Search Results for: United States

UNITED STATES: US Department of State Announces New Travel Restrictions

September 27, 2017

On 24th September 2017, just as the previous travel ban was due to expire, the US President issued a Proclamation indefinitely imposing various new restrictions on immigrant and non-immigrant entry for certain nationals of five of the countries affected by the previous travel ban (Iran, Libya, Somalia, Syria and Yemen) and three additional non-Muslim majority […]

Read More

UNITED STATES: Premium Processing Resumes for FY 2018 H-1B Cap Cases

September 22, 2017

On 18th September 2017, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that it had resumed Premium Processing for all H-1B Petitions subject to the Fiscal Year (FY) 2018 H-1B cap of 65,000 visas. USCIS has also resumed Premium Processing for the annual 20,000 additional H-1B petitions that are intended for individuals with a US master’s degree or […]

Read More

UNITED STATES: Trump Administration Dismantles DACA

September 6, 2017

On 5th September 2017, the US Attorney General announced that the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program created by Executive Action in June 2012 will be terminated in six months. Background DACA currently provides protection from deportation and employment authorization for approximately 800,000 individuals brought to the United States as children who otherwise lack […]

Read More

UNITED STATES: USCIS Tightens Rules for Green Card Applicants

September 5, 2017

The US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has announced that, effective 1st October 2017, it will eliminate the practice of waiving employment-based adjustment of status interviews, which has been standard practice for approximately two decades. In another departure from previous standard practice, USCIS has now started to deny Advance Parole applications when the applicant departs the United […]

Read More

UNITED STATES: Department of State Temporarily Suspends Non-Immigrant Visa Processing in Russia

August 23, 2017

The US Department of State has announced that, effective 23rd August 2017, US visa operations across Russia will be suspended until 1st September 2017, at which point all US non-immigrant visa applications will only be processed at the US Embassy in Moscow. Non-immigrant visa interviews at the US Consulates in St. Petersburg, Yekaterinburg and Vladivostok are suspended […]

Read More

UNITED STATES: Supreme Court Partially Lifts Injunction on President Trump’s March Executive Order on Immigration

June 28, 2017

On 26th June 2017, the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) partially lifted the injunction and agreed to hear arguments on President Trump’s 6th March 2017 executive order (EO) entitled Protecting the Nation from Foreign Terrorist Entry into the United States. While the Supreme Court announced that it will hear the full case in October, […]

Read More

UNITED STATES: Extreme Vetting Implemented

June 14, 2017

On 3rd May 2017, the Department of State requested the right to collect additional information from certain visa applicants worldwide from the Office of Budget and Management. The new information collection powers were quietly implemented on 23rd May 2017. Background The State Department estimates that 0.5% of visa applicants worldwide – about 65,000 individuals per year – present a […]

Read More

UNITED STATES: Travel Ban Remains on Hold As Federal Court of Appeals Upholds Injunction

June 1, 2017

On 25th May 2017, the Federal Court of Appeals in Richmond, Virginia, issued a decision that maintained the injunction on President Trump’s executive order travel ban. The court held that the travel ban, which sought to restrict nationals of six countries from being issued visas and traveling to the US, violated the US Constitution’s First Amendment protection […]

Read More

UNITED STATES: Federal Judges Block Key Parts of Second Executive Order

March 17, 2017

Hawaii On 15th March 2017, a federal judge in Hawaii issued a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) with nationwide effect, blocking key parts of the Trump Administration’s second Executive Order on travel and visa issuance, which was due to come into effect on 16th March 2017. This TRO temporarily suspends section 2 of the Executive Order, which suspends entry for nationals of […]

Read More

UNITED STATES: USCIS Announces Temporary Suspension of Premium Processing for H-1B Petitions

March 10, 2017

US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has announced that, in order to reduce overall H-1B processing times, they will temporarily suspend premium processing for all H-1B petitions starting 3rd April 2017. This suspension of premium processing applies to all regular-cap and master’s-advanced-degree-cap petitions, as well as to cap-exempt H-1B petitions. Last year, in response to […]

Read More