The legal battle to set aside the “wealth test” for intending immigrants faces another setback after a momentary, day-long victory at the district court level in Illinois. The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals, which oversees the district courts in Illinois, sided with the Trump administration last week by promptly overturning a district court judge’s decision to stop the implementation of the “wealth test” nationwide while the legal challenge to the rule is being litigated.
Read MoreEarlier this week, a federal judge blocked USCIS from increasing its filing fees, which were scheduled to take effect today, October 2. The judge found possible procedural and substantive violations under the Administrative Procedures Act, and defects in the way the Acting Secretaries for the Department of Homeland Security at the time had been appointed, the combination of which made him decide to temporarily block the proposed fee increases until these issues could be thoroughly addressed.
Read MoreUSCIS has extended its temporary suspension of all face-to-face services at USCIS field offices, asylum offices, and Application Support Centers (ASCs) to June 3, 2020, with a planned reopening on or after June 4.
Read MoreUSCIS’s first ever electronic H-1B visa lottery process successfully took place this year despite significant concerns about the agency’s ability to implement and execute such an online tool. USCIS received nearly 275,000 registrations between March 1 and March 20, 2020. The number of registrations increased by nearly 30% this year (USCIS received 199,000 H-1B petitions in last year’s lottery), which is not surprising given the relative ease of the online registration process compared to the practice in previous years of filing complete H-1B petitions the first week of April.
Read MoreOn January 31, the United States Customs and Immigration Services (USCIS) released a new version of the Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification, (I-9), which should be used immediately. This form is used by all employers to verify employment authorization of its employees, and must be completed within three (3) days of any new hire.
Read MoreTThe Department of State (DOS) has issued its December 2019 Visa Bulletin. Overall, most employment categories had little forward movement. Employment-based category 1 (“EB-1) for most nationals advances by 44 days while for Chinese nationals it moves forward by 103 days. There is no change for Indian nationals in the EB-1 category.
Read MoreU.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) plans to increase most of its government filing fees, and change the premium processing time to 15 business days instead of calendar days due to budgetary shortfalls.
Read MoreA federal judge in Portland, Oregon has temporarily stayed President Trump’s latest Proclamation, which would require applicants for immigrant visas to show their ability to obtain health insurance within 30 days of entry into the United States. The Proclamation was set to take effect on Sunday, November 3 but is temporarily on hold while the legal challenge to the Proclamation is adjudicated. If the Proclamation takes effect, applicants who fail to demonstrate the financial resources to obtain health insurance will have their visa applications denied.
Read MoreThree federal courts across the United States have temporarily suspended the enforcement of the Department of Homeland Security’s new “public charge” rule, which was set to take effect on October 15, 2019. This new rule redefines how the agency can determine whether a foreign national is at risk of needing public assistance, which would make the foreign national ineligible for admission, extension of status, or permanent residence.
Read MoreAlthough the most recent version of the Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification expired on August 31, 2019, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has advised employers to continue to use the July 17, 2017, version of the Form I-9 until an updated version is released. The revised version of Form I-9 is not expected to be significantly different from the current version.
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