On July 22, 2020 a group of foreign nationals filed a class action lawsuit against the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) based on delays in the issuance of employment authorization documents (EADs) following the approval of applications for employment authorization (form I-765). On August...
Today, President Trump signed an executive order that directs federal agencies to use U.S. workers, not foreign nationals, to fill federal government contractor positions. The order also directs the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) to finalize guidance that prevents employers from moving H1B workers to...
On July 31, 2020, USCIS posted a clarification to the July 29, 2020 ruling by the New York U.S. District Court blocking the Trump Administration’s public charge rule during the COVID-19 pandemic. The USCIS has now confirmed that it will not apply the public benefit...
Today, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has announced that it will "adjust USCIS fees by a weighted average increase of 20 percent to help recover its operational costs." The final rule is expected to be published in the Federal Register on August 3,...
On July 29, 2020, U.S. District Judge George Daniels issued an decision temporarily blocking the public charge rule during the COVID-19 pandemic. Earlier this year, the U.S. Supreme Court allowed the government to proceed with applying the public charge rule until all the legal challenges...
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) "policy manual" was recently updated to consolidate guidance related to applying discretion in USCIS adjudications. As noted in the corresponding policy alert, "[f]or many immigration benefits, such as certain applications for lawful permanent residence and employment authorization documents,...
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced this afternoon that it will reject all initial DACA and advance parole applications either already pending or future initial requests, and shorten new renewals to one-year validity period, instead of the two-year period. DHS issued a Memorandum...
Most months, Charles Oppenheim, the U.S. Department of State (DOS) Chief of the Visa Control and Reporting Division, provides visa bulletin explanations and predictions. Following the release of the August 2020 Visa Bulletin, Mr. Oppenheim provided a few minor updates. EB1 Category In the August 2020 Visa...
Today, a representative from the office of U.S. Senator Patrick Leahy (D) announced that the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) had agreed to postpone furloughs of its staff until August 31, 2020. In the meantime, if Congress and the president are able to reach...
The dean of Harvard University has advised its students that the legal settlement Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) reached with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) regarding online courses does not apply to first-year students entering in F-1 status. This means that...
