On January 21, 2022, the White House announced that the Departments of State and Homeland Security are undertaking several new actions to help attract to the U.S. and retain international talent in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (“STEM”). The Biden-Harris administration stated that, “These actions will allow international STEM talent to […]
Tuesday, October 6th, 2020, the Department of Homeland Security H-1B Strengthening Rule and DOL Prevailing Wage Interim Final Rules were posted for public inspection. Both DHS and DOL have issued press releases regarding these changes.
Both the DHS and DOL regulations will be published tomorrow in the federal register publish and have a 30 […]
On October 1, 2020, the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (“OIRA”), which is housed within the Office of Management and Budget (“OMB”), marked as “withdrawn” both the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) and U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) Interim Final Regulations (“IFR”). In an unusual move, OIRA has decided to not review these regulations […]
On Monday, June 22, 2020, President Trump released a Presidential Proclamation and an accompanying fact sheet that suspends the entry into the U.S. of several nonimmigration classifications. The Presidents stated objective is to ensure that U.S. workers are hired first due to the current high unemployment rate. This proclamation is effective through December […]
On Monday, May 11, 2020, USCIS issued a policy memo titled, “Temporary Policy Changes for Certain Foreign Medical Graduates During the COVID-19 National Emergency.”
This USCIS memo addresses a few of the many issues currently facing International Medical Graduates (“IMG”) as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, including:
Based on a U.S. Supreme Court decision on Monday, January 27th, 2020 lifting a nation-wide injunction, USCIS announced that it will now be implementing a new “public charge” rule, except in Illinois, where the rule remains enjoined by a federal court as of Jan. 30, 2020. Essentially, USCIS will be asking additional questions […]
On November 19th, 2018 SPS Immigration posted on how USCIS Director L. Francis Cissna stated that USCIS would cease denying Advance Parole applications when a foreign national travels internationally. Director Cissna stated that USCIS would notify the public when it implemented this change.
USCIS recently updated the form instructions to Form I-131, confirming this policy shift back […]
During the USCIS Ombudsman Annual Conference on November 16, 2018, USCIS Director L. Francis Cissna confirmed that USCIS will end its recently-adopted practice of denying pending Advance Parole applications (Form I-131) when an applicant travels abroad during the time the Advance Parole is pending at USCIS. USCIS had previously, for years, adjudicated Advance Parole documents […]
USCIS announced Tuesday, October 16th, 2018, that it is updating its policy manual to extend the validity date of Medical Exams (Form I-693) from one year to two years. This change begins November 1, 2018. It is important to note that medical exams will be valid for a two-year period following the date the civil […]
In an unpublished notice today in the Federal Registrar, USCIS announced that it is increasing the Premium Processing fee 14.92% from $1225 to $1410. This increase will likely take effect October 1, 2018, or 30 days after the notice is formally published in the Federal Registrar, which is expected to be August 31, 2018.
The […]
