July 26, 2018 Starting from Sept. 11, 2018 a new policy will allow U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) to deny I-526 visa petitions under the EB-5 immigrant investor visa program upon first review, without being required to first issue a request for more evidence (“RFE”)...
Washington, DC – July 20, 2018: Last month, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) announced a drastic expansion of grounds for initiating deportation and removal proceedings against foreigners. The new policy allows USCIS to directly issue Form I-862, Notice to Appear (“NTA”), which marks...
Washington, D.C., July 18, 2018: On July 13, 2018, the U.S. Department of State (DOS) released the August 2018 Visa Bulletin. Of particular note, a May 1, 2016 cut-off date was instituted in the employment-based, first preference (EB-1) category for EB-1 Worldwide, El Salvador, Guatemala,...
In June 2017, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) updated its Policy Manual (available online) to confirm the requirement that EB-5 investments must be maintained at risk, in a requirement known as “redeployment”. For many investors, this new development has raised uncertainties and questions. We...
Washington, D.C. – June 12, 2018 - As of June 11, 2018, petitioners who file Form I-751, Petition to Remove Conditions on Residence, or Form I-829, Petition by Entrepreneur to Remove Conditions on Permanent Resident Status, will receive a Form I-797 receipt notice that can...
Washington, D.C. - On May 25, Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen M. Nielsen announced that an additional 15,000 H-2B temporary nonagricultural worker visas will be available for Fiscal Year 2018. In this determination, Secretary Nielsen determined there are not sufficient, qualified, U.S. workers available to...
Washington, D.C. – May 25, 2018: U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) passed new rules in January 2017 that offer foreign workers on certain temporary work visa categories a short “grace period” following termination of employment. Before January 2017, F-1 academic student visa was one of...
Washington, D.C., May 25, 2018 – The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is proposing a rule to end a program that allows certain foreign entrepreneurs to be considered for parole to temporarily come to the United States to develop and build start-up businesses here, known...
Washington, D.C. – May 18, 2018: Under the Bush and Obama administrations, the foreign student work authorization program (Optional Practical Training or “OPT”) grew dramatically, helping the U.S. retain foreign students, especially those in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics specialties (“STEM”). From 2004 to 2016,...
Washington, D.C. – May 18, 2018: U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) has recalled of over 8,000 Lawful Permanent Resident Card documents (“Green Cards”), according to a May 14 announcement. The recall occurred because of the discovery of a printing error that affected the “Resident Since”...
