Trump Administration Backs Down After H-1B New Years’ Eve Scare On December 30, 2017, the McClatchy DC Bureau reported that the Trump Administration was seeking to restrict H-1B visa extensions beyond the six-year limitation through a re-interpretation of the AC21 rules. After an apparent realization that such a move was ill-conceived, subject to strong reactions from the…
USCIS Reverses Long-Standing Policy on H-1B Extensions On October 23, 2017, USCIS rescinded its long-standing policy of deference in the adjudication of H-1B extensions with the same employer. USCIS officers will now “apply the same level of scrutiny to both initial petitions and extension requests for certain nonimmigrant visa categories” pursuant to the policy memorandum,…
USCIS Unfairly Scrutinizes Entry Level H-1B Positions By Kalpana V. Peddibhotla & Roujin Mozaffarimehr This year, USCIS has taken the novel and ultra vires stance that H-1B petitions for entry-level positions do not qualify for the classification and are not specialty occupation. This has led to an onslaught of Requests for Evidence (RFEs), even where the classification…
Latest Details on Employment Based Green Card Interviews: Will Field Officers Readjudicate? By Ameer Shaikh (Newark/Fremont, CA) On September 28, 2017, ImmiCore Law participated in a USCIS Ombudsman teleconference regarding the USCIS’ new interview requirement for employment based green cards. Here are a few of the salient points gleaned from the conversation: The USCIS will…
Trump Administration and America Turns Its Back on the DREAMers Kalpana V. Peddibhotla & Roujin Mozaffarimehr On September 5, 2017 President Trump announced that his administration will be ending the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, effectively ending protection for the DREAMers he promised to support during his campaign and the early months of…
The Insidious Attack on Business Immigration to the U.S. By Kalpana V. Peddibhotla & Ameer Shaikh Trump Administration Changes Business Immigration Overnight and Simultaneously Circumvents the Legislative Process. This needs to be stated bluntly: The Trump administration’s assault on immigrants is an assault on the viability and strength of American business. The immigration debate is often framed…
Travelers Be Wary – International Travel on Pending I-131 Will be Deemed Abandonment By Roujin Mozaffarimehr The USCIS has changed its policy with regard to international travel while a form I-131 Application for Advance Parole is pending. In the past, the USCIS routinely approved advance parole applications where applicants traveled abroad during the pending period…
BREAKING NEWS: Trump Administration to End DACA Program On September 5, 2017, President Trump issued a written statement read aloud by Attorney General Jeff Sessions, announcing the end of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. The President has put into place a 6-month “wind-down” of the DACA program. What we know so far:…
The Department of State Revises the Foreign Affair Manual to Provide Consular Officers Guidance in light of Trump’s “Buy American and Hire American” Executive Order By Roujin Mozaffarimehr As of August 2017, the Department of State (DOS) has updated its Foreign Affairs Manual (FAM), which details the policies and procedures by which Consular Officers are…
USCIS Expands In-Person Interview Requirements for Adjustment of Status Applications for Employment and Refugee/Asylee Relative Petitions By Roujin Mozaffarimehr On August 28, 2017, The USCIS announced that in-person interviews will now be required for applicants with adjustment of status applications based on employment (I-140 petitions), as well as Refugee/asylee relative petitions (I-730 petitions). This new…