Yesterday, June 22, 2020, President Trump issued the anticipated Proclamation suspending the entry into the US of certain nonimmigrant visa holders. Specifically, the following new restrictions are in effect 6/24/2020:
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced on June 16 that it will provide a 30-day extension to its temporary policy allowing flexibility in the rules related to Form I-9 for employers operating 100% remotely in light of COVID-19. The new expiration date for these accommodations is July 19, 2020.
In May, the Department of
On Friday, May 29, 2020, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced plans for the phased-in resumption of premium processing for eligible I-140 Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker petitions and eligible I-129 Nonimmigrant Worker petitions. (See USCIS website at https://www.uscis.gov/news/alerts/uscis-resumes-premium-processing-certain-petitions.)
USCIS temporarily suspended premium processing availability for all eligible Form I-129 and I-140 petitions
On May 27, 2020 U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced that it is preparing some domestic offices to reopen and resume non-emergency public services on or after June 4. Routine in-person services at USCIS field offices, asylum offices and application support centers (ASCs) has been suspended since March 18 to help slow the spread of
On May 11, 2020, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) issued a Policy Memorandum relating to certain J-1 waivered foreign medical graduates during the COVID-19 national emergency. The memo, captioned “Temporary Policy Changes for Certain Foreign Medical Graduates During the COVID-19 National Emergency” was issued solely as guidance to USCIS officers with regard
On Thursday, May 14, 2020, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced a 30-day extension to its previously announced temporary flexibility provisions relating to I-9 Employment Eligibility Verification compliance during the COVID-19 national emergency. Extension of the flexibility provisions is the result of “continued precautions related to COVID-19”. The COVID-19 I-9 flexibility provisions were originally
This is a reminder that employers are required to use the new version of the Form I-9 as of May 1,2020. As noted in our prior post, USCIS announced the publication of the new version of the Form I-9 on January 31, 2020, with a 60-day grace period for its mandatory use. Accordingly, the
USCIS extends immigration related deadlines:
On March 30, 2020, in response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced an extension of the flexibility it announced to assist applicants and petitioners who are responding to the following types of requests, with deadlines:
As some U.S. states are starting to re-open parts of their state, this alert is a reminder that the U.S. border with both Mexico and Canada remains closed for non-essential travel and will remain so until at least May 21st.
Federal Regulations state that individuals traveling for tourism purposes (sightseeing, recreation, gambling or attending cultural