News & Events

In this week's Immigration Nerds podcast, we talk to Megan Essaheb, the Director of Immigration Advocacy at Asian Americans Advancing Justice. Megan shares AAJC's advocacy and legislative work, including their long-term efforts to introduce and influence policy. She also explains their partnerships and outreach response ...

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 ...

Under a draft plan reportedly approved by President Vladimir Putin, Russia plans to expand its e-visa program starting on January 1, 2021. The list of countries whose citizens will be eligible to apply for the e-visa will be confirmed by the government separately. The list most likely will include ...

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 ...

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 rather. Under the new rules, ...

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 ...

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 ...

In this week's Immigration Nerds podcast, we talk to Marcelo Barros, an international student career expert and the founder of the International Advantage. Throughout our conversation, Marcelo shares his insights and the advice he relays to students to help them achieve their professional goals with ...

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 ...

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 ...

The Home Office published details on the new immigration and border system it will likely implement at the beginning of 2021. Some of the proposals include eliminating the annual cap of visas issued for skilled workers and the Resident Labor Market Test for high-skilled workers.  This new ...

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 ...

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 ...

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. ...

In this week's Immigration Nerds podcast, we talk to Rachel Levitan the Vice President, International Programs at HIAS. Rachel shares HIAS's history, their efforts to support the current immigrant and refugee experience, and how individuals can help, too.

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

On May 31, 2019, the Philippines Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) released Memorandum Order No. 28-2019, which prescribes the policies and guidelines relevant to the registration requirements of foreign nationals. All foreign nationals working in the Philippines are now required to obtain a tax identification number (TIN) with ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

In this week's Immigration Nerds podcast, EIG legal writer Kahn T. Branch previews the summer of Brexit.  We discuss Theresa May's resignation and the election of a new prime minister, the deal or no deal Brexit options, and the EU Summit.

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 ...

“Is this person a citizen of the United States?” With the 2020 census looming and the issue of a new question on citizenship to be added, the Trump Administration is blocking Congress' access to background documents about how the new question came to be with executive ...

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 ...

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. ...