EAH Immigration Blog

On March 11th, 2020, President Trump issued a new Presidential Proclamation expanding the scope of two previously issued travel bans suspending entry of immigrants and nonimmigrants into the United States, with exceptions detailed below, in response to the coronavirus disease 2019 or“COVID-19”. The Proclamation, entitled, Suspension of Entry as Immigrants and...

In light of the outbreak of the 2019 Novel Coronavirus, the Trump Administration has taken several measures to control and limit the entry of individuals potentially exposed the virus in China from entering the United States. On January 31, President Trump issued a Proclamation suspending entry of certain immigrants and nonimmigrants...

Beginning on March 1, employer-petitioners will be able to begin the H-1B cap-subject petition registration process for FY2021. Such employers must electronically register and pay the associated $10 H-1B registration fee per beneficiary before filing a petition for H-1B visa status for a beneficiary. If approved, the visa would become available...

Beginning on February 24, 2020, DHS and the Department of State (DOS) began implementation of a new standard of whether an applicant for admission to the U.S. or for adjustment of status is likely to become a “public charge” under the inadmissibility ground in the immigration laws. “Public charge” is not...

The following additional items may be of interest to our readers: Polish Nationals Eligible for ESTA: In a recent rule effective 11/11/2019, DHS designated Poland as a country eligible to participate in the Visa Waiver Program. French E-1 and E-2 Visa Validity Period Now 25 Months: Effective 11/12/19, the maximum validity...

According to a recent article in the Washington Post that analyzed ICE’s annual report for FY2019, ICE deported approximately 12,000 family members and unaccompanied minors of the 540,000 who crossed the border, far fewer than the millions President Trump pledged to arrest and deport. While the number of families deported increased...

Many asylum seekers who are waiting to be heard in U.S. immigration court are currently living in tent camps on the Mexico side of the U.S. border. After waiting several months in destitute conditions, they arrive to immigration court only to find that they are being turned away from attending their...

USCIS is also updating its policy guidance in its Policy Manual on “unlawful acts” during the applicable statutory period that reflect adversely on moral character and may prevent an applicant from meeting the good moral character (GMC) requirement for naturalization. An applicant who has committed, was convicted of, or was imprisoned...

Certain immigration benefits require an applicant to demonstrate that he or she has good moral character (GMC) in order to demonstrate eligibility for the benefit. The good moral character standard is cited throughout the INA, and is a prerequisite to eligibility for numerous forms of immigration relief. Recently, the Attorney General...

In immigration law, certain criminal acts have immigration consequences, rendering an applicant inadmissible, deportable, or ineligible for the immigration benefit being sought. USCIS issued policy guidance – and updated its USCIS Policy Manual – regarding how post-sentencing changes to criminal sentences affect convictions for immigration purposes. An immigrant convicted of an...

The State Department’s Visa Office recently provided guidance and practical advice on the submission and processing of DS-160 nonimmigrant visa applications based on some frequently asked questions: Q: If an applicant completes a Form DS-160 for one consular post and then applies for a nonimmigrant visa at a different post, is...

According to Stuart Anderson, Executive Director of the nonpartisan public policy organization the National Foundation for American Policy, no president has been sued over his immigration policies as much as President Trump. In a recent article in Forbes, Mr. Anderson provides an analysis of the key immigration cases and issues facing...

DHS promulgated a proposed rule that would make changes to the USCIS fee schedule by a “weighted average increase of 21 percent,” or about an 18 percent overall fee hike. The rule would also add new fees, change forms, and introduce several new forms. Some of the most common applications and...

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 is...

USCIS announced that it is implementing the registration process for employers seeking to file H-1B cap-subject petitions, including those eligible for the advanced-degree exemption, for FY2021. Such employers must first electronically register and pay the associated $10 H-1B registration fee before filing a petition for H-1B visa status for a beneficiary....

The Social Security Administration (SSA) has resumed issuing no-match letters. No-match letters state that a certain number of wage reports for name and SSN combinations do not match SSA records. Employers should be mindful that SSA no-match letters can potentially lead to issues related to immigration enforcement, including an ICE audit...

On May 31, 2019, USCIS announced a policy limiting USCIS asylum jurisdiction over applicants previously determined to be “unaccompanied alien children” (UAC). The memo reversed a 2013 policy, often referred to as the “Kim memo,” that specified that USCIS took jurisdiction over asylum applications filed by applicants who had previously been...

There have been recent reports that ICE has started to conduct on-site inspections for STEM Optional Practical Training (OPT) employment. According to DHS’s Study in the States website, an on-site visit will address how the salary of STEM OPT employees is determined, whether there is sufficient structure to provide supervision and...

Not only has USCIS increased the red tape and bureaucracy for U.S. companies sponsoring foreign workers, but USCIS Acting Director Ken Cuccinelli boasts about it! It’s the latest example of administration officials lauding efforts to make it more difficult for employers to obtain what economists often consider to be a company’s...

On June 7, 2019, the National Assembly of Venezuela published a decree automatically extending the validity of Venezuelan passports for an additional five years from their printed date of expiration. While DOS has recognized this extension of passport validity for visa issuance and other consular purposes, CBP has not made a...