Immigration Updates

The past year has arguably been the Trump administration’s most successful one in its quest to restrict asylum at the U.S.-Mexico border, overhaul the nation’s legal immigration system, crack down on undocumented immigrants, alter America’s status as a safe haven for refugees and challenge decades of bipartisan consensus that robust immigration is key to America’s…

USCIS Implements $10 Fee for H-1B Visa Registration Release Date: Nov. 7, 2019 The H-1B visa is one of the most critical U.S. work visas as it allows certain professionals performing in a specialty occupation to obtain a 3-year work visa that can be renewed up to six years. The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service…

Release Date: Dec. 10, 2019 U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services today announced new policy guidance implementing two decisions from the attorney general regarding how two or more DUI convictions affect good moral character (GMC) requirements and how post-sentencing changes to criminal sentences affect convictions and sentences for immigration purposes. On Oct. 25, the attorney general…

Release Date: Nov. 20, 2019 U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has reached the congressionally mandated cap on H-2B visas for temporary nonagricultural workers for the first half of fiscal year 2020. Nov. 15 was the final receipt date for new cap-subject H-2B worker petitions requesting an employment start date before April 1, 2020. USCIS will…

On November 14, 2019, the Trump Administration published two proposed rules that will detrimentally impact individuals who are seeking to legally live and work in the United States. One would adjust USCIS’s fees by a weighted average increase of 21 percent, add new fees, and make other changes. 2. DHS proposed rule which would make…

What does love mean for couples who are in long-distance relationships halfway around the globe? For couples in long-distance relationships, love usually means one of them moves to the United States to take the relationship to the next level. This move is made possible through the K visa, which allows a U.S. citizen (USC) to…

What occurs when a person subject to expedited removal has fled their country of origin due to fear of persecution? A noncitizen seeking asylum to flee persecution in their country of origin are not subject to expedited removal. If a noncitizen states to a CBP officer that they fear returning to their country or origin,…

President Document Federal Register / Vol. 84, No. 190 / Tuesday, October 1, 2019/ President Document Executive Order 13888 of September 26, 2019 Enhancing State and Local Involvement in Refugee Resettlement By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered…

The U.S. District Court for the Central District of California issued a permanent injunction enjoining ICE from issuing detainers to state and local law enforcement agencies in states where there is no explicit state statute authorizing civil immigration arrests on detainers, and also enjoining ICE from issuing detainers based solely on database searches that rely…

Temporary workers and those in non-immigrant visa status who are authorized to work in the United States by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) can get a Social Security number (SSN). Social Security numbers are used to report wages to the government and to determine a person’s eligibility for Social Security benefits. A Social Security…