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Last month the country was in a frenzy when the Powerball Lottery jackpot reached $1.6 billion and thousands of people throughout the country lined up at gas stations and convenience stores to spend whatever spare money they could spare for a chance at a life of riches. How strange it must to observers from overseas… 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 Justice’s Office of Special Counsel for Immigration-Related Unfair Employment Practices (OSC) recently responded to an attorney who asked how to advise her client following an internal audit of the client’s I-9 employment authorization verification forms. The attorney asked specifically what steps the client should take with respect to permanent resident cards (Forms… Read More
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced on January 15, 2016, that it played a “critical role” in an investigation leading to the arrest of New York attorney Gnoleba Seri for immigration fraud and aggravated identity theft. Homeland Security Investigations arrested Mr. Seri the same day in New York. According to the complaint against Mr.… Read More
The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to rule on a challenge to President Obama’s “Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents (DAPA)” program, in U.S. v. Texas, No. 15-674. Most recently, in November 2015, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit upheld an injunction based on insufficient notice and opportunity… 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
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Jeh Johnson released a statement on January 4, 2016, on southwest border security, in light of stepped-up removal operations underway. Secretary Johnson noted that in the spring and summer of 2014, a significant spike occurred in families and unaccompanied children from Central America attempting to cross the U.S. southern… Read More
The U.S. House of Representatives’ Judiciary Committee held oversight hearings (full video with Q&A) in December 2015 on U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) and on the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR). Leon Rodriguez, USCIS Director, testified at the USCIS hearing. Juan Osuna, EOIR Director, testified at the EOIR hearing. At the USCIS oversight… Read More
The Department of State’s Visa Bulletin for February 2016 notes that the National Visa Center (NVC) has provided totals of applicants registered in the various numerically limited immigrant categories for processing at consular posts as of November 1, 2015. In October, the Department of State asked the NVC at Portsmouth, New Hampshire, to report the… Read More