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In addition to the  COVID-19-related travel restrictions and consular closures, Chinese graduate students and post-doctoral researchers will now face another hurdle in coming to the U.S. As of noon (EDT) on June 1, 2020, President Donald Trump’s “Proclamation on the Suspension of Entry as Nonimmigrants of Certain Students and Researchers from the People’s Republic…

A bi-partisan group has introduced a new bill in both the House and the Senate that would make additional immigrant visas (green cards) available to doctors and nurses. The Healthcare Workforce Resilience Act (HWRA) would ease the long wait lines for green cards that make the U.S. a less attractive alternative to other countries that…

COVID-19 has changed U.S. passport renewal.  In the past, U.S. citizens could renew a passport by mail if their current passport was issued on or after their sixteenth birthday and within the last 15 years, or apply for an initial passport or renew in person at a Passport Acceptance Facility (including many local post offices)…

On April 23, 2020, at 11:59 p.m., President Donald Trump’s new proclamation limiting immigrant visa applications from foreign nationals living abroad became effective. That proclamation is hardly the only way the Administration is limiting immigration. Other restrictions on individuals include travel bans, the suspension of visa services, enhanced scrutiny of nonimmigrant visa petitions,…

The administration appears to be close to issuing an executive order to broadly and temporarily suspend all immigration to the United States.

On the evening of April 20, 2020, President Donald Trump tweeted:

In light of the attack from the Invisible Enemy, as well as the need to protect the jobs of our GREAT…

International companies rely on L visas to transfer managers, executives, and specialized knowledge employees to the United States. But the Department of State is changing the standards it uses to adjudicate those visas, making transfers more difficult.

L-1 visas are available to a company with a parent/subsidiary, affiliate, or branch office overseas that wishes to…

The recent news of an outbreak of a new coronavirus first identified in Wuhan, Hubei, Province, China raises issues for employers and employees about the appropriate workplace responses. Please see our legal update and impact for employers and employees here.

In addition, the U.S. Department of State (DOS) has announced it is allowing all…

The Trump Administration is turning its attention to birth tourism again. President Trump was reportedly considering trying to end the practice with an executive order or by way of a constitutional challenge. But accomplishing the goal through regulation has been on the Department of State’s (DOS) agenda. DOS published a final rule on January…

According to the DHS Fall Regulatory Agenda, the Administration is planning further restrictions to immigration regulations that, if enacted, will affect employers.

Over the past few years, DHS has changed the way it reviews H and L visa petitions from employers, which has resulted in significant increases in Requests for Evidence (RFEs) and denials.…

The Visa Bulletin, published every month by the Department of State (DOS), is the key to the Green Card process. The Department of State is charged with allocating the statutory 140,000 employment-based immigrant visas each year. The Bulletin announces when an applicant can file for the coveted Green Card. A foreign national cannot file an…