Insight, News, and Strategy on Immigration Matters Around the World
The Diversity Visa (DV) Lottery is open for FY 2024. Applications may be filed online until 12:00 p.m. ET on November 8, 2022.
The DV Lottery program makes 50,000 immigrant visas (“green cards”) available every year to applicants from countries with low rates of immigration to the United States. Eligible individuals must meet certain requirements…
Severe immigration consequences for certain non-U.S. citizens remain despite President Joe Biden’s pardon of all prior federal offenses for simple marijuana possession.
On October 6, 2022, President Biden took a major step toward the decriminalization of marijuana, pardoning all prior federal offenses for simple marijuana possession. Although this pardon will affect only approximately 6,500 individuals…
The EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program has gone through significant changes in 2022 due to the enactment of the EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act (RIA).
Created in 1990 to stimulate the U.S. economy through job creation and capital investment by foreign investors, the EB-5 Program provides a path to permanent residence (a “green card”) based…
Due to long processing delays, USCIS is extending the validity of green cards for 24 months for legal permanent residents who have filed a Form I-90, Application to Replace Permanent Residence Card. USCIS is doing this in recognition of the fact that the previous 12-month extension in effect since January 2021 is just not…
After years of litigation followed by uncertainty, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has taken the official action of issuing a new final rule that “restores the historical understanding of a ‘public charge’ that had been in place for decades . . . .” The new rule, which goes into effect on December 23, 2022,…
Employers that sponsor foreign nationals for green cards using PERM Labor Certification have been watching as a growing number of states and localities require salary transparency in job postings. California soon may join that list.
If the amended version of California’s SB-1162, Employment: Salaries and Wages, is signed by Governor Gavin Newsom, California employers with…
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…
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is trying to approve as many employment-based green card applications as it can before the annual deadline of September 30, 2022 (the end of the fiscal year).
Primarily due to COVID-19 restrictions, approximately 140,000 family-based visa numbers went unused last fiscal year. As a result, these unused visa numbers…
Some Temporary Protected Status (TPS) holders will once again be able to overcome inadmissibility for adjustment of status purposes by traveling internationally because USCIS is updating its interpretation of MTINA, the Miscellaneous and Technical Immigration and Naturalization Amendment of 1991.
As of July 1, 2022:
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President Joe Biden has extended Deferral of Enforced Departure (DED) and employment authorization for Liberians until June 30, 2024. Accordingly, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) will publish instructions regarding the implementation in the Federal Register.
Because of armed conflict, civil strife and Ebola, Liberians were granted Temporary Protected Status (TPS) in 1991. By 2007,…
