Category: DHS

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced on March 3, 2016, a “Known Employer” pilot to assess a new process for employers seeking to hire certain workers through employment-based visa categories.  By modifying the process U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) uses to review an employer’s eligibility to sponsor individuals under certain employment-based immigrant and… Read More

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced on February 18, 2016, that it is continuing its implementation of the Visa Waiver Program Improvement and Terrorist Travel Prevention Act of 2015 by adding Libya, Somalia, and Yemen as three countries of concern. DHS is limiting Visa Waiver Program (VWP) travel for certain individuals who have traveled… Read More

In a final rule effective February 16, 2016, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is amending its regulations affecting highly skilled workers in the nonimmigrant classifications for specialty occupations from Chile, Singapore (H-1B1), and Australia (E-3); the immigrant classification for employment-based first preference (EB-1) outstanding professors and researchers; and nonimmigrant workers in the Commonwealth of… Read More

The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia has accepted the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) request to modify the court’s stay of its ruling that the agency invalidly issued its 2008 rule on STEM OPT (optional practical training for students in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics). The court modified the stay to give… Read More

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced on January 25, 2016, that it is extending the designation of South Sudan for temporary protected status (TPS) for 18 months, from May 3, 2016, through November 2, 2017, and redesignating South Sudan for TPS for 18 months, effective May 3, 2016, through November 2, 2017. DHS said… Read More