U.S. Alerts

USCIS Issues New Policy on Accrual of Unlawful Presence for F, J, M Nonimmigrants U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) issued a policy memorandum on May 10, 2018, “Accrual of Unlawful Presence and F, J, and M Nonimmigrants.” The memo provides guidance to USCIS officers and “assists USCIS officers in the calculation of unlawful presence

At a Make America Great Again Rally in Washington, Michigan, on April 28, 2018, President Donald Trump was quoted as saying, “For the farmers, OK, it’s going to get good. And we’re going to have strong borders, but we have to have your workers come in.” That appeared to contradict other Trump administration efforts to

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) and the Department of Justice announced on May 11, 2018, a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that “expands their collaboration to better detect and eliminate fraud, abuse, and discrimination by employers bringing foreign visa workers to the United States.” This new effort “improves the way the agencies share information, collaborate

USCIS Plans to Revise Definition of Specialty Occupation, Employment, Employer-Employee Relationship, Among Other Actions On April 4, 2018, L. Francis Cissna, Director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), sent a letter to Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa), Chairman of the Senate Committee on the Judiciary discussing the agency’s review of existing regulations, policies, and programs

USCIS Launches E-Verify Website U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) recently launched a new website, E-Verify.gov. USCIS called it “the authoritative source for information on electronic employment eligibility verification.” The website is intended for employers, employees, and the general public. The website provides information about E-Verify and Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification, including employee rights

USCIS Completes H-1B Cap Random Selection Process for FY 2019 On April 11, 2018, USCIS announced that it had used a computer-generated random process to select enough H-1B petitions to meet the congressionally mandated cap and the U.S. advanced degree exemption, known as the master’s cap, for fiscal year (FY) 2019. USCIS said it received

The Department of State’s Visa Bulletin for March 2018 discusses visa availability in the coming months in several categories. Special Immigrant Translator category. Given the limited availability of visa numbers and the existing demand, the Department said it expects to reach the FY 2018 annual limit of 50 Special Immigrant Visas in the SI category early

  U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has published a policy memorandum clarifying that USCIS may request detailed documentation to ensure that a legitimate employer-employee relationship is maintained while an employee is working at a third-party worksite. USCIS said this clarifies existing regulatory requirements relating to H-1B petitions filed for workers who will be employed

On February 26, 2018, the U.S. Supreme Court blocked the Trump administration’s attempt to bypass the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and let stand without comment a ruling by a federal judge in California on January 9, 2018, to end Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) by March 5, 2018. This means

  A coalition of business leaders, investors, and organizations sent a letter on February 8, 2018, to President Donald Trump in support of the International Entrepreneur Rule (IER), which is in effect following a court order. The Trump administration has signaled that the IER is likely on the chopping block. The letter says that killing