United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has proposed a new rule making changes to the annual selection process for H-1B visas. H-1B visas are currently limited to 65,000 per fiscal year, with an additional 20,000 “Master’s cap” H-1B visas available to workers with a Master’s degree from a U.S. university. Each year for the past several years, the demand for H-1B visas has far outpaced this statutory limitation. The result...

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has advised that it is on track to issue a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) by the end of the year that would rescind the rule permitting employment authorization for certain H-4 spouses. This timeline was announced in a court filing last month by DHS in the ongoing litigation around the H-4 employment authorization regulations. H-4 non-immigrants are the spouses and children of non-immigrants in...

If you were issued a two-year lawful permanent resident card, this means that your residency status is conditional and you will need petition to remove the conditions on your residency. This is done by filing Form I-751, Petition to Remove Conditions on Residency with United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) during the 90-day window prior to the expiration of your conditional residency card. Lately, USCIS is taking well over 18...

It has been almost one year since U.S. Attorney General, Jeff Sessions announced that the government was terminating Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), a program which offers work permits and deportation relief to undocumented immigrants brought to the U.S. as children. However, thanks to multiple lawsuits filed in Federal Courts across the country, challenging the legality of the termination of DACA, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has continued...

  On June 26, the United States Supreme Court issued its decision in the closely watched “Travel Ban” case, Trump v. Hawaii. The Court found that the Trump administration was within its authority in issuing Proclamation No. 9645, which suspends the issuance of visas to foreign nationals of seven countries. The Proclamation at issue was the third iteration of travel bans issued by the Trump Administration, which have been the subject...

On May 22, 2018, United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that the final registration period for Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for citizens of Nepal is open and beneficiaries must re-register before July 23, 2019. Beneficiaries of TPS from Nepal are currently granted protection and employment authorization until June 24, 2018.  Due to the anticipated delay in processing the re-registration applications, USCIS has automatically extended employment authorization for all Nepalese...

On May 15, 2018, United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that it had completed its electronic data entry for receipt of all H-1B Cap-Subject Petitions selected for Fiscal Year 2019. USCIS previously announced on April 11, 2018 that it had completed the random selection process for H-1B Cap-Subject Petitions. The May 15 announcement indicates that each of those H-1B Cap-Subject Petitions which were selected under this “cap” have now...

In recent months the Trump Administration has terminated the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) Program for multiple countries and is reviewing the continued designation of several others. TPS for Hondurans was terminated and will only continue through July 5, 2018. The TPS designation for Nicaragua will terminate on January 5, 2019. TPS for individuals from Haiti was also terminated and the protected status will only continue through July 22, 2019. Individuals from...

Due to a Federal Court Order directing the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) to resume accepting renewal applications for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), individuals currently holding DACA and people whose DACA expired on or after September 5, 2016 are encouraged to submit DACA renewal applications to USCIS immediately. It is widely known that on September 5, 2017, President Trump terminated the DACA Program. (See DHS Rescinds the DACA Program)....

On January 08, 2018, the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security announced her decision to end the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) designation for El Salvador. TPS provides temporary lawful status and work authorization to people already in the United States from countries affected by armed conflict, natural disaster or other strife. El Salvador was first designated by George W. Bush in March 2001 following a series of earthquakes, and has...

On January 9, 2018, Federal Court Judge William Alsup from the Federal District Court in San Francisco, California ordered the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to resume processing applications for renewal of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) while an on-going legal challenge to the Trump Administration’s rescission of the DACA program is resolved. Judge Alsup’s order applies nationwide to all current/prior DACA holders. In June 2012, the Obama Administration announced...

Kolko & Associates, P.C. is pleased to announce that for the third year in a row, Managing Partner David Kolko has been selected as one of 5280 Magazine’s Top Lawyers. Congratulations David! For more information regarding Managing Partner David Kolko or the legal services that we offer at Kolko & Associates, P.C., please contact our office.

On December 04, 2017, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the third version of President Trump’s travel ban will be allowed to go into effect. Although other legal challenges are still making their way through the court system, as of December 08, 2017, restrictions went into effect limiting travel for people from eight nations. Effect of the Supreme Court’s order: In practical terms, the orders issued by the U.S. Supreme Court,...

On November 20, 2017, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Acting Secretary, Elaine Duke announced it would end Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Haiti. Haiti is the third country to have TPS terminated under the Trump Administration, following announcements to terminate TPS for Sudan and Nicaragua in September and November 2017. TPS was established by Congress in 1990 as a way to provide humanitarian relief to foreign nationals already residing in...

On Wednesday, October 11 the White House announced that President Trump will nominate Kristjen Nielsen to serve as the new Secretary for the Department of Homeland Security.  Elaine Duke has been Acting Homeland Security Secretary since General John Kelly left the post to serve as White House Chief of Staff in July. Nielsen is currently the principal Deputy Chief of Staff to Kelly and served in DHS as Kelly's Chief of...

On September 18, 2017, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced that the designation for Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Sudan would be terminated on November 2, 2018. The Acting Secretary of DHS, Elain Duke, accounced that she has determined that the conditions in Sudan no longer support its designation for TPS.  Sudan was originally designated for TPS in 1997, due to the ongoing armed conflict and civil war. The country...

On September 24, 2017, the Trump Administration issued a Presidential Proclamation to finalize the determinations on banning travel from certain designated countries in particular visa categories, pursuant to President Trump's March 6, 2017 Executive Order.  The Proclamation, entitled "Enhancing Vetting Capabilities and Processes for Detecting Attempted Entry into the United States by Terrorists or Other Public-Safety Threats," announces seven designated countries from which entry and visa issuance will be restricted, based...

On September 5, 2017, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) formally rescinded the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program established under the Obama Administration. The decision to rescind the program was announced by Attorney General Jeff Sessions and the DHS subsequently issued Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) on its website regarding the terms of the rescission of the DACA program This rescission will have immediate and significant consequences for those who...

On Sunday, September 03, 2017, Politico.com reported that the White House has “unofficially confirmed” that the Trump Administration will end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, with a six-month delay. As of today, it is unclear whether this reported decision to end the DACA program is confirmed. ' Also unclear is the timeline and terms for termination of the program. Another major open question is whether those with DACA...

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...