U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services issued a reminder that as of January 5, 2018, federal contractors and subcontractors with an E-Verify Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) requirement must enroll in and use E-Verify. Beginning January 5, 2018, new federal...
Topic: Immigration Updates
CBP Issues Guidance on Border Searches of Electronic Devices
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) issued a memorandum on January 4, 2018, providing guidance and standard operating procedures for border searches of electronic devices. The guidance applies to "searching, reviewing, retaining, and sharing information contained...
USCIS Releases Guidance on L-1 Relationships and Proxy Votes
A recent policy memorandum from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) clarifies a 1982 precedent decision, Matter of Hughes, by instructing officers that proxy votes must be irrevocable from the time of filing the L-1 petition through adjudication to...
Dep’t of State Updates Guidance on Affidavits of Support and Public Charge Determinations
The Department of State recently updated guidance on affidavits of support and public charge determinations: UNCLASSIFIED 18 STATE 942 January 4, 2018 From: SECSTATE WASHDC Subject: Update to 9 FAM 302.8 Public Charge - INA 212(A)(4) 2. Guidance at 9 FAM 302.8 has...
DOJ Announces End to Use of Civil Enforcement Authority to Enforce Agency Guidance Documents
As a follow-up to a memorandum issued by Attorney General Jeff Sessions in November 2017, the Office of the Associate Attorney General announced a new policy on January 25, 2018, that prohibits the Department of Justice from using its civil enforcement authority to...
USCIS Automatically Extends EAD Validity for Certain Haitians with TPS; Re-Registration Period Now Open
As announced in late 2017, the designation of Haiti for temporary protected status (TPS) will expire on July 22, 2019. Current beneficiaries of TPS under Haiti's designation who want to maintain that status through the program's termination date of July 22, 2019, must...
USCIS Announces Termination of TPS Designation in 2019 for El Salvador
The designation of El Salvador for temporary protected status (TPS) was set to expire on March 9, 2018. The Secretary of Homeland Security has determined that conditions in El Salvador no longer support its designation for TPS and that termination of the TPS...
Immigration Innovation Act of 2018 Introduced in Senate
Sens. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) and Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) introduced the "Immigration Innovation (I-Squared) Act of 2018" in the U.S. Senate on January 25, 2018. The bill (S. 2344) would authorize additional visas for “well-educated aliens” to live and work in the United...
State of the Union Speech Outlines Immigration Reform Proposal; White House Releases ‘Framework’ on Immigration and Border Security
President Donald Trump outlined several immigration-related themes during his State of the Union address on January 30, 2018. Also, the Trump administration released its "Framework on Immigration Reform & Border Security" on January 25, 2018. Following are...
AILA White Paper: Solutions to the EB-5 Visa Waiting Line
The EB-5 Committee of the American Immigration Lawyers Association has published a white paper on solutions for the EB-5 backlog for Chinese investors. You can read it here.
