August 14, 2019
In March 2019, USCIS announced its plan to close all of its overseas offices.However, on August 9, 2019, USCIS updated its plans and announced thatseven of the international offices will remain open. The field offices in Monterrey, Mexico and Seoul, South Korea will be the first ...
August 14, 2019
On August 6, 2019, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia ruled that USCIS acted arbitrarily, capriciously, and abused its discretion in denying an H-1B work visa to a Data Analyst on the grounds that Data Analysts do not require a bachelor’s degree in ...
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 ...
August 2, 2019
In this week's Immigration Nerds podcast, we're joined by Erickson Immigration Group senior attorney Storm Estep to discuss recent policy updates from the week of July 15 - July 24. Storm explains H.R. 1044 and the companion bill in the Senate, new asylum rules and ...
July 25, 2019
As previously reported, on July 15, the Trump Administration published a new rule, Asylum Eligibility and Procedural Modifications, which would require individuals who pass through a third party country seeking asylum in the U.S. to first apply for asylum in that third party country. The rule was met ...
July 24, 2019
On Wednesday, July 24, USCIS announced significant changes that would be forthcoming for the EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program. From USCIS, the new rule would include the following: Raising the minimum investment amounts from $1 million to $1.8 million, with an automatic adjustment for inflation every ...
July 18, 2019
USCIS is the agency charged with administering and providing immigration benefits to foreign nationals. Naturalization, green cards, work authorization, H-1B visas, asylum, family-based immigration, investment visas, cultural exchange programs, foreign doctors, NAFTA professionals, victims of crimes and domestic violence, Special Immigrant Juvenile Status, and many ...
July 17, 2019
On July 15, the U.S. District Court of the District of Columbia issued an opinion in the case of Sagarwala vs. Cissna. Usha Sagarwala, beneficiary of an H-1B petition filed by HSK Technologies, Inc., sued the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) after USCIS denied the ...
July 17, 2019
On July 15, the Trump Administration published a new rule, Asylum Eligibility and Procedural Modifications, requiring individuals who pass through a third party country seeking to apply for asylum in the U.S. to apply for asylum in that third party country first. Under the new rules, ...
July 17, 2019
On July 10th, the House of Representatives passed the Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act, which intends to eliminate the per-country cap for employment-based green cards. The bill will now be considered by the Senate. If the bill is approved, the first-come, first-served system would give every immigrant ...
July 16, 2019
The U.S. Department of State (DOS) released the August 2019 Visa Bulletin. Cut-off dates remain effective for the EB-1 categories with retrogression for all locations. The Department of State stated in Section D of the August visa bulletin that due to the increased volume of adjustment of status cases filed, it ...
July 3, 2019
Last fall, the federal government proposed a pre-registration plan that would change and, in theory, streamline the application process for the H-1B visa, of which 85,000 are allocated annually. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration (USCIS) announced in the federal register that the pre-registration plan was moving forward ...
July 3, 2019
This week, NPR obtained government documents showing that the Trump administration has fined some immigrants who are in the United States illegally, after "failing to depart the U.S. as previously agreed." The Department of Homeland Security sent out notices to targeted individuals with fines up to ...
July 2, 2019
On June 17, 2019, USCIS announced that it plans on decreasing processing times for Naturalization and Green Card processing. USCIS plans to distribute Naturalization and Green Card adjudication more evenly among the field offices to address issues caused by the disparate adjudication burden on different field offices ...
July 2, 2019
On June 25, 2019, USCIS announced that it will expand its digital Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Immigration Records System (FIRST) allowing FOIA requesters who have a USCIS online account to submit online requests for their own records. USCIS has indicated that “the FIRST system is the only system ...
July 2, 2019
The U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill that will send 4.5 billion dollars in humanitarian aid to crisis-stricken migrants at the border. The aid will fund overcrowded shelter facilities to improve living conditions for women and children who are detained. It will also go toward U.S. ...
June 27, 2019
On Tuesday, the Acting Customs and Border Protection Commissioner John Sanders announced his resignation. His message to agency employees follows a dramatic increase in undocumented migrants crossing the southern border. His resignation is effective July 5. Sanders filled the acting role in the spring following other personnel ...
June 27, 2019
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced they would be expanding the digital Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Immigration Records System (FIRST). The FIRST system allows users to submit and track FOIA requests and receive information digitally. This move is meant to improve efficiency. Individuals with ...
June 27, 2019
On Thursday morning, the Supreme Court ruled against adding the citizenship question to the 2020 Census. The majority stated, they "cannot ignore the disconnect between the decision made and the explanation given" by the Trump administration. The proposal to add the citizenship question, "Is this person ...
June 26, 2019
In advance of U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's visit to New Delhi, there are reports of a possible cap on H-1B visas for nations that force foreign companies to store data locally. Such a restriction would directly impact Indian H-1B applicants to the United ...
June 21, 2019
In this week's Immigration Nerds Podcast, we sit down with EIG attorney Jeremy Dumetz and talk about the hotly debated "citizenship" question the Trump administration is pushing for in the 2020 Census. Jeremy and EIG Media Producer Ian Gaines talk about the history of the ...
June 18, 2019
On Wednesday, June 12, Senator Mitt Romney (R-Utah) introduced a bill in the Senate that would make the E-Verify program permanent. E-Verify, the online tool that allows employers to input a new hire’s driver’s license and Social Security information to verify whether the person is eligible to ...
June 18, 2019
On May 31, the Customs and Border Protection agency was made aware that up to 100,000 images of travelers and license plates were hacked in a cyber attack. For security purposes, the agency collects and stores personal data of all travelers who cross the US border. Federal ...
June 17, 2019
Melia Russell | June 16, 2019 As a candidate, Donald Trump began his campaign by attacking Mexicans. Now, some here legally fear they’ll be collateral damage in his trade wars. For a quarter century, skilled Mexican citizens have been able to get three-year work permits under a ...
June 14, 2019
The U.S. Department of State (DOS) released the July 2019 Visa Bulletin. Cut-off dates remain effective for the EB-1 categories with no movement forward in any of the categories. The Department of State stated in Section G of the July visa bulletin that due to the increased demand, the ...
June 13, 2019
USCIS is currently being sued in two separate cases over their Notice of Intent to Revoke (NOIR) process and policy. USCIS may revoke a petition if the terms of employment and the original petition differ, in cases of fraud, misrepresentation, or inaccurate information, in cases ...
June 11, 2019
On Monday, June 10, Department of Homeland Security Acting Secretary Kevin McAleenan announced that President Trump named Kenneth Cuccinelli II as Acting Director of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). Mr. Cuccinelli assumed the role on the same day. While Cuccinelli has been a strong ...
June 10, 2019
The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services' (USCIS) processing delays have been steadily increasing for many years, but the backlog has reached new highs under the Trump Administration. Earlier this year, the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) issued a report on the USCIS long-delayed processing times. ...
June 7, 2019
Update: At 3:24 pm EST on June 7, 2019, the USCIS announced that premium processing for all remaining FY2020 H-1B cap-subject petitions will begin on June 10, 2019. This commences phase two of the two-phase approach offered by USCIS in an effort to best manage premium processing ...