President Trump has extended the ban on admitting certain immigrants and temporary workers to the United States from December 31, 2020, until March 31, 2021. According to his most recent Proclamation, the basis for the extension is the ongoing levels of high unemployment caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Earlier this week, the government decided to seek dismissal of its own appeal in the litigation over the US Citizenship and Immigration Services’ plan to dramatically increase its filing fees. The proposed fee increase had been scheduled to take effect on October 2, 2020, but was stopped by a federal court in late September. This interesting move by the government signals a positive change in the agency’s stand on immigration.

The Department of State (DOS) has issued its January 2021 Visa Bulletin. Both employment-based and family-based priority dates are detailed below.

For the eighth month in a row, as employers and employees continue to take physical distancing precautions in response to COVID-19, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (“ICE”) announced that they have extended the ability of employers to remotely verify a new employee’s identify and employment authorization documents for Form I-9 purposes through January 31, 2021, provided the employer continues to have its employees working remotely.

For the eighth month in a row (and coinciding with the holiday season), the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has announced that Customs and Border Protection (CBP) will continue to limit “non-essential travel” at its land borders with both Canada and Mexico. The extended restrictions will be in effect for an additional 30 days through January 21, 2021, and includes travel via ferry service and other “non-essential” travel for recreation, tourism, or visitation of family and friends.

The Department of Homeland Security has extended Temporary Protected Status (“TPS”) for nationals of El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras, Nepal, Nicaragua, and Sudan from January 4, 2021, to October 4, 2021, while litigation over ending TPS designation for these six countries continues.

A federal judge in Northern California has set aside two rules recently issued by the Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”) and the Department of Labor (“DOL”), which sought to make significant changes to the H-1B visa program and which radically changed the way prevailing wages were calculated for the H-1B, H-1B1 and E-3 petitions, and the PERM process.

The Department of State (DOS) has issued its December 2020 Visa Bulletin. Both employment-based and family-based priority dates are detailed below.