On Dec. 20, 2019, President Trump signed H.R. 1865, an eight-bill appropriations bill that extends the vital EB-5 program until Sept. 30, 2020, among other things. The president also signed H.R. 1158, a four-bill appropriations package that deals mainly with national security issues. Upon his signature, these actions fund and maintain the operation of government … Continue Reading
After receiving Senate confirmation for an undersecretary position earlier in the day, Chad Wolf was sworn in and placed as the next Acting Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Since January 2017, there has been a mix of Senate-confirmed secretaries: John Kelly and Kristjen Nielsen; and acting secretaries: Elaine Duke, Kevin McAleenan, and … Continue Reading
As reported previously, President Trump announced that his administration has nominated Poland as a Visa Waiver Program (VWP) participating country. Today, Acting Secretary of Homeland Security Kevin McAleenan formally announced the designation of Poland into the Visa Waiver Program (VWP) . On Nov. 11, 2019, Polish citizens and nationals will have the ability to apply for … Continue Reading
On Oct. 4, 2019, President Trump issued a Proclamation, that will be effective on Nov. 3, 2019, suspending the entry of immigrants who will financially burden the United States healthcare system. The reasoning behind the issuance of this Proclamation is to not burden American taxpayers with immigrants who utilize the U.S. healthcare system without payment … Continue Reading
Today, President Trump announced that his administration has nominated Poland as a Visa Waiver Program (VWP) participating country. Entry into the U.S. Visa Waiver Program allows citizens of participating countries to travel to the United States for tourism, business, or in transit for up to 90 days without having to obtain a visa. President Trump … Continue Reading
As previously reported, the rulemaking extending TPS for Syria has concluded: AGENCY: DHS-USCIS RIN: 1615-ZB72 Status: Concluded TITLE: Extension of the Designation of Syria for Temporary Protected Status STAGE: Notice ECONOMICALLY SIGNIFICANT: No RECEIVED DATE: 09/19/2019 LEGAL DEADLINE: None ** COMPLETED: 09/20/2019 COMPLETED ACTION: Consistent with Change DATES: Extension of Designation of Syria for TPS: The … Continue Reading
The H-1B program is undergoing even more scrutiny under the current White House administration. Under the “Buy American, Hire American” Executive Order, the goal is for companies to hire only the best and the brightest for visa sponsorship, mostly H-1B visa holders. The Department of Labor (DOL), the governmental agency that handles the public disclosure … Continue Reading
USCIS Acting Director Cuccinelli tweeted June 14 that “@USCIS took action to further @POTUS directive to enforce the legal responsibilities of sponsors. Self-sufficiency is a principle that has been enshrined in our laws since the 1800s & we must ensure that immigrants who become part of our country abide by this principle.” His multiple tweets … Continue Reading
Today, President Trump hosted a Rose Garden event unveiling his new immigration plan. The theme of the address, “Modernizing Our Immigration System for a Stronger America,” focuses on border security and modernizing the employment-based immigration systems to be more merit-based, according to the president. A new initiative called the “Build America Visa” would replace certain … Continue Reading
On April 22, President Trump, in a quick turn to interior immigration enforcement, issued a Presidential Memorandum (Memo) initiating a process to develop administration initiatives to address visa overstays in the United States. Last week, the Department of Homeland Security released the Fiscal Year 2018 Entry/Exit Overstay Report, stating a total overstay rate of 1.22%, … Continue Reading
In a last-minute change, the White House announced an extension of the Deferred Enforced Departure (DED) of Liberians until March 30, 2020. Prior to today’s announcement, the wind-down for DED was March 31, 2019. Citing foreign policy interests of the United States, the extension was granted with direction for the Congress to consider “remedial legislation.” … Continue Reading
As an update (to this recent posting), we clarify that USCIS recently indicated in the Fall Unified Agenda the posting of a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking in November 2018 (see RIN 1615-AC15) on this regulation. Please check back as this and other H-1B regulatory actions are anticipated in the near future. U.S. Department of Homeland … Continue Reading
Following the July 20 announcement of the granting of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Somalian beneficiaries, the Department of Homeland Security published a notice on Aug. 27 with instructions for the 18-month Somalian TPS extension from Sept. 18, 2018 through March 17, 2020. The 60-day re-registration period runs from Aug. 27, 2018 through Oct. 26. 2018. … Continue Reading
The U.S. Supreme Court, on June 26, 2018, upheld President Trump’s Proclamation on the Travel Ban in Trump v. Hawaii. As previously blogged, the Proclamation was issued by President Trump on Sept. 24, 2018. It was then blocked by the District Court, after which the Ninth Circuit partially stayed, and on Dec. 4, 2017, the … Continue Reading
Yesterday, President Trump issued a Presidential Memorandum for the Secretary of State and the Secretary of Homeland Security regarding Liberian nationals in the United States. The Memorandum provides for a 12-month wind-down of both Deferred Enforcement Departure and Temporary Protected Status effective March 31, 2019. … Continue Reading
In support of its efforts to combat H-1B fraud and consistent with President Trump’s Buy American Hire American initiative, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will now require employers sponsoring H-1B workers at third-party worksites to include additional information and documentation in their H-1B filings. The new policy memorandum “Contracts and Itineraries Requirements for … Continue Reading
Rising to the president’s challenge of addressing Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival (DACA) participants in the United States and maintaining a commitment to debate DACA/immigration in exchange for cooperation on last week’s Budget Agreement, Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY, Majority Leader) began an immigration week debate in the U.S. Senate. The process unfolded slowly and reached a … Continue Reading
After extended debate, the U.S. Senate set-aside the House-passed Continuing Resolution (CR) and negotiated and passed a CR funding government and programs, including EB-5, until March 23, coupled with a sweeping 2-year budget agreement for FY 18 and FY 19. The extended debate exceeded the previous CR time extension of midnight Feb. 8, which resulted … Continue Reading
On Monday evening, President Trump signed the Continuing Resolution (CR) into law ending the three-day, 69-hour government shutdown. In addition to funding the government and other policy-related matters, the CR extends EB-5, E-Verify, Conrad 30, and the Religious Workers immigration programs until Feb. 8.… Continue Reading
On Jan. 10, U.S. Chamber of Commerce President, Tom Donohue, delivered the widely-anticipated State of American Business address in Washington D.C. Much of his remarks focused on policies and opportunities for continuing economic growth in the United States under the social media hashtag of #Jobs2018. Mr. Donohue applauded the regulatory reforms and tax reforms of … Continue Reading
Greenberg Traurig Laura Reiff, co-chair of Greenberg Traurig’s Immigration and Compliance practice, was recently quoted in the Bloomberg Law article, “Trump Stretches Meaning of Deregulation in Touting Achievements.” The article reviews a list of the administration’s deregulation achievements in 2017, including the H-2B visa program regulation. Reiff highlights the additional requirements placed on businesses that wanted … Continue Reading
Since the introduction of the Executive Order “Buy American, Hire American” (BAHA), federal agencies, including DHS and USCIS, are following the directive to focus on protecting U.S. workers and U.S. resources. The USCIS website was updated as of Dec. 20, 2017 regarding BAHA and below are key highlights from this update, which is essentially a … Continue Reading
Greenberg Traurig Laura Reiff, Co-Chair Business Immigration and Compliance, was recently quoted in the Bloomberg Law article, “Immigration Attorneys on Their toes in the Age of Trump.” The article discusses the developments in immigration in 2017 and how attorneys are handling the new environment. Reiff expresses the need to be more proactive as immigration attorneys … Continue Reading
Ian R. Macdonald and Kristen W. Ng were recently featured in an article on The LexBlog Network titled, “Third Time’s a Charm? Greenberg Traurig’s Team Breaks down Trump’s Latest Travel Ban.” In this Q&A, Macdonald and Ng explore the third version of the Trump Administration’s travel ban and what it means for employers and employees … Continue Reading
