The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) has announced that starting on October 1, 2017, it will begin “phasing-in” mandatory in-person interviews on employment based applications for adjustment of status to lawful permanent residence (Form I-485) and petitions for relatives of asylees or refugees (Form I-730). The USCIS announced it will also begin incremental expansion of interviews for other type of applications for immigration benefits. The USCIS announcement is a significant...

On July 24, 2017, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS)  announced that it would resume Premium Processing of H-1B petitions for employers who are exempt from the annual H-1B Cap. This comes as very welcome news to employers who are struggling to fill critical specialty occupation positions within their organizations in a timely fashion. The H-1B visa program allows U.S. workers to sponsor qualified professional foreign nationals for employment in...

On July 17, 2017, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) updated Federal Form I-9 Employment Eligibility Verification Form. Between July 17, 2017 and September 17, 2017, U.S. employers may use either the Form I-9 version date November 14, 2017 or version date July 17, 2017 for their newly hired employees. However, starting on September 18, 2017, all U.S. employers are required to complete Form I-9 version date July 17, 2017 for...

On May 3, 2017, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) announced that it has completed the lottery for all cap-subject H-1B petitions submitted for the Fiscal Year 2018 Cap. The annual limit for H-1B visas is 65,000 for foreign nationals holding a Bachelor’s Degree and an additional 20,000 for those holding a U.S. Master’s Degree. Between April 3, 2017 and April 7, 2017, USCIS received more than 199,000 H-1B...

In November 2014, in recognition of the serious health threats posed by the Ebola virus outbreak in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia, former Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Jeh Johnson designated these three countries for Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for a period of 18 months. The DHS subsequently extended the TPS designation through May 21, 2017. In September 2016, former DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson determined that the widespread transmission of...

On April 7, 2017, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) announced that it received sufficient H-1B petitions to meet the regular and advanced degree caps for Fiscal Year (FY) 2018. Yesterday, USCIS announced that it received more than 199,000 cap-subject H-1B petitions for FY 2018 and that on April 11, 2017, it conducted a computer-generated lottery of these 199,000 petitions to select 20,000 petitions under the Advanced Degree Cap (U.S....

On March 6, 2017, President Trump signed a new Executive Order: Protecting the Nation from Foreign Terrorist entry into the United States. The new Executive Order (EO) bars the admission of refugees from all countries for a period of 120 days and bars the admission of certain nationals from six countries for a period of 90 days. The new EO will take effect on March 16, 2017. In the new EO, the...

 The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) has announced that beginning April 3, 2017, it will temporarily suspend Premium Processing of I-129 Petitions filed by U.S. employers seeking H-1B work visas on behalf of professional foreign national employees in specialty occupation positions. This suspension will apply to all H-1B Petitions including: - H-1B Petitions filed under the so-called H-1B Cap for Fiscal Year (FY) 2018, - H-1B Petitions filed by cap-exempt...

  On February 20, 2017, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary John Kelly issued two memoranda, “Enforcement of the Immigration Laws to Serve the National Interest,” and “Implementing the President’s Border Security and Immigration Enforcement Improvement Policies.” These two “Kelly Memos” direct DHS employees, including employees of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS), Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) on the implementation of President Trump’s...

  On January 30, 2017, the State of Washington filed suit in Federal District Court for the Western District of Washington, (State of Washington v. Trump) challenging the legality and constitutionality of President Trump’s Executive Order, “Protecting the Nation from Foreign Terrorist Entry into the United States.” The Executive Order bars the entry of refugees from any country in the world for a period of 120 days, bars Syrian refugees from...

  President Trump issued three Executive Orders (EOs) last week, “Enhancing Public Safety in the Interior of the United States,” and “Border Security and Immigration Enforcement Improvements," and “Protecting the Nation from Foreign Terrorist Entry into the United States.” The EOs are already causing great confusion and alarm within the immigrant community. We have seen EOs implemented immediately, leaving many individuals traveling outside of the United States suddenly unable to return...

  On January 27, 2017, President Donald Trump signed his third immigration-related Executive Order, entitled “Protecting the Nation from Foreign Terrorist Entry into the United States.” Although the title of the Executive Order suggests that it will protect our nation, the contents of the Executive Order are likely to jeopardize the safety of Americans and bona fide refugees all over the world, rather than actually protect the homeland. Since the issuance...

  In his Executive Order, Border Security and Immigration Enforcement Improvements, (January 25, 2017)  President Trump directs the DHS Secretary to use the “process of expedited removal” under Section 235(b) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA or Act) to individuals present in the United States who cannot affirmatively show that they have been continuously physically present in the United States for two (2) years prior to the date of their...

On January 25, 2017, President Donald Trump signed two Executive Orders, entitled “Enhancing Public Safety in the Interior of the United States,” and “Border Security and Immigration Enforcement Improvements.” The Executive Orders identify individuals who have entered the United States without inspection or admission as a significant threat to national security and public safety. The Executive Orders contain directives to the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to prioritize...

The new Department of Homeland Security (DHS) final regulations, “Retention of EB-1, EB-2 and EB-3 Immigrant Workers and Improvements Affecting High Skilled Nonimmigrant Workers,” (effective date January 17, 2017), may enable non-profit schools and school districts to secure an exemption from the annual H-1B Cap, thus providing a clear pathway for these institutions to hire qualified foreign national teachers as H-1B highly skilled workers without regard to the annual limits on the...

Attorney Angela Cifor has joined Kolko & Associates, P.C., as an Associate Attorney. Angela joins the firm with three years of experience in the field of U.S. immigration law. Angela grew up in Vermont and attended Lehigh University in Pennsylvania where she earned her undergraduate degree in Political Science, Environmental Studies and Spanish. In 2012, received her law degree from the University of Colorado. Since receiving her law degree, Angela has...

With the election of Donald Trump as President of the United States, and the election of Mike Pence, a virulent opponent of LGBTQ rights, as Vice President of the United States, individuals in the LGBTQ immigrant community have voiced concerns about their continuing eligibility for immigration benefits based on same-sex marriage. However, individuals seeking immigration benefits based on a same-sex marriage are unlikely to see any change in their eligibility for...

On October 24, 2016, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) announced fee increases for most immigration applications and petitions. USCIS operations are funded almost entirely through application fees and the agency is required to evaluate fees every two years. This is the first fee increase for USCIS in six (6) years, and we will see an average increase of 21% for fees for all applications and petitions. The Biometric Services...

  The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival (DACA) program was implemented by executive order by President Obama in June of 2012. Under this program, qualified individuals receive reprieve from any immigration enforcement action against them and an employment authorization document (EAD) valid for two years. DACA has been renewable every two years for qualified individuals. In order to qualify, applicants had to establish they entered the United States when they were...

On August 25, 2016, the Department of Homeland Security approved a revised Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification. USCIS is scheduled to publish the new form by late November 2016. Employers are permitted to continue to use the current version of Form I-9 (version date 03/08/2013) until January 21, 2017. After that date, all prior Form I-9 versions will be invalid. It is essential that employers ensure that they utilize the correct form...