NCLS

U.S. Visa Ban of 2025 Takes Effect on June 9New Executive Order by President Donald Trump Restricts Visa Issuance to Citizens of 19 Countries A new presidential proclamation issued by Donald Trump imposes visa restrictions on citizens from 19 countries...

The U.S. immigration policy is once again changing dramatically. The Trump administration is actively pursuing promises made during the campaign: tightening control, simplifying deportations, and reducing the number of people without legal status. In...

On November 19, 2024, the Los Angeles City Council approved a new law that strengthens the city’s status as a “sanctuary city” for immigrants. As reported by the Los Angeles Times (LA Times), this law was enacted in response to...

Federal Court Blocks the “Keeping Families Together” Program Launched by the Biden Administration The “Keeping Families Together (KFT)” program, aimed at legalizing undocumented immigrants who are spouses of U.S. citizens and have...

President Biden provides legal protection for spouses of undocumented US citizens In recent times, significant changes have occurred in US immigration policy aimed at curbing the uncontrolled influx of illegal immigrants. President Biden has temporarily...

An attorney with a minimum of 2 years of experience in one of the following areas: 1. Immigration Law 2. Family law Admission to the bar is accepted in the following states: MD, VA, FL (admissions from other states are also accepted for attorneys...

Under American law, human trafficking is one of the most serious labor violations. It is also a criminal offense that involves physical and psychological abuse of a worker, creating an unacceptable and criminal dependence of the worker on the employer....

Ukrainian citizens who have received humanitarian status and applied for a work permit through Form I-765 may request a refund of the state fee. USCIS is refunding Form I-765 “Eligibility to Work” payments in the amount of $410 to Ukrainian citizens...

USCIS extends automatic renewal of Employment Authorization (EAD) April 4, 2024 United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced an increase in the automatic extension of work authorization (EAD) in the United States. Now the work...

In the US, refugees will be issued work permits within 30 days USCIS recently announced that it is simplifying the process of obtaining an EAD and SSN for refugees. The new process is fully automated and no longer requires refugees to apply for an EAD...

USCIS announces new registration rules for the H-1B Program USCIS has made updates to the H-1B program aimed at improving the program, reducing H-1B enrollment fraud, and changing the cost of certain application fees. Beginning enrollment in FY 2025,...

How to speed up the process of reviewing “stuck” petitions or what is Mandamus? There are cases when the government or other U.S. authorities do not take timely measures and delay the process of consideration of immigration petitions for a long time....

Thousands of people seeking protection in the United States end up in immigration detention after crossing into Mexico and are typically subject to immediate deportation. However, those who address threats of abuse or torture in their home countries have...

The CBP One mobile app will go live on January 12, allowing asylum applicants planning to cross the Mexico-U.S. border to register to cross the border at Cuidad Juarez, Tijuana, Matamoros, Reynosa, Piedras Negras, Nogales and Nuevo Laredo without...

Citizens of those countries can now apply for humanitarian parole through a phone app before arriving at the Mexican-US border Citizens from these countries would be returned back to Mexico for not following the protocol. President is to visit El Paso...

President Biden signed into law the Respect for Marriage Act, which federally protects same-sex and interracial marriages. Now by law, not just by precedents LGBTQI+ married couples could apply for the same immigration benefits as other married...

All beneficiaries 6 months of age and older are now required to have a certificate confirming that they received their COVID-19 vaccinations both prior to travel to the United States and upon arrival, unless they are eligible for an exemption....

The US will reportedly no longer require international air travelers to take a COVID test before traveling to the country. The change will be effective starting June 12th, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will reevaluate the...

This guidance enables schools and students to engage in distance learning in excess of regulatory limits due to the continuing public health concerns created by COVID-19. The March 2020 guidance applies to nonimmigrant students who were actively enrolled...

USCIS is implementing premium processing for certain EB-1 and EB-2 classifications with pending Form I-140, under the EB-1 and EB-2 classifications. This applies only to an E13 multinational executive and manager classification or E21 classification as a...

Before the Social Security Administration (SSA) was refusing to issue social security numbers to E and L spouses in accordance with USCIS’s recent policy update recognizing that they are work authorized incident to status and do not need an employment...

Instead, they will switch back to the old system issuing separate EADs and advance parole documents. USCIS explained it by their effort to reduce backlogs of EAD applications, which are currently pending for 8 months or more. Retrieved from NCLS page on...

The U.S. Department of State has released guidance stating that U.S. citizens who are physically abroad with their Ukrainian (and Afghan, Ethiopian) immediate family members have the right to ask to file a Form I-130 petition on the spot at the nearest...

USCIS stated that it will consider E and L spouses to be employment authorized incident to their valid E or L nonimmigrant status. The agency further stated that DHS will modify Form I-94 to distinguish E and L spouses from E and L children, making the...

The EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act of 2022 has been added to the FY 2022 Consolidated Expenditure Report. The resumption of the Program is a restoration of justice for all those who have already applied and were waiting in line. The I-526 and I-485...

On January 21, 2022, USCIS announced updated guidance on adjudicating requests for “National Interest Waivers”, which includes discussing the unique considerations for persons with advanced degrees in science, technology,...

On October 25, 2021, President Biden issued a proclamation ending travel bans that restricted the entry of nonimmigrants present in China, Brazil, India, Iran, South Africa, Ireland, the United Kingdom, and the Schengen Area. The Proclamation also...

Last night, in an almost unprecedented move, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia ordered the State Department to reserve 9,095 additional diversity visas on top of the 3,208 issued since the court’s initial September 4, 2020, order...

Not surprisingly, the initiative to change the terms of stay of international students and journalists is coming from Senior Official Performing the Duties of the Deputy Secretary, Ken Cuccinelli, who has always opposed the flow of immigrants to the...

On August 12, 2020, U.S. Department of State has issued a new advisory with new details and substantially broadened exceptions to the general ban on issuance of new H/L/J visas.   For example, the following qualifications are applicable to L-1 Visa...

Effective February 24, 2020, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has temporarily suspended the requirements of the Public Pay Rule, which has drastically affected most family-based green card applications, employment, and...

Effective October 2, 2020, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is increasing its processing fees for a wide range of immigration petitions and applications. For example, the application fees for filing Form I-130, Petition for...

WASHINGTON – The Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) announced modifications Monday to temporary exemptions for nonimmigrant students taking online classes due to the pandemic for the fall 2020 semester. Temporary exemptions for the fall 2020...

We would like to alert our clients that USCIS is taking a new approach to the definition of what constitutes ‘unauthorized employment’ in the United States. Unauthorized employment is any service or labor performed for an employer within or outside...

The State Department has defined the scope of the jurisdiction of LegalNet (LegalNet@State.gov). LegalNet is an email service provided by the Department of State to attorneys for submitting a request for review for visa denials at US Consulates and...

The Trump Administration is proposing a change in the guidelines for issuing visas at US Consulates and Embassies to women potentially pregnant to end them entering to give birth in the US.  The details of the new law will become public shortly but its...

President Trump is considering the expansion of his travel ban to citizens of Syria, Yemen, Iran, Libya, Somalia, North Korea, and Venezuela. Countries the President intends to extend the restrictions to are, Belarus, Myanmar (also known as Burma),...

USCIS has announced that it will permanently close its field offices in Lima Peru, and Frankfurt, Germany, on January 31, 2020. For more information on all USCIS Field Office closures abroad, please visit the link below:...

USCIS announced that the 1955 Treaty of Amity, Economic Relations, and Consular Rights with Iran was terminated. Consequently, Iranian nationals do not qualify any more to apply for E-1 and E-2 treaty investor’s visa or extend their current visas. The...

On Monday February 24, 2020, the USCIS began implementing the PUBLIC CHARGE Rule, which affects all immigrants applying for green cards or adjustment of status, change of status, and those seeking to extend their visas within the US. There are a few...