Immigration Updates

The U.S. District Court for the District of Colombia significantly curtailed immigration benefits for foreign students in the United States on F-1 visas. In her opinion in the case Washington Alliance of Technology Workers vs. U.S. Department of Homeland Security, U.S. District Judge Ellen Segal Hovelled invalidated USCIS’s 2008 17-month Optional Practical Training (OPT) extension…

On July 14, 2015, the Secretary signed the following proposed rule, the Department of Homeland Security sent it to the Federal Register for publication. See the proposal below. “The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) proposes to expand eligibility for provisional waivers of certain grounds of inadmissibility based on the accrual of unlawful presence to all…

Special Immigrant Juvenile Status is for foster youth; it allows undocumented youth immigrant to stay in the country, work, and eventually get a green card. A Special Immigrant Juvenile is an unmarried person under the age of twenty-one who is in the United States; who has been declared dependent on a juvenile court located in…

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) invites you to participate in a stakeholder teleconference on Thursday, July 2, from 1 to 2 p.m. (Eastern) to discuss the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) designations and registration extension for Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has extended the deadline for initial registration from…

Technological Systems Issues with US Passports and Visas Q: Is this the same issue as last year? Was it not fixed? Q: What is going on? Why can’t the Department issue visas, passports, and other travel documents? Q: How is this affecting consular operations? Passports Visas Q: Can you print a visa without using the…

Starting May 26, 2015, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will temporarily suspend premium processing for all H-1B Extension of Stay petitions until July 27, 2015. During this time frame, petitioners will not be able to file Form I-907, Request for Premium Processing Service, for a Form I-129, Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker, requesting an…

The U.S. Government is currently adjudicating intercountry adoption petitions filed on behalf of Nepali children who have been relinquished by a known birth parent(s) whose identity and relationship can be confirmed. The U.S. Government is not adjudicating adoption petitions filed for Nepali children who are described as having been abandoned. On August 6, 2010, the…

The immigration and Nationality Act sets the number of immigrant visas that may be issued to individuals seeking a green card each year. Immigrant visas available to “immediate relatives” of U.S. citizens are unlimited, so are always available. Immediate relatives include, parents of a U.S. citizen, spouses of a U.S. citizen and, unmarried children under…

On April 21, 2015 the Senate reached agreement that proposed immigration amendments will not be included in the list of Amendments to S. 178, the anti-human trafficking bill that has stalled the confirmation vote for Attorney General nominee Loretta Lynch. Four Senators—Sen. David Vitter (R-LA), Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-OK), Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), and Sen.…

On April 15, 2015, the federal district court in the Northern District of Florida issued an order effectively permitting the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) to continue issuing temporary labor certifications under the H-2B visa program through May 15, 2015. As a result, DOL will continue to process temporary labor certification applications under its 2008…