EAH Immigration Blog

In May, USCIS first notified Congress of a projected budget shortfall and asked for $1.2 billion in emergency funding that would stretch into the beginning of the next fiscal year. Recently, USCIS formally notified the American Federation of Government Employees that nearly 70 percent of the agency’s employees could face extended...

In an upsetting move, USCIS issued a new rule drastically limiting foreign national’s eligibility for employment authorization based on a pending asylum application. The rule is scheduled to go into effect on August 25, 2020. Absent good cause, foreign nationals who entered the United States without authorization are ineligible for work...

In another June decision, the Supreme Court held that restrictions on the ability of asylum seekers to obtain review of expedited-removal orders under a federal habeas statute do not violate the Constitution’s Suspension Clause or Due Process Clause. The Supreme Court ruled that asylum seekers with expedited orders of removal seeking...

In a narrow 5-4 ruling, the Supreme Court blocked, perhaps only temporarily, President Trump’s attempt to terminate Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA). The majority held that the Administration failed to provide adequate reasoning to justify ending the DACA program, in violation of the Administrative Procedure Act. The Court reasoned that...

USCIS USCIS Offices Reopened for Most Nonemergency Services As of June 4, 2020, many domestic USCIS field offices and asylum offices re-opened for normal face-to-face services to the public on an appointment basis. Application support centers (ASCs) remain closed but are expected to open beginning in mid-July. This means all in-person...

With specific exceptions, foreign nationals who have been in any of the following countries during the past 14 days may not enter the United States: China; Iran; European Schengen area; United Kingdom; Republic of Ireland; and Brazil. Exceptions are available for essential workers. Moreover, the United States, Canada, and Mexico are...

Effective June 24, 2020, President Trump issued a proclamation that extends his previous order that banned certain immigrant visas from being issued by the Department of State and suspends the entry of foreign nationals who are outside of the United States who need to apply for an H-1B, H-2B, J-1 and...

On March 31, the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA), the appellate level administrative court for immigration matters, held in a cancellation of removal case (a remedy available to LPRs who are in deportation proceedings) that, to the extent that a claim is based on the health of a qualifying relative, an...

H-1B Cap Reached During Registration Period: USCIS has received enough H-1B cap-subject visa petitions to exceed the statutory limit of 65,000 visas (plus 20,000 Master’s cap visas) and ran its random selection lottery. In fact, over 275,000 registrations were received this year. Employer-petitioners selected have 90 days to submit their petitions....

More than 1,000 hateful acts of discrimination, including serious violent acts, directed toward Asians and Asian Americans have been reported in the last two weeks of March, with new incidents coming in daily. These hateful acts have been committed against Asians and Asian Americans of all ages, with victims as young...

Like USCIS and ICE, most immigration courts and the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) continue to operate and are processing cases; however, some courts have temporary closures due to COVID-19. Receipt stamps continue to be issued for defensive applications, motions, pleadings, and evidentiary filings. Likewise, the courts continue to issue new...

While the Department of Labor (DOL) has a limited role in immigration-related cases, it plays a significant role in H-1B (and H-1B1 and E-3) petitions and PERM labor certification-based immigrant visa applications: Guidance for H-1B, H-1B1, and E-3 Employers H-1B, H-1B1, and E-3 employees’ terms and conditions of employment are governed...

All U.S. embassies and consulates have suspended all routine nonimmigrant and immigrant visa services, and no announcement has been made about when DOS plans to reopen them. It is likely that posts will reopen on a rolling basis depending on the circumstances on the ground. In fact, little guidance has been...

USCIS: Many immigration benefits and requests are submitted to USCIS service centers by mail and those offices continue to operate and are processing cases. Receipt notices are being issued, as are work permits, travel permits, green cards, I-797 Approval Notices, and other official notices. And, while requests for evidence (RFEs) and...

The following additional items may be of interest to our readers: “Birth Tourism” New Rule in Effect: In late January, DOS issued a final rule establishing a rebuttable presumption that a B visa applicant who a consular officer believes will give birth during her stay in the U.S. is traveling for...

USCIS will begin accepting applications to adjust to LPR status from certain Liberian nationals under Section 7611 of the National Defense Authorization Act for FY 2020, Liberian Refugee Immigration Fairness (LRIF), signed into law on December 20, 2019. To be eligible for permanent residence under LRIF, a Liberian national must have...

Do you know that many U.S. consulates provide an option for the NIV interview to be waived if certain criteria are met? This option is important to consider when, increasingly, NIV applicants are subject to long wait times either for scheduling an NIV interview or waiting for visa issuance post interview....

It’s not just you! Foreign nationals who consular process their immigrant visas applications at U.S. consulates abroad and thus avail themselves of the State Department’s system for submitting documentation have been experiencing a myriad of technical problems and interview scheduling delays. First, applicants are experiencing problems in paying their visa fee...

On February 21, President Trump’s newest Presidential Proclamation went into effect expanding the Travel Ban 3.0 to include certain foreign nationals of the following six countries: Eritrea: All immigrants, except Special Immigrants who have provided assistance to the U.S. government.Kyrgyzstan: All immigrants, except Special Immigrants who have provided assistance to the...

In early February, a nationwide permanent injunction was granted by a federal district court, enjoining USCIS from enforcing its August 9, 2018, Policy Memorandum entitled “Accrual of Unlawful Presence and F, J and M Nonimmigrants.” The decision is important for many reasons: First, the decision saves thousands of F, J, and...