EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT VOTES TO END VISA FREE VISITOR TRAVEL BY U.S. CITIZENS

March 3, 2017 The European Parliament took a vote to end visa-free travel for U.S. citizens to countries in the European Union, including France, Italy, Spain and Germany.  This is the first step in suspending the mutual visa-free reciprocity agreement between the European Union and the...

USCIS Temporarily Suspends Premium Processing for H-1B Visas

March 5, 2017 U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services ("USCIS") is temporarily suspending accelerated processing known as "Premium Processing" of skilled worker visas under the  H-1B visa program.  The Premium Processing offers employers a 15-calendar day turn-around time for H-1B visa applications for an additional fee of...

Three Key Points from the EB-5 Stakeholder Engagement of March 3, 2017

On Friday, March 3, 2017, U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services ("USCIS") held a public stakeholder engagement in Washington, D.C.  Some important announcements were made, which we summarize below: Continued Increase in Popularity of EB-5 Visas In the period between October 2016 and December 2016, the...

Federal Court of Appeal for the 9th Circuit Upholds Block on Executive Order

Feb 10, 2017 On February 9, 2017, the federal Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit issued a decision refusing to lift the block on President Trump’s Executive Order banning persons from Iran, Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Sudan, Libya and Somalia.  The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals...

New Executive Order and Temporary Travel Ban

January 30, 2017 On Friday, January 27th, 2017,  President Trump issued an executive order which has implemented an immediately effective travel ban on citizens of the following seven designated countries: Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen for a period of ninety (90) days. This...

USCIS Releases Draft EB-5 Regulations

January 11, 2017 After months of waiting, U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS) finally released the full text of the proposed EB-5 regulations (NPRM) on Jan. 12, 2017. The key details of the proposed rule would significantly change the EB-5 regional center program: USCIS proposes to increase...

DEPARTMENT OF STATE RELEASED JANUARY 2017 VISA BULLETIN

The U.S. Department of State ("DOS") just released the January 2017 visa bulletin. Certain categories have move forward, including a two-week jump for the EB-5 category final action date for petitioners from the People's Republic of China. USCIS  has not yet advised whether it will accept...

EB-5 PROGRAM EXTENDED UNTIL APRIL 28, 2017

The Senate passed a stopgap spending bill, 63-36, to avoid a government shutdown at midnight on Friday, December 9, 2016.  The bill, which will fund the government through April 28 of next year, heads to the president after a group of Senate Democrats dropped their insistence on a longer extension of coal miners' health benefits.

House of Representatives Releases Continuing Resolution Extending EB-5 Regional Center Program until April 28, 2017

On the evening of Tuesday, December 6, 2016, the House of Representatives of the U.S. Congress make public its draft law (known as a “bill”) to extend the EB-5 Regional Center program without changes until April 28, 2017.