U.S. Customs & Border Protection

Legislative News

President Trump announced that Chad is no longer subject to the U.S. entry restrictions of Presidential Proclamation 9645 (commonly referred to as the “travel ban”). The President noted that Chad has made significant improvements in its identity-management and information-sharing practices. Specifically, the President stated that Chad is issuing more secure passports and sharing updated passport

Department of State

DOS Visa Bulletin

The May 2018 DOS Visa Bulletin “Final Action” chart for employment-based preference cases contains important updates as we enter the 8th month of FY2018.  EB-1 Priority Workers for China and India will maintain the same cut-off date of January 1, 2012 and EB-1 All Chargeability areas, El Salvador/Guatemala/Honduras, Mexico, and Philippines will remain current.  EB-2

Department of Homeland Security

DHS Update

2019 H-1B Cap-subject Petitions. On April 6, 2018, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) reached the congressionally mandated 65,000 H-1B visa cap for the government’s Fiscal Year (FY) 2019 and received in excess of 190,000 cap-subject petitions. USCIS also confirmed that it had reached the cap under the 20,000 H-1B petitions allocation for U.S. advanced

Department of State

DOS Visa Bulletin

Travel Ban: The DOS has clarified the waiver process for individuals impacted by President Trump’s Presidential Proclamation 9645 (i.e., the “travel ban”). The Proclamation specified that entry restrictions may be waived on a case-by-case basis if a consular officer or Customs and Border Protection (CBP) official determines, in their discretion, that an application meets the

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) News

Company Audits

Company Audits: Following the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) five-day targeted operation in the Los Angeles area, the government served 122 notices of inspection (NOIs) to businesses and arrested 212 individuals for violating federal immigration laws. An additional 77 NOIs were served to businesses in northern California. A NOI alerts businesses that ICE is going

Department of Homeland Security

DHS Update

Third-Party Placement: In alignment with President Trump’s Buy American and Hire American Executive Order, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) issued a policy memorandum to establish agency policy related to H-1B petitions filed for workers who will be employed at third-party worksites. The memorandum clarifies that for H-1B petitions involving a third-party worksite, the employer

Department of State

DOS Visa Bulletin

The March 2018 DOS Visa Bulletin “Final Action” chart for employment-based preference cases contains important updates as we enter the 6th month of FY2018. All qualified EB-1 Priority Workers will continue to remain current. EB-2 “Members of the Professions Holding Advanced Degrees or Persons of Exceptional Ability” for All Chargeability areas, Mexico, El Salvador /

Department of Homeland Security

DHS Update

H-1B Season is Nearing! April 1, 2018 marks the beginning of the new H-1B petition filing season with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). As in prior recent years, the filing season is likely to be brief (i.e., most likely, limited to the first week of April) and, if more petitions are received than

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) News

ICE News

ICE’s increased enforcement efforts and, specifically, a six-week nationwide gang pursuit operation resulted in 1,378 arrests. Only 3 of the arrested were beneficiaries of the President Obama-initiated Deferred Adjudication of Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. The government has concluded an investigation that resulted in sentencing of Ms. Rosa Cingari to 12 years and 7 months in

Immigration Enforcement News

ICE & DOJ News

Following the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) “silent raids” of nearly 100 7-Eleven store locations and several major prosecutions for worksite immigration compliance violations, ICE has recently announced a 3-prong approach to enforcement efforts. The new approach involves (1) Form I-9 Employment Eligibility Verification compliance audits; (2) investigation and punishment of employers knowingly employing unauthorized