Keeping you informed on the latest immigration news.
DOS Issues Updated Diversity Visa Guidance
On December 23, 2025, the Department of State (DOS) released updated guidance on diversity visa (DV) issuance. The guidance notes that effective immediately, DOS has paused all visa issuances to diversity immigrant visa applicants. DV applicants may submit visa...
OFLC Reminds Stakeholders of H-2B Filing Timeline for 2026 Peak Filing Season
On December 29, 2025, the Department of Labor's Office of Foreign Labor Certification (OFLC) reminded employers and other interested stakeholders that the filing window to submit an H-2B Application for Temporary Employment Certification (Form ETA-9142B and...
European Leaders Denounce U.S. Travel Sanctions Attributed to ‘Censorship’
According to reports, European leaders were quick to denounce the Trump administration's imposition of visa bans on five officials and activists who Secretary of State Marco Rubio said "have led organized efforts to coerce American platforms to censor, demonetize, and...
Trump Administration Plans to Build Seven Large Deportation Facilities Across United States
According to reports, the Trump administration plans to seek contractors to build seven large detention centers, including converted warehouses, to hold 5,000 to 10,000 detainees each, for a total of more than 80,000 detainees across the United States. Sixteen smaller...
Multiple States Support Plaintiffs in Amicus Brief Against New $100,000 H-1B Fee
According to reports, multiple states joined an amicus brief supporting plaintiffs in Global Nurse Force v. Trump, filed in the Northern District of California. The brief asks the judge to temporarily block a new Trump administration policy to charge new H-1B...
DHS Finalizes H-1B ‘Weighted Selection’ Rule Without Changes
On December 23, 2025, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced a final rule implementing a weighted selection process that generally favors the allocation of H-1B visas to those who are, in the administration's view, "higher-skilled and higher-paid." The...
Steve Yale-Loehr Quoted in The New York Times on Diversity Visa Program
Steve Yale-Loehr was quoted by the New York Times in Trump Administration Pauses Diversity Immigration Program After Brown Shooting. He noted that the program was created by Congress and presidents "cannot unilaterally negate or terminate an immigration program." He...
USCIS Clarifies Requirements for Professional Athletes as World Cup and Olympics Events Loom
On December 18, 2025, as the United States prepares for upcoming World Cup and Olympics events in 2026, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced new policy guidance to address the Department of Labor's (DOL) adoption of the Foreign Labor Application...
President Suspends Diversity Visa Program After Shootings
On December 18, 2025, President Trump suspended the Diversity Immigrant Visa Program, sometimes called the "green card lottery," following shootings at Brown University and of a Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor by a Portuguese national who immigrated to...
President Expands Full and Partial Travel Ban List
On December 16, 2025, President Trump issued a Presidential Proclamation expanding travel restrictions announced earlier this year. The new proclamation applies to individuals who are outside of the United States as of January 1, 2026, and do not have a valid visa....
