Beginning November 11, 2019, citizens of Poland will be eligible to visit the United States for business or leisure for up to 90 days without a visa. They will be admitted under the Visa Waiver Program (“VWP”).
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A 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.
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The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) plans to extend Temporary Protected Status for nationals of El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras, Nepal, Nicaragua and Sudan to January 4, 2021. DHS will automatically extend the validity of Employment Authorization Documents, Forms I-797, Notice of Action, and Forms I-94, Arrival/Departure Record (collectively, TPS-related documentation) to this date.
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Effective November 3, 2019, applicants for an immigrant visa will be required to show their ability to obtain health insurance within 30 days of entry into the United States during their consular interview. Visa applicants should complete Form DS-5541 to provide information on their health insurance plan and date coverage will begin or ability to pay for healthcare for any “reasonably foreseeable” medical costs. Failure to demonstrate the financial resources to obtain health insurance will result in a denial of their visa application.
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According to news reports, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) have recently started on-site visits to employers of international students working on STEM Optional Practical Training (OPT). These visits are to confirm that the information on the training program, Form I-983, is accurate.
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Three 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.
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The Department of State (DOS) has issued its November 2019 Visa Bulletin. Overall, most employment-based categories this month had little advancement. (Employment-based (“EB”) category 1 for all nationals (except for India and China) advanced by little over a month. EB-1 for China moves forward three months and EB-1 India remains the same. The EB-2 category for all nationals continues to be current. China has a two and a half month advancement, and India advanced by one day. The EB-3 category is current for all nationals except for China and India, which saw no change from last month. The Philippines moves forward by three and a half months.
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The Department of State just announced that the online registration period for the annual green card lottery will begin at 12 noon, Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) (GMT–4), Wednesday, October 2, 2019, and end at 12 noon, Eastern Standard Time (EST) (GMT–5), Tuesday, November 5, 2019. We recommend registering as soon as possible because the DOS website does slow down or freeze due to very heavy traffic towards the end of the registration period.
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The publication of a proposed rule that would rescind the H-4 EAD has been delayed until at least spring 2020. In a letter submitted by the Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”) to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia last week, the agency confirmed that while it still plans on publishing a rule to repeal the H-4 EAD, the proposed rule is still undergoing interagency review. DHS also stated that the spring 2020 date was “aspirational.”
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The Department of State (DOS) has issued its October 2019 Visa Bulletin. October 1 marks the start of the new fiscal year so all the visa categories benefit from new visa numbers. As a result, most categories see sizable movement. Employment-based (“EB”) category 1 for all nationals (except for India and China) advances by six months. EB-1 for China moves forward nearly three years and EB-1 India goes from unavailable to January 1, 2015. The EB-2 category for all nationals is now current, except for China, which, unfortunately, has a two-year retrogression, and India, which advances by four days. The EB-3 category is current for all nationals except for China, which moves forward nearly two years; India, which moves forward three and a half years, and the Philippines, which moves forward by fifteen months.
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