Emergency Immigration Alert

Premium Processing Suspension for H-1B Petitions

Starting April 3, 2017, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will temporarily suspend premium processing (i.e., 15-day expedited processing) for all H-1B petitions for up to 6 months. Importantly, since April 3, 2017 marks the start of the cap-subject H-1B petitions acceptance for the Fiscal Year 2018 (FY18), the suspension will affect all petitions filed

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Emergency Immigration Alert

New Executive Order Affecting Travel

On March 6, 2017, President Trump signed a new Executive Order (EO), once again suspending U.S. entry for nationals of Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen for a minimum of 90 days, among other things. The new order is to take effect on March 16, 2017. Of note, Iraq has been removed from the

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Department of Homeland Security

H-1B Season is Nearing

H-1B Season is Nearing! April 1, 2017 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

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Executive Orders

Immigrant & Non-Immigrant Entry Suspended for 7 Countries

On January 27, 2017, President Trump signed an Executive Order (“EO”), “Protecting the Nation from Foreign Terrorist Entry into the United States”, which, among other things, suspended immigrant and nonimmigrant entry for nationals of Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen, for a minimum of 90 days. The state of Washington, later joined by

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Department of State

DOS Visa Bulletin

The March 2017 DOS Visa Bulletin “Final Action” chart for employment-based preference cases reflects progress as we head into the sixth month of the government’s fiscal year (“FY”) 2017: EB-2 “Members of the Professions Holding Advanced Degrees or Persons of Exceptional Ability” category for China and India progresses 1 month and 6 weeks to cut-off

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Department of Homeland Security

DHS Update

Reminder: Beginning January 22, 2017, employers must begin using the new version of Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification, edition date 11/14/16. On January 17, 2017, the new rule, “Retention of EB-1, EB-2, and EB-3 Immigrant Workers and Program Improvements Affecting High-Skilled Nonimmigrant Workers,” which includes significant changes to several immigration programs, took effect. It is

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Department of State

DOS Visa Bulletin

The February 2017 DOS Visa Bulletin “Final Action” chart for employment-based preference cases contains some movement as we head into the fifth month of government’s FY2017: EB-2 “Members of the Professions Holding Advanced Degrees or Persons of Exceptional Ability” category and EB-3 “Skilled Workers/Professionals/Other Workers” for All Chargeability areas progresses 2 months to a cut-off

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