowed to apply for visas to immigrate to the U.S., and the U.S. gov't will suspend the issuance of visas that can ...
January 31, 2020
On January 30, 2020, the World Health Organization declared that the Coronavirus constitutes a Public Health Emergency of International Concern. As a response, the US State Department upgraded its China travel warning to Level 4: Do Not Travel. Several countries, including the UK, Canada, France, and ...
January 27, 2020
On Monday, the Supreme Court voted 5-4 to lift the nationwide injunction on the Trump administration's "public charge" rule while the case plays out in the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) proposal makes it more difficult for immigrants who rely on, ...
January 24, 2020
On January 24, 2020, the US State Department (DOS) issued a Level 4 Alert: Do Not Travel to Hubei Province. On January 23, 2020, DOS ordered all non-emergency US personnel and their family members to leave the province. Emergency services for US citizens are limited in the ...
January 23, 2020
On Thursday, the Trump Administration announced a new policy to further impede a process known as "birth tourism." According to a State Department cable sent to embassies around the world, this policy will go into effect tomorrow, Friday, January 24. Starting Friday, the State Department "will ...
January 23, 2020
With the upcoming Lunar New Year, an estimated 3 billion trips will be taken to areas in and around China over the 40-day holiday period. In light of the recent Coronavirus outbreak, EIG provides the following guidance regarding travel to these areas: Following an emergency meeting ...
January 22, 2020
The U.S. Department of State (DOS) released the February 2020 Visa Bulletin. As reported in item E of the earlier January Visa Bulletin (number 37), the final action date for the "Rest of World" Family Fourth Preference (F4) had been advanced at a very rapid pace during ...
January 9, 2020
In a document scheduled to be published on Thursday, January 9, USCIS has released additional details outlining how the FY2021 H-1B cap registration process will work. New information includes: Before the initial preregistration window opens on March 1, employers and their representatives may set up their ...
December 31, 2019
The U.S. Department of State (DOS) released the January 2020 Visa Bulletin. Final Action Dates for all employment-based categories see little movement for the month of January. In Section F of the Visa Bulletin, the DOS predicts potential monthly movement for employment-based categories. For the EB-1 category, rapid forward ...
December 12, 2019
As previously reported, on Friday, USCIS announced the successful completion of the electronic registration process pilot. The registration process will be put into practice for the next H-1B cap lottery, Spring 2020. To further explain what this new process entails and what to expect, EIG Managing Director ...
December 9, 2019
On Friday, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced the successful completion of the electronic registration process pilot. The registration process will be put into practice for the next H-1B cap lottery, Spring 2020. USCIS proposed the preregistration system as a way to "dramatically streamline processing ...
November 27, 2019
The U.S. Department of State (DOS) released the December 2019 Visa Bulletin. Final Action Dates for all employment-based categories see little movement for the month of December. In Section E, the Department of State indicates that there has been a steadily increasing level of Employment-based demand for Adjustment of ...
November 14, 2019
The Department of Homeland Security published a proposed rule to the Federal Register on Thursday, November 14. The DHS proposal increases fees for certain immigration and naturalization applications charged by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). According to the proposed rule, the increase is ...
November 9, 2019
Today, a three-judge panel from the United States Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit ruled that a challenge to the H-4 EAD (Save Jobs USA v. DHS) does have grounds to be heard in court. In September 2016, a DC-based United States District Court judge, ...
October 28, 2019
As of today, the EU Council has come to an agreement with the UK government to postpone Brexit until January 31, 2020. An earlier withdrawal is still possible, and it is likely to trigger new elections in the coming months. No additional information has been provided ...
October 24, 2019
On Wednesday, the State Department began a 60-day comment period on the Public Charge rule. This comment period slows down the department’s initially expedited approach for the implementation of its public charge application. As previously reported, the State Department’s rule was in effect as of ...
October 23, 2019
The U.S. Department of State (DOS) released the November 2019 Visa Bulletin. All employment-based categories see little to no movement for the month of November. The cut-off date for the EB-2 category for persons born in China has advanced since October 2019 but has continued to remain retrogressed since July 2019. The cut-off ...
October 15, 2019
On Friday, just four days before the Trump Administration's public charge rule was set to effect, federal judges in California, New York, and Washington issued a preliminary nationwide injunction. In a breaking alert, the Immigration Nerds talk with managing directors Hiba Anver and Justin Parsons ...
October 14, 2019
On Friday, three federal courts in California, New York, and Washington issued judgments that will block the implementation of the Trump Administration's public charge rule. As previously reported, the rule was to go in to effect on Tuesday, October 15. The public charge rule would evaluate ...
September 27, 2019
Today, the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit heard arguments for Save Jobs USA v. the Department of Homeland Security. Originating in the US District Court in DC, Judge Tatel (Clinton appointee) heard the case with Judge Griffin (Bush) and Senior Judge Silberman (Reagan). The ...
September 20, 2019
In this week's Immigration Nerds podcast, we talk to EIG attorney Ryan M. Knight about social media surveillance as part of the visa process. This level of scrutiny forces some tough questions: What is the price of freedom of expression in the Land of the ...
September 18, 2019
The U.S. Department of State (DOS) released the October 2019 Visa Bulletin. EB-2 and EB-3 categories for the worldwide quota have become current once again. Cut-off dates for the EB-2 and EB-3 categories for persons born in China have remained retrogressed since July 2019. For persons ...
September 3, 2019
In a new Department of Homeland Security proposal released on September 3, employers who are applying for H-1B visas in next year's lottery would be required to pay an additional $10. This fee would go toward the electronic preregistration process used for the lottery. The fee ...
August 30, 2019
On Wednesday, August 28, the Trump administration announced changes to the definition of residency as it relates to the citizenship of children of U.S. service members born outside of the U.S. The current policy states that certain children living outside of the United States were considered ...
August 20, 2019
The U.S. Department of State (DOS) released the September 2019 Visa Bulletin. Several Employment-Based preference categories have retrogressed or have become unavailable for the remainder of Fiscal Year 2019. For EB-1 categories, cut-off dates have advanced for persons born in Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, the Philippines, Vietnam, ...
August 20, 2019
Last fall, USCIS announced that changes would be forthcoming for the H-1B program, as soon as this year. The new plan would require companies who seek an H-1B visa for a foreign worker to first submit a free online registration form instead of an initial ...
August 12, 2019
On Monday, August 12, the Trump Administration said it would move forward with new regulations that would deny green cards and visas to immigrants who use or are expected to use a wide range of government benefits, including food stamps, housing vouchers, and Medicaid. This ...
August 7, 2019
On Wednesday, August 7, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced it would introduce "a single, secure portal" for the public to report "credible and relevant claims of immigration benefit fraud." USCIS will accept additional public comment on the form beginning Thursday, August 8. Individuals will be ...