The Form I-539, Application to Extend/Change Nonimmigrant Status, can be filed online with USCIS by an individual applicant (without co-applicants, or legal or accredited representation) to extend stay and if the applicant holds status as a: B-1 temporary visitor for business; B-2 temporary visitor for pleasure; F-1 academic student with a specific status expiration date;…

Last Thursday, May 16, 2019, the Trump administration proposed an immigration plan aimed at more closely connecting immigration visas to jobs, rather than being based on family ties or refugee admissions. The plan would seek to tilt immigration toward workers with extraordinary talent, sought-after specialized vocations and exceptional students. To some degree, that shift may be…

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development published a proposed rule on Friday, May 10, 2019, that would bar access to public housing for unauthorized immigrants and their families on the premise of reducing wait times for housing assistance. At this time the proposed rule has not been finalized into a final binding rule.

President Trump issued a proclamation on May 8, 2019 extending for 90 days the suspension and limitation of entry at the southern border. The initial proclamation renders certain individuals ineligible to be granted asylum. Such interim rule would begin running if the court imposed injunction by the United States District Court judge in the Northern…

DHS will not will not implement or enforce the decision to terminate Temporary Protected Status (TPS ) for Honduras or Nepal pending final disposition of the Ramos v. Nielsen, No. 18–16981 (9th Cir. filed Oct. 12, 2018) appeal to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals or by other order of the court. . Beneficiaries under…

Federal investigators have arrested at least 50 people in Texas on Monday, May 13, 2019, for participating in a sham marriage scheme that charged foreigners up to $70,000 to help obtain legal immigration status in the U.S. The criminal enterprise operated out of the Houston area and arranged the fake marriages with U.S. citizens who would receive a cut…

On Wednesday, May 08, 2019, the Trump administration temporarily expanded the H-2B visa program from 66,000 annual temporary visas to 100,000. This increase will allow an additional 30,000 seasonal workers for fiscal year 2019. This change in attitude by the current administration is interesting in that the White House generally supports policies to curb immigration….

A memorandum was issued by the White House on Monday, April 29, 2019, requesting that the Attorney General and the Secretary of Homeland Security propose federal regulations regarding the following: To place in proceedings those individuals receiving credible fear determinations and those who do not qualify for asylum, to adjudicate asylum applications in immigration proceedings…

A U.S. judge on Monday issued a nationwide injunction halting the Trump administration’s policy of sending some asylum seekers back across the southern border to wait out their cases in Mexico. The ruling is slated to take effect on Friday, according to the order by U.S. District Judge Richard Seeborg in San Francisco. A U.S….

April 1st usually marks the first day when USCIS accepts H-1B cap subject petitions. Once sufficient petitions are received and accepted for processing by USCIS, cap-subject H-1B visas will be unavailable until the following year. For employers seeking to hire foreign nationals to fill certain specialty occupation positions, this means that for the remainder of…