Achives from Author

On February 14, 2024, President Biden announced an 18-month Program of deferred enforced departure (DED) for Palestinians in the United States. This alert describes the content of the executive order. Eligible persons may apply for employment and travel authorization under the program when a notice is published in the Federal Register. Read Full Article.

A limited number of H-1B specialty occupation workers will be able to renew their visas in the US as soon as January, State Department officials announced. The stateside visa renewal pilot program is one of multiple measures the State Department is looking to add or continue with the aim of driving down wait times for […]

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services is issuing policy guidance in the USCIS Policy Manual to affirm that a sole proprietorship may not file an L-1, intracompany transferee petition on behalf of its owner and to clarify that a petitioning organization that fails to timely file an extension of an approved blanket L-1 petition is not required to wait before submitting a new blanket petition.  Policy Highlights  […]

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is issuing policy guidance in the USCIS Policy Manual regarding the 2-year foreign residence requirement for the nonimmigrant exchange visitor (J) classification. The update adds information about how USCIS determines whether the requirement has been met, the evidence a benefit requestor may submit to show compliance with the requirement, and how it considers situations […]

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has launched a new Enterprise Change of Address (E-COA) self-service tool to allow customers with pending applications, petitions, or requests to update their address with USCIS more easily. E-COA will significantly improve the speed and efficiency of the process for USCIS customers to update their address with USCIS. With E-COA, […]

We are providing additional guidance on our interpretation of changes to the EB-5 program in the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) made by the EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act of 2022 (RIA), specifically the required investment timeframe and how we treat investors who are associated with a terminated regional center. This guidance clarifies the required investment timeframe […]

Today, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced it is extending and expanding previously announced filing fee exemptions and expedited application processing for certain Afghan nationals. These actions will help Afghan nationals resettle, and in many cases, reunite with family in the United States by enabling USCIS to more quickly process their requests for employment […]

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is updating guidance in our Policy Manual to increase the maximum available validity period to 5 years for initial and renewal Employment Authorization Documents (EADs) for certain noncitizens who are employment authorized incident to status or circumstance, including those admitted as refugees, paroled as refugees, and granted asylum, as well as […]

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced the extension and redesignation of Afghanistan for Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for 18 months from Nov. 21, 2023, through May 20, 2025. DHS also posted a Federal Register notice for public inspection. The extension of TPS for Afghanistan allows current beneficiaries to re-register to retain TPS through May 20, 2025, if they […]

On Sept. 13, 2023, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas issued a decision finding the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) Final Rule unlawful and expanding the original July 16, 2021 injunction and order of vacatur to cover the Final Rule. However, the court maintained a partial stay of the order […]