Major Immigration Updates

1. DOL Publishes Rule: “Strengthening Wage Protections for the Temporary and Permanent Employment of Certain Aliens in the United States.” On October 8, 2020, the US Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration published an Interim Final Rule that changes the way the “prevailing wage” is determined in a wide array of occupations and fields/disciplines. […]

As we first noted on September 25, 2020, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) published a Proposed Rule to change the period of admission to the U.S. for F and J students and exchange visitors, and I status for representatives of foreign media, from Duration of Status “D/S” (the duration of the academic program or media […]

On Friday, October 16, 2020, US Department of Homeland Security published an Announcement indicating the fee for “premium processing” of applications by US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will rise from $1440 to $2500 effective October 19, 2020. USCIS’ increase in the Premium Processing fee is required by the Continuing Appropriations Act, 2021 and Other […]

On September 29, 2020, the U.S. District Court for Northern California issued a temporary injunction and stay on implementation of the 2020 USCIS final fee rule.  The ruling temporarily prevents U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) from charging new fee rates and requiring some new application form versions that were supposed to go into effect […]

On September 25, 2020, the US Department of Homeland Security (USDHS) published a Proposed Rule to change the period of admission to the U.S. for F and J students and exchange visitors, and I status for representatives of foreign media, from Duration of Status “D/S” (the duration of the academic program or media assignment) to a fixed […]

As part of a final rule published by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) on August 3, 2020, new application fees, and a new form version for certain applications, will apply to many USCIS applications effective October 2, 2020. A copy of the final fee rule is available here.    Of particular note are the following, effective for all […]

On September 18, 2020, U.S. Department of Homeland Security (USDHS) Acting Secretary Chad Wolf released a statement via Twitter that restrictions on “Non-Essential” travel between the U.S., Canada, and Mexico will be extended for an additional 30 days (to October 21, 2020). In the original announcement released by USDHS on April 20, 2020, “Non-Essential” is […]

As a reminder, a new version of the Form I-765 Application for Employment Authorization (version 08/25/2020), used for applications for F-1 Optional Practical Training (OPT), F-1 STEM OPT Extension, and J-2 work permit applications, will become effective on August 25, 2020 The current Form I-765 (ver. 12/26/2019) can be used only if postmarked August 24 […]

UPDATED 09/18/2020: USCBP announces that Non-Essential travel restriction between Canada, the U.S. and Mexico has been extended to October 21, 2020.* * * * On August 14, 2020, USDHS Acting Secretary Chad Wolf released a statement via Twitter that the restrictions on “Non-Essential” travel between Canada, the U.S., and Mexico has been extended for an […]

On July 31, 2020, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), announced a final fee rule that will adjust fee amounts for certain applications filed with USCIS. The new fee levels will be effective October 2, 2020. New fee costs will impact applications filed with Form I-129 (including H-1B and O petitions), Form I-765 employment authorization […]