The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has changed its policy manual to make it easier to find and understand all the regulations regarding nonimmigrant students in F and M status. The new guidance consolidates the existing policies and clarifies issues of eligibility, school transfers, practical training and on-and off-campus employment. It provides more transparency

With migrant “encounters” at the southern border much in the news, the Customs and Border Protection’s (CBP) Swanton Sector along the northern border has recorded encounters increasing at a rate never seen before.

The Swanton Sector encompasses 24,000 square miles at the northern border. The sector includes the entire state of Vermont, six upstate

Now, Mexicans applying for TN status are eligible for four-year visas by paying a larger fee. This option allows Mexicans to avoid the hassles associated with having a three-year TN visa approval but only a one-year visa.

Since 1993, Canadians and Mexicans have been able to enter the United States to work in certain fields

When a district court judge in Florida lifted the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) federal COVID-19 mask mandate on April 19, 2022, the Transportation Safety Administration stopped enforcing it. However, the judge’s ruling left it up to airlines and local transit agencies to decide how to respond.

Many airlines immediately lifted the mandate

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

Based on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) updated guidance, USCIS is opening its doors to “unmasked,” “fully vaccinated” people.

According to USCIS’ new visitor policy:

  • Fully vaccinated people (those who are at least two weeks out from a dose of a single-dose vaccine or the second dose in a two-dose

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that it is experiencing delays in issuing receipt notices for some applications and petitions filed at USCIS lockboxes that are located in Chicago, Illinois, Phoenix, Arizona, and Lewisville, Texas. This announcement does not come as a surprise to most filers, since delays have been experienced for some time

On May 11, 2020, the IRS issued guidance about how to return an Economic Impact Payment (EIP), also known as a COVID-19 stimulus payment. Ineligible individuals who receive EIPs are required to return them.

Resident and Nonresident Alien EIP Eligibility

The IRS guidance indicates that:

  • A person who is a nonresident alien in 2020 is


Some registrants and their attorneys are complaining that some H-1B registrations submitted under the new, electronic process were denied as duplicates were not duplicates at all.

When the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) introduced H-1B Cap electronic registration, there were concerns that some employers might abuse the system. DHS decided to impose a small registration