September 5, 2017 – President Trump today ordered the end a federal program intended to help young undocumented immigrants brought to the United States as children (known as “Dreamers”). The program, known as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals or “DACA”, was created by President Obama...
Unconfirmed news reports published recently indicate that USCIS is planning to require in-person interviews for all employment-based adjustment of status applicants, and could expand in-person interview requirement to other non-immigrant categories. ...
This year, the Form I-924A, filed annually between Oct. 1 and Dec. 29 by Regional Centers in the EB-5 Immigrant Investor program, comes with a US$3,035 filing fee and additional requested information. In an 08/24/2017 webinar, USCIS discussed the new form, which now requests detailed information...
Under the Trump Administration’s Executive Order 13767, foreign entrepreneurs wishing to travel the U.S. to establish their start-up have a longer wait ahead of them. The Executive Order delays the International Entrepreneur Final Rule (“IEFR”), originally scheduled to take effect on July 17, 2017. The...
In a recent trend, USCIS has been denying Form I-131 advance parole applications for abandonment in instances where the applicant has traveled abroad during the pendency of the application. The pending Form I-131 application is being denied even if the applicant has a separate valid...
USCIS is scrutinizing wage levels of H-1B specialized worker visa petitions, issuing numerous Requests for Evidence (“RFEs”) for jobs offering entry-level (Level 1) wages. The Level 1 wage represents an entry level work position. The Department of Labor’s guidance provides that such entry-level jobs involve “routine...
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has announced an online webinar to take place on Thursday, August 24, from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. (Eastern Standard Time) to discuss Form I-924A, Annual Certification of Regional Center. This webinar will specifically discuss certain changes to the...
The USCIS Premium Processing program offers the option of accelerated visa processing for certain employment-based immigrant visa petitions (i.e., “green cards”) as well as certain temporary work visas. For employers in a hurry, that are willing to pay an additional processing fee of $1,225, the...
U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS) recently released data showing a downward trend in H-1B visa approvals filed from October 1, 2016 until June 30, 2017. In that time period, U.S. employers filed 336,107 new H-1B visa petitions and, as of June 30, 2017, had...
The U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) can search information contained in digital devices, but these searches only apply to “information that is physically resident on the device during a CBP inspection”. According to a 06/20/2017 statement by a senior CBP administrator, they do not...
