Due to the ongoing Shelter in Place directives in many states, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has announced that employers may temporarily accept expired documents from List B, notably state-issued driver’s licenses and ID cards, to verify identity and complete Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification.

The Department of State (DOS) has issued its May 2020 Visa Bulletin. Overall, most employment categories will have modest forward movement, although the employment-based category 1 for most nationals is now current. Employment-based category 3 continues to have no movement since the significant retrogression of 18 months in March. Employment-based category 1 (“EB-1) visas are now available for most nationals. The priority date for EB-1 advances by just over a month for Chinese nationals and by three months for Indian nationals in the EB-1 category. For the EB-2 category, immigrant visas are available for most nationals. However, for Chinese nationals, there is a one-month advancement while for Indian nationals the priority date moves forward by just eight days. Finally, for the EB-3 category, there continues to be no movement since the 18-month retrogression in March. However, for Chinese nationals, the priority date moves forward by one month and by five weeks for Indian nationals. 

After last night's devastating tweet in which President Trump proposed suspending all immigration to the US, President Trump clarified today (Tuesday, April 21) in a press briefing that he will soon sign an Executive Order (as early as tomorrow) temporarily putting on hold the processing of immigrant visa applications from abroad. Specifically, foreign nationals applying for visas for admission as permanent residents based on employment and possibly family will be delayed by an additional 60 days, at which point officials will re-examine economic conditions in the United States.