Premium processing fees are going up (the bad news), but premium processing will be available for more types of cases (the good news) according to changes included in the recently passed Continuing Resolution (CR) that will fund the government until December 11, 2020. The changes are meant to provide additional funding to USCIS to bolster
H-4
Foreign Student Status and Student Work Authorization
Foreign students wishing to study in this country may have whiplash over the Trump Administration’s many moves.
Early in 2020, a federal court blocked the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) from changing the rules regarding duration of status admission to the United States. Under the Trump Administration’s proposed policy, students might unknowingly accumulate unlawful presence…
USCIS to Resume Issuing EADs, But Face Backlog
By Jackson Lewis P.C. on
USCIS may be close to negotiating an agreement that would mean EADs for thousands of foreign nationals with approved applications will finally start to be produced.
Yet, first-time EAD applicants who are in H-4 or L-2 status may still face impediments. In March, when the COVID-19 crisis began and USCIS offices closed, the Application…
National Interest Exemptions to Visa Restrictions
By Beth E. Boyer on
Posted in COVID-19, Department of State, Executive Orders, H-1B, H-2B, H-4, J-1 Trainees, L-1A / L-1B, Trump Administration
The Department of State (DOS) has provided more details to the Consulates on the national interest exemption under President Donald Trump’s June 22, 2020, executive order.
The “Presidential Proclamation Suspending Entry of Aliens Who Present a Risk to the U.S. Labor Market Following the Coronavirus Outbreak” bars holders of certain visas from entering the U.S.…
Review of Trump Administration Shifting Position(s) on H-4 EAD Rule
By Amy L. Peck & Michael H. Neifach on
It has been five years since Save Jobs USA, a group of technology workers who claim to have been displaced by foreign nationals with H-4 EADs challenged the Obama Administration’s authority to enact the H-4 EAD Rule. In the years since that filing, the case has gone back and forth between the D.C. District Court…
Legislators Urge Extension of Work Authorizations
By Amy L. Peck on
On the same day that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) recapitulated its usual policies and procedures for dealing with delays in processing extensions and changes of status due to COVID-19, 100 Democrats in the House of Representatives joined the Congressional Hispanic Caucus to urge the Trump Administration to automatically extend work authorization for…
H, L Visas on DHS Regulatory Agenda
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.…
Slow Progress for Bills in Congress to Address Green Card Backlog
The Fairness for High Skilled Immigrants Act of 2019, introduced early in 2019 in both the House and the Senate (H.R. 1044 and S. 386), aims to eliminate the Green Card backlog for Indian and Chinese nationals. In July, the bill passed the House.
The Fairness bill would eliminate the per-country cap for employment-based immigrants…
Update on the Public Charge Rule
By Forrest G. Read IV on
Despite litigation that enjoined USCIS from proceeding with the implementation of the Public Charge Rule, Department of State (DOS) seemed ready to proceed with it at Consulates abroad.
But, as of this week, DOS is no longer “fast-tracking” the Public Charge Rule. It withdrew its request for emergency review of its new public charge form,…
Upcoming Oral Argument in H-4 EAD Rule Rescission Case (Finally)
By Brian Shyr on
The challenge over the rule providing work authorization for spouses of certain H-1B workers who are in the Green Card process finally will be heard before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit on September 27, 2019.
For nearly three years, since the Trump Administration made it clear that it planned to rescind…