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On his first day in office, President Joseph R. Biden signed a memorandum for the Attorney General and the Secretary of Homeland Security ordering them to preserve and fortify the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals policy (DACA). DACA was instituted by President Obama, terminated by President Trump, and restored by the judiciary. With this proclamation,…

President Joseph Biden signed the Proclamation on Ending Discriminatory Bans on Entry to The United States (“Proclamation Ending Discriminatory Bans”) during his first hours in office, terminating the controversial Muslim Ban and its sequel, the Africa Ban.

The Muslim Ban was based on an Executive Order (EO) that former President Donald Trump signed almost…

Apparently undeterred by prior litigation striking it down, the Department of Labor (DOL) has published another rule in the Federal Register raising minimum wages for high-skilled workers. The “Strengthening Wage Protections for the Temporary and Permanent Employment of Certain Aliens in the United States” Rule (Wage Protection Rule) will go into effect on March 15,…

Due to the global coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, land border travel between the United States and Canada has been restricted since March 21, 2020, and will likely continue through at least January 21, 2021. Individuals may not be admitted for tourism or other non-essential reasons. For the most part, work has been considered an essential…

On December 31, 2020, just as it was about to expire, President Donald Trump extended the ban on immigrant and nonimmigrant visas until March 31, 2021. Initiated in April and June 2020, the bans were intended to block immigrants and nonimmigrants (with H, L and J visas) from coming to the United States due…

The USCIS filing fee increases that were proposed last summer will not be implemented.

In August 2020, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) published a new filing fee rule in the Federal Register that raised USCIS filing fees by a weighted average of 20%. Some popular business-related petitions were slated for larger increases, from…

On January 4, 2021, DHS announced that for I-9 purposes, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients may present an unexpired Employment Authorization Document (EAD) with Code C33 issued on or after July 28, 2020, along with an I-797 Extension Notice that shows an additional one-year extension. This new procedure is in response to…

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has issued an alert on delays in processing receipt notices due to the surges in petition filings at lockbox facilities because of the COVID-19 pandemic and the agency’s “flexibility” in response.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many foreign nationals continue to be stuck and unable to leave the United…

The Optional Practical Training Program for F-1 students (OPT) is not illegal, a federal judge has ruled in a case brought by Washington Alliance of Technology Workers (Washtech), a union representing workers in science, technology, mathematics, and engineering.

Criticism of OPT; Increased Scrutiny

Despite evidence that OPT is good for the economy and does not…

Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for South Sudan has been extended again until May 2, 2022. The instructions for beneficiaries have been published in the Federal Register. Through January 4, 2021, TPS beneficiaries who have not already done so should re-register and apply to renew their Employment Authorization Documents (EADs). Those with EADs that expired…