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…

On March 12, 2019 the termination of Temporary Protected Status, or TPS, for Nepal and Honduras has been temporarily stayed by a federal district court in California in the Bhattarai v. Nielsen case. TPS for Nepal was scheduled to expire on June 24, 2019 while TPS for Honduras was set to expire on January 5, 2020. This…

USCIS will resume premium processing on Tuesday, March 12, for all H-1B petitions including pending petitions that have been issued a request for evidence (RFE). Premium processing service can be requested for pending H-1B petitions that have been issued a transfer notice. The premium processing request must be submitted with a copy of the transfer…

DOS announced on February 26, 2019 that in light of the suspension of routine visa services at the U.S. Embassy in Caracas, Venezuela, the U.S. Embassy in Bogota, Colombia, has been designated as the primary site to process immigrant visas for residents of Venezuela. The NVC will begin scheduling immigrant visa appointments in Bogota starting…

USCIS has resumed premium processing effective  Monday, Jan. 28, for all fiscal year (FY) 2019 H-1B cap petitions, including those eligible for the advanced degree exemption (the “master’s cap”). USCIS guarantees a 15-day processing time upon request of premium processing. If USCIS does not take adjudicative action within the 15‑calendar day processing time, USCIS refunds the petitioner’s…