This morning, a federal judge in Maryland blocked the Trump Administration from enforcing the travel ban issued by executive order on September 24, 2017. This version of the travel ban was to apply to citizens of Iran, Libya, Syria, Somalia, Chad, Yemen, and North Korea,...
Following the release of a memorandum in March 2017 related to H1B petitions filed for computer programmers, the United States Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS) has been issuing requests for evidence (RFEs) on the majority of H1B petitions accompanied by labor condition applications (LCAs) that...
The U.S. Department of State (DOS) has released the November 2017 Visa Bulletin, which provides little-to-no forward movement in the heavily oversubscribed employment-based categories. There was no change at all in the dates for filing (DF) chart from last month, so only the final action...
The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) is considering regulatory changes to form ETA-9035, which is the labor condition application (LCA) used in the H1B petition process. Included in the proposal are significant changes that address offsite placement and H1B dependency. The proposed changes were issued...
The ancient festival of lights known as Diwali has been celebrated by millions of Hindus around the world for millennia, and Indian immigrant communities in the United States continue to observe the holiday in an effort to maintain a cultural connection to their native homeland....
U.S. Army recruiters have canceled enlistment contracts for many foreign-born military recruits recruited through the Military Accessions Vital to National Interest (MAVNI) program. Reports state that these contracts have been cancelled because of the burdensome enlistment process for these types of recruits. Recruiters are instead focusing on...
On Sunday, October 8, 2017, the U.S. Mission to Turkey announced that, effective immediately, the U.S. embassy and consulates in Turkey have suspended processing nonimmigrant visas. This action was taken in response to escalating diplomatic tensions between the two countries. The government of Turkey responded...
Just as employers and their respective attorneys were getting ready to file thousands of H1B cap subject petitions for fiscal year 2018, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) released a memorandum dated March 31, 2017 that called into question whether a position classified as...
This morning, Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced that President Trump is terminating the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. Trump will be "winding down" the program over the coming months. Background on DACA Beneficiaries of DACA, popularly referred to as "dreamers," are undocumented aliens who were...
The U.S. Department of State (DOS) released the August 2017 Visa Bulletin this afternoon. In the final action (FA) chart, the cutoff dates in the employment-based, first preference (EB1) category remain unchanged, leaving India and China stuck at January 1, 2012. In the employment-based, second...
