The H-1B cap season for Fiscal Year 2026 is quickly approaching. USCIS announced on Feb. 5, 2025, that the registration period for FY 2026 will open at noon (EST) on Friday, March 7, 2025, and close at noon (EST) on Monday, March 24, 2025, and that the registration fee will go up significantly. Employers should
Temporary (Non-immigrant) Work Visas
President Trump’s Immigration-Related Executive Orders: Potential Impact on Employers
By Otieno B. Ombok on
Posted in Biden Administration, Citizenship, Compliance and Enforcement, Department of State, Deportation, EADs, Executive Orders, Fees and Penalties, Green Cards, H-1B, H-4, Humanitarian Programs, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Immigration Litigation, Other Non-immigrant Visas, Students / CPT / OPT / STEM, Supreme Court, Temporary (Non-immigrant) Work Visas, TPS, Travel (General), Trump Administration, US Immigration, USCIS
Following his inauguration on Jan. 20, 2025, President Trump issued a number of immigration-related Executive Orders (EOs) sure to have impact on employers and their business operations. So far, the focus in the media has been on border security, asylum, refugees, removal of undocumented aliens (deportation) and birthright citizenship. However, there are other aspects covered…
Seattle Federal Judge Enjoins Enforcement of EO Banning Birthright Citizenship
On Jan. 23, 2025, in a suit filed in the U.S. District Court in Seattle by the attorneys-general of Washington State, Arizona, Illinois, and Oregon to overturn President Donald Trump’s executive order (EO) banning birthright citizenship, Judge John Coughenour enjoined enforcement of the EO, calling it “blatantly unconstitutional.” The judge issued a 14-day temporary restraining…
H-1B Visas: Will Trump 2.0 Be a Turning Point for Employers Needing Skilled Foreign Workers?
Skilled immigration is making headlines with renewed focus on the H-1B nonimmigrant visa program, the most popular employment-based visa for foreign professional workers. View our full legal update and insights here.
J-1 Exchange Visitors From 30+ Countries No Longer Subject to Two-Year Foreign Home Residency Requirement
- The 37 countries that have been removed from the J-1 Skills List are: Albania, Algeria, Argentina, Armenia, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic,
Navigating the New H-2A and H-2B Rule: What Employers and Workers Need to Know
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has issued a Final Rule for the H-2A and H-2B temporary worker programs that will become effective on Jan. 17, 2025.
The Rule is aimed at modernizing the regulations governing the H-2A and H-2B temporary worker programs — programs that are essential for U.S. employers seeking foreign labor for…
USCIS H-1B Modernization Final Rule Effective January 17: Highlights for Employers
On Dec. 18, 2024, USCIS released the Modernizing H-1B Requirements, Providing Flexibility in the F-1 Program, and Program Improvements Affecting Other Nonimmigrant Workers Final Rule. First proposed in October 2023, the Biden Administration has been urged to finalize the rule. The rule codifies certain USCIS guidance by regulation. The regulation is effective Jan. 17…
Travel Ban Fears? Why Foreign National Students Urged to Return to U.S. Before Jan. 20
Some colleges and universities, out of an abundance of caution, are advising their foreign national students and staff who are traveling abroad for winter break to consider returning before President Donald Trump’s inauguration on Jan. 20, 2025.
It is not possible to predict what will happen with any certainty, but President Trump has spoken about…
Nearly 65,000 H-2B Visas Released: What Employers Need to Know
By Michael H. Neifach on
The Department of Homeland Security has released an additional 64,716 H-2B temporary visas for non-agricultural workers. The additional visas will help employers in hospitality, tourism, landscaping, construction, seafood processing, and others that employ temporary seasonal workers.
Of the newly released visas, 44,716 are divided in three allocations (between Oct. 1, 2024, and Sept. 30, 2025)…
Mississippi Court Blocks DOL’s Grant of Organizing Protections to H-2A Farmworkers
On Nov. 25, 2024, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi blocked enforcement of the Department of Labor (DOL) rule granting organizing protections to farmworkers on temporary H-2A visas by entering a nationwide injunction.
The decision follows the August 26 ruling by a federal court in Georgia blocking enforcement of the DOL…