EAH Immigration Blog

The legal landscape regarding the use and cultivation of marijuana is changing in the United States, Canada, and many other countries. Many questions are arising as to the impact of marijuana-related activities on one’s admissibility to the United States. As a matter of U.S. federal law, marijuana is still a...

Are you compliant? The law requires employers to review documents from each worker they hire to verify that the worker is legally present in the United States and authorized to be employed. This is done on Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification. While the Obama Administration had made worksite enforcement a...

Denver, Colorado, January 14, 2019 – Our esteemed attorneys, Senior Partner David Harston and Philip Alterman, have been selected as 5280 Denver Mile High Magazine’s 2019 Top Lawyers in Immigration Law Practice. Our year is off to a great start! http://www.5280.com/lawyers/david-harston http://www.5280.com/lawyers/philip-alterman About EAH Immigration Elkind Alterman Harston PC is...

USCIS wants to eliminate the way in which customers can use InfoPass. Currently, in most jurisdictions, an individual who wants to discuss his or her case with an immigration representative can make an appointment online through the InfoPass system, assuming an appointment is available. But appointments have become harder and...

Given the suspension of premium processing for many H-1B filings, employers who have an urgent need that demands prompt adjudication of their H-1B petitions can request an expedite. USCIS, however, will only expedite a petition if it meets one or more of the following expedite criteria: Severe financial loss to...

In early December, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) published a proposed rule to implement a pre-filing registration system for U.S. employers seeking to file cap-subject H-1B petitions. The new system would require that employers electronically pre-register their intent to petition for an H-1B beneficiary during a two-week registration period....

With the holidays rapidly approaching, international travelers using the Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA) for travel to the United States are reminded to apply as soon as possible but not less than 72 hours before their international flight is scheduled to depart. Due to changes in the ESTA application...

Now is a good time for foreign nationals who will be departing the United States for travel abroad over the holidays to review their travel documents to ensure that their reentry into the U.S. is as seamless as possible. Depending on an individual’s current status and whether he or she...

On October 10, 2018, USCIS published a proposed rule that would expand the definition of “Inadmissibility on Public Charge Grounds,” which is intended to determine whether a foreign national is inadmissible because he or she is likely at any time to become a public charge. Having received cash benefits from...

According to a news article in the New York Times , dozens of doctors – USCIS civil surgeons – tapped by the federal government to screen immigrants applying for green cards have a history of “egregious infractions.” The report conducted by a federal watchdog agency looked at more than 5,500...

On October 3, U.S. District Judge Edward Chen issued a preliminary injunction against the government from terminating Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for immigrants from El Salvador, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Sudan. The judge ruled that the government must maintain TPS, and employment authorizations for TPS beneficiaries from those countries, while a...

On October 10, 2018, USCIS published a proposed rule that would expand the definition of “Inadmissibility on Public Charge Grounds,” which is intended to determine whether a foreign national is inadmissible because he or she is likely at any time to become a public charge. Having received cash benefits from...

USCIS has announced a revision to the policy guidance for the validity period of Form I-693 Report of Medical Examination and Vaccination Record, effective November 1, 2018. The revised policy will require applicants to submit a Form I-693 with a civil surgeon signature and date that is no more than...

The following additional items may be of interest to our readers: Latest News on Using Premium Processing: The fee to premium process those cases that are eligible increased to $1,410 effective October 1, DHS has announced. USICS also announced that it was suspending premium processing for all H-1B cases until...

Effective October 1, USCIS began implementing its policy of referring cases to the immigration court through the issuance of a Notice to Appear (NTA) on denied status-impacting applications, thus increasing its enforcement actions to a whole host of cases that normally are not automatically referred for proceedings. Service of the...

The EB-1-1 (employment-based first preference) became oversubscribed during the summer. While this is normal because the summer is the end of the U.S. fiscal year, visas in this category historically always have become available again October 1, the beginning of the new fiscal year, and green cards would be issued....

We are seeing long delays in the adjudication of Form I-765, Application for Employment Authorization, and Form I-131, Application for Travel Document, processed by the National Benefits Center (NBC). Processing times for the NBC as of September 2018 indicate that I-765 applications based on pending I-485 adjustment of status applications...

USCIS has reminded F-1 students whose cap-subject H-1B petition remains pending that they risk accruing unlawful presence if they continue to work on or after October 1 (unless otherwise authorized to continue employment), as their “cap-gap” work authorization is only valid through September 30. While USCIS regulations allow an F-1...

A lawsuit filed in the Northern District of Texas is alleging that DHS violated the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) by publishing a rule affecting the F-1 Optional Practical Training (OPT) program for STEM students. The original rule DHS published extending OPT employment for STEM students was properly implemented through the...

As criticism of the agency increases, dissent is forming with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). In a letter addressed to the Secretary of Homeland Security, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) proposed a deconstruction of ICE into its two main but independent components, HSI and Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO). The latter...