The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) proposed a rule that would further limit asylum eligibility. Under the current rules, a criminal conviction does not automatically make a person ineligible for asylum unless it is for a particularly...
Answer Several federal courts have blocked the new public charge rule from going into effect. Even if the rule eventually does go into effect, however, it normally would not have any impact on an application to become a U.S. citizen. There is no public charge analysis...
Year-end planning is the topic for the final teleconference of 2019. Murthy Law Firm attorneys join Sheela Murthy to discuss matters including the retention of records for H1B petitions (public access files) and labor certification cases (compliance files). They look to the year ahead in...
On October 24, 2019 the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that it has begun producing a new travel document with new security features that will serve in place of permits to reenter the United States (form I-327, commonly referred to as "reentry permits")...
This evening, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced a proposed rule to increase filing fees for most types of applications and petitions. It would also add a number of new fees and change certain other immigration benefit request requirements. The proposed rule is...
A student in F-1 status typically is eligible to participate in optional practical training (OPT) upon completion of the degree program or, in some circumstances, before graduation. The purpose of OPT employment is to provide the foreign national student with an opportunity to apply the...
On October 11, 2019, the U.S. Department of State (DOS) will publish an interim final rule to amend the regulations regarding how consular officers determine whether a foreign national is likely to become a public charge, and therefore ineligible for a visa. This rule will...
On Friday, October 4, 2019, President Trump issued an executive order that will bar entry of a foreign national requesting admission on an immigrant visa unless the individual has qualifying health insurance, will have such health insurance within 30 days of admission, or "… has...
The Canada-United States Preclearance Agreement was signed in 2015, but it only recently went into full effect. Prior to the implementation of the agreement, only a handful of Canadian airports offered preclearance. The agreement will expand that number, and will affect all modes of travel...
Answer Unemployment insurance payments (commonly referred to as "unemployment benefits") are not generally taken into consideration for purposes of making a public charge determination. As the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) explained when it released the final rule revising the definition of "public charge," unemployment...
