Articles Discussing General Topics In Employing Immigrants.

On July 31, 2020, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced a final rule that will adjust fees for specific immigration and naturalization benefit requests to “ensure U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services [USCIS] recovers its costs of services.”

New USCIS filing fees will go into effect on October 2, 2020, under a new final rule published by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in the Federal Register on August 3, 2020. This rule raises fees by a weighted average of 20% and changes the current fee structure to

Employers need to ready themselves for investigations from the Department of Labor (DOL) into the use of H-1B visas.

Without Congressional oversight or legislative changes, the Trump Administration has changed the policies for H-1Bs, resulting in the highest denial rate in history of this legal immigration program. During the ongoing

On July 24, 2020, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) issued updated guidance for international students pursing education programs in the United States. The follow-up guidance states that active students in F-1 and M-1 status, as well as schools certified by SEVP, should abide by

On July 28, 2020, only six weeks after the Supreme Court of the United States blocked the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) attempt to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, DHS issued a memorandum announcing plans to limit the scope of the DACA program, pending a

On July 29, 2020, U.S. District Court Judge George B. Daniels of New York issued a nationwide injunction barring the Department of Homeland Security from enforcing the Administration’s Public Charge Rule during the declared national health emergency in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Rule makes it harder for foreign

In response to the June 2020 U.S. Supreme Court decision that the DACA program had not been properly terminated by the Trump Administration, President Donald Trump has announced he will be instituting a comprehensive review of the program. During that review, current DACA beneficiaries will be able to renew their

USCIS confirmed that its planned furlough of 70% of its workforce (13,400 employees) will be postponed at least until the end of August. The ostensible reason for the furlough was a budget shortfall, even though USCIS is a fee-based service that historically has covered costs.

The furlough announcement, when coupled

In a surprise announcement, District Judge Allison D. Burroughs, U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts, announced a reversal of the government decision that was announced just last week regarding students in F-1 or M-1 nonimmigrant status. Foreign students will now be able to enter the United States and

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has agreed to rescind a proposed rule that would have required international students on F-1 and M-1 visas to either attend in-person classes at U.S. colleges and universities or face having to leave the United States.

National universities and states across the country filed multiple federal lawsuits this week seeking to invalidate and enjoin implementation of the Student and Exchange Visitor Program’s (SEVP)1 Fall 2020 COVID-19 Guidance, which ended flexibility on online learning alternatives for F-1 and M-1 nonimmigrant university students. SEVP’s July 7, 2020 Directive

Foreign nationals with approved permanent residence applications but no actual permanent resident card (known as Green Cards) are not the only ones dealing with the printing back-up at USCIS. After deciding to bring the printing of Green Cards and all other employment authorization documents in-house, USCIS is not able to

The reported failure of USCIS to renew its contract with an outside vendor in June, because it planned to bring all printing of Green Cards in-house, may be the reason foreign nationals who have managed to make it through the arduous permanent residency process are not receiving their “Green Cards.”

On July 6, 2020, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) announced plans to update its online study policies for F-1 and M-1 nonimmigrant students for the fall 2020 semester. According to the proposed policies, SEVP intends to prohibit F-1 and M-1 students from

Canadian Border Closure Extended to July 31, 2020 for International Travellers

As anticipated, the Government of Canada has extended the restriction on all foreign nationals entering Canada from destinations other than the United States until at least July 31, 2020.  The restriction on travel from the United States is