COVID-19

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The Administration has imposed new restrictions beginning November 29, 2021 at 12:01 a.m. ET on individuals travelling to the United States from Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Malawai, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, and Zimbabwe (the “South African restrictions”) in response to the appearance of the COVID-19 Omicron variant. These restrictions go into effect just three weeks after…

U.S. passport agencies maintained extremely limited operations as a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic. There were significant delays, application status could not even be checked online and people were encouraged to wait to apply until normal operations resumed absent life or death emergencies. In June 2020, the agency started resuming regular operations with a…

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 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…

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…

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…

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…

Croatia will be the 40th country to join the Visa Waiver Program (VWP). This announcement was made by Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro N. Mayorkas in coordination with Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken.

No later than December 1, 2021, the Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA), which is the portal for the…

Diversity Visa (DV) Electronic Registration for Fiscal Year (FY) 2023 opens October 6, 2021, at noon ET and closes on November 9, 2021, at noon ET.

There is no cost to register, but, if selected, applicants must pay the visa application or I-485 Adjustment of Status fees.

Individuals born in certain countries are not eligible…