October 2021

As of 12:01 a.m. ET on November 8, 2021, the United States’ country-specific 14-day COVID-19 travel restrictions that have been so troublesome and disruptive for individuals and businesses will be eliminated. Instead, protecting the country from COVID-19 will focus on vaccination status.

President Joe Biden’s “A Proclamation on Advancing the Safe Resumption of Global

The PERM Labor Certification Process (PERM) has been used since 2005 by U.S. employers to sponsor foreign national employees for Lawful Permanent Residence, also known as “green cards.” Through the PERM process, employers are required to test the U.S. labor market through a very structured, highly regulated recruitment designed to protect U.S. workers and see

The decades-old I-9 Employment Eligibility Verification process may be in for some changes. The Department of Homeland Security is requesting “public input” regarding the document examination process.

Employers interested in the permanent continuation of Form I-9 flexibility might be encouraged by the agency’s official announcement on October 26, 2021. While the request is for “information

Instructions allowing Hong Kong Deferred Enforced Departure (DED) beneficiaries to apply for employment authorization have been published in the Federal Register.

On August 5, 2021, President Biden granted DED for certain eligible residents of Hong Kong for 18 months, until February 5, 2023, and directed that instructions on how to apply for employment authorization

In the past, the O-1 visa was how many foreign musicians and other artists were able to tour and work in the United States. Now, for many reasons, they may have to consider other strategies.

The O-1 visa category is for “artists of extraordinary ability” and obtaining O-1B visa status for foreign musicians has always

The average American may not know that some of the largest real estate developments in recent history were completed by foreign real estate companies. The L-1 nonimmigrant visa classification can provide a useful pathway for such multinational companies. See more in our publication here.

As long as they can show that they are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, foreign travelers will be allowed to visit the United States beginning November 8, 2021, according to the Biden Administration.

Until now, we knew only that the 14-day travel restrictions and the northern and southern border restrictions would be lifted sometime in November.

The United States will open its northern and southern land borders to fully vaccinated foreign nationals sometime in November 2021. When this happens, it will be the first time since March 2020 that these individuals will be able to enter the United States from Canada and Mexico for “non-essential” purposes, such as tourism, shopping, and

Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Alejandro N. Mayorkas has issued a policy directive to immediately discontinue mass worksite enforcement operations.

These involve large-scale law enforcement operations resulting in the arrest of hundreds of unauthorized workers. They were a significant part of the Trump Administration’s worksite enforcement strategy.

Secretary Mayorkas criticized these large-scale

The State Department cannot rely on presidential proclamations to refuse to adjudicate visas, Judge James E. Boasberg in the U.S. District Court for the D.C. District has held.

Judge Boasberg said nothing about what the State Department needs to do in line with its opinion, but established that the Administration’s travel restrictions did not include