Insight, News, and Strategy on Immigration Matters Around the World
As of September 10, 2024, USCIS will automatically extend the validity of Permanent Resident Cards (or “Green Cards”), for which a Form I-90, Application to Renew or Replace Permanent Resident Cards has been submitted, for 36 months. The previous automatic extension was for 24 months.
Although Permanent Resident status does not need to be…
A new federal law restricts foreign investors’ access to E visas by adding a three-year domicile requirement for investors who obtained their citizenship through Citizenship by Investment (CBI) Programs.
Buried in the nearly 2,000-page National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), P.L. 117-263, signed into law by President Joe Biden on December 23, 2022, is a provision…
Marijuana still is considered a Schedule I drug under the federal Controlled Substances Act. A conviction under the Controlled Substances Act can lead to severe consequences for a non-U.S. citizen.
Under U.S. immigration law, any non-U.S. citizen who is convicted under the Controlled Substances Act, even green card holders, who participate or make investments…
The Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement (MORE) Act passed the House of Representatives on April 1, 2022. If passed by the Senate and signed by the President, the bill would clear marijuana-related convictions from people’s records and remove marijuana from the federal controlled substances list. The bill specifically prohibits the denial of benefits and protections…
Deference is back! USCIS announced that, effective immediately, it will reinstate its 2004 policy of deferring to prior determinations of eligibility.
Rescinded by the Trump administration, this policy directed officers to “generally defer to prior determinations of eligibility when adjudicating petition extensions involving the same parties and facts as the initial petition.” This means that…
Journalists and airlines are the two latest groups affected by the deterioration in the relationship between China and the United States.
Since the “tariff wars” and the onset of COVID-19, the relationship between China and the United States has become ever more complicated.
In early May, the Trump Administration changed the I visa rules for…
The Fairness for High-Skilled Workers Act has passed the House of Representatives, and is pending before the Senate where it may pass by unanimous consent (i.e., with no actual vote or hearing).
On its face, the Fairness Act seems fair. By eliminating the 7% per country cap, Indian nationals and Chinese nationals who have…
The House Judiciary Committee Subcommittee on Immigration and Citizenship asked the Department of Homeland Security to account for the delays in immigration processing at a hearing on July 16, 2019.
Representative Zoe Lofgren (D-Cal.), who chaired the hearing, wanted an explanation for the 2.4 million application/petition backlog, as well as processing delays that have…
The U.S. Ambassador to New Zealand, Scott P. Brown, has announced that eligible New Zealand nationals may apply for E-1/E-2 Treaty Investor Visas:
Continue Reading E-1/E-2 Treaty Visas Option for New Zealanders
While the Administration and Congress work to reconcile the needs of DACA recipients with concerns over border security and illegal immigration, Senators Orrin Hatch (R-UT) and Jeff Flake (R-AZ) have introduced a bill to reform immigration programs for high-skilled workers. If the bill passes, it would go a long way to maintaining U.S. competitiveness in…
