During the first 2 months of President Trump’s second term, immigration policy has already undergone significant adjustments. Since 01/18/2025, there have been 18 executive orders related to immigration issued, potentially reshaping the U.S. immigration system. Below is an overview of several key policies and their impacts. 01 Protecting the Integrity of U.S. Citizenship The Trump administration has redefined birthright citizenship, requiring at least one parent to be a U.S.

The H-1B season is here again and electronic registration for the FY2026 cap will open at noon ET on March 7 and run through March 24, 2025. We want to remind you to get prepared if you plan to sponsor any H-1B candidates this year. If USCIS receives enough registrations by March 24, it will randomly select registrations and send selection notifications via myUSCIS online accounts. If not enough registrations are received, all registrations that were properly submitted in the

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has issued a final rule modernizing the H-1B program, refining nonimmigrant work visa policies. These changes aim to improve program integrity, provide greater flexibility, and reduce administrative burdens. Here’s a summary of the key updates: Specialty Occupation. The candidate’s educational degree must be directly related to the H-1B job duties. This means there is a logical connection between the degree or its equivalent, and

With rising tariffs, shifting demand, and a push for diversified supply chains, a growing number of companies are reassessing their international strategies. Especially for manufacturers, setting up overseas is just the start — moving key personnel legally and efficiently is often the real challenge. The L-1 visa plays a central role in making that possible. The L-1 visa is a nonimmigrant work visa category established by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) spec

Work visas in the O-1 category have been widely used by academics and research professionals. What may seem like unattainably high requirements may actually be less difficult than you imagine. Success Story: Cancer Biology Scientist – O-1 Visa Field: Cancer Biology Position at time of filing: Research Scientist Processing Center: California Service Center Processing Time: 10 days (premium processing) Case Summary: Applicant B planned to apply for an O-1 work visa to join a

In addition to being widely used by academics and research professionals, the extra ordinary green card category EB-1A is also a preferred option for exceptional entrepreneurs. What may seem like unattainably high requirements are actually less difficult than you might imagine. Many applicants' materials require in-depth understanding and careful analysis by an attorney before they can fully meet the eligibility criteria. Below is one of our success stories. Success Story: En

Green cards and work visas in the EB-1A category have been widely used by academics and research professionals. What may seem like unattainably high requirements may actually be less difficult than you imagine. Success Story: Postdoctoral Fellow in Materials Engineering – EB-1A Field: Materials Science and Solid Mechanics Position at time of filing: Postdoctoral Fellow Processing Center: Nebraska Service Center Processing Time: 18 days (premium processing, with a Request for

On August 24, 2023, USCIS announced a policy update that clarifies the Child Status Protection Act (CSPA) age calculation rules for I-485 adjustment of status applications, as previously issued on February 14, 2023. This update benefits families whose children have aged out under the Final Action Date (Chart A) but not under the Filing Date (Chart B). Background On February 14, 2023, USCIS announced a policy change regarding CSPA age calculation for I-485 adjustment of status

USCIS announced on March 6th, 2023, the expansion of premium processing for certain F-1 students seeking OPT and F-1 students seeking STEM OPT extensions who have a pending Form I-765, Application for Employment Authorization, and wish to request a premium processing upgrade. With this expansion, online filing of Form I-907, Request for Premium Processing Service, is now available to F-1 students in these categories. USCIS continues to accept the latest paper version of this

USCIS is about to implement the final phase of the premium processing expansion for Form I-140, Immigrant Petition for Alien Workers. This expansion will apply to petitions under the EB-1 and EB-2 classifications, including new (initial) petitions, as well as all previously filed Form I-140 petitions under the EB-1C and EB-2 NIW I-140 petitions. Petitioners who wish to take advantage of the premium processing service will need to file Form I-907, Request for Premium Processin

The regulation regarding the expansion of the USCIS premium processing program was published in March 2022, and the first phase of expansion started earlier in June 2022. Today, USCIS announced that the expansion will continue to become available to the following categories: EB-1C: Starting 08/01/2022, I-140 cases filed before 07/01/2021 will be eligible for premium processing. EB-2 NIW: Starting 08/01/2022, I-140 cases filed before 08/01/2021 will be eligible for premium pr

After the introduction of the new EB-5 policy this year, immigrant visa interviews for the EB-5 Regional Center category have gradually resumed. We have recently been receiving interview notices from various consulates. Below is a summary of several recent representative interview notices for your reference. Priority Date Date of Case Completion Letter Date Interview Notice Received Notes Consulate 06/2015 08/2021 04/2022 Expedited by NVC due to aging-out concern Guangzhou 07

The regulation regarding the expansion of the USCIS premium processing program was published in March 2022. Today, USCIS announced that the expansion will first become available to the following categories: EB-1C: Starting 06/01/2022, cases filed before 01/01/2021 will be eligible for premium processing. Starting 07/01/2022, cases filed before 03/01/2021 will be eligible for premium processing. EB-2 NIW: Starting 07/01/2022, cases filed before 06/01/2021 will be eligible for

The EB-5 Immigrant Investor Regional Center Program has been reauthorized by the Consolidated Appropriations Act in 03/2022. EB-5 Regional Center petitions filed before 06/30/2021 have been resumed processing. According to the Department of State Visa Bulletin, EB-5 Final Action Dates in the May Visa Bulletin are effective immediately in April. As shown in the May Visa Bulletin, a "reserved" pool is created to reflect the new categories for qualified immigrants who invest in

On 4/27/2021, USCIS issued policy guidance to restore the deference to prior determinations when adjudicating extension petitions. In 2004, guidance was issued to direct the adjudicating officers to “generally defer to” prior determinations when reviewing extension petitions with the same facts by the same petitioner. This meant, for instance, when a company filed an H1B extension petition, the officer would generally grant approval if the employee’s position title, job dutie

Presidential Proclamation 10052, which suspended the entry to the U.S. of certain nonimmigrant applicants for H-1B, H-2B, L-1, and J-1 visas, expired on March 31, 2021. This means that nonimmigrant visa services will be gradually resumed. At the same time, the Department of State announced the phased resumption of routine visa service. Notably, U.S. embassies and consulates continue to provide emergency and mission-critical visa services, and will gradually begin providing a

On February 24, President Joe Biden signed a Proclamation revoking the immigrant visa suspension Order, a.k.a. Proclamation 10014. Proclamation 10014, issued in response to the pandemic, restricted certain immigration applicants outside the U.S. who did not have a valid immigration visa already or an official travel document. This means that immigrant visa services will be gradually resumed. At the same time, the Department of State announced the phased resumption of routin

USCIS has announced the timeline for FY2022 H-1B registration. The online registration system will open on March 9, 2021. Petitioning employers need to complete the H-1B registrations and pay the registration fees between noon EST March 9, 2021 and noon EDT March 25, 2021. It should be noted that only an employer, or its attorney, can register the candidates for H-1B selection. Employee candidates cannot register themselves. The result of the lottery is expected to be updated

A Department of Labor (DOL) issued a Revised Final Rule (the revised rule) yesterday which incorporated the 10/08 Interim Final Rule. Although the prevailing wage levels under the revised rule are not as high as initially sought by DOL in the 10/08 rule, it still will significantly increase the prevailing wage levels for H-1B, E-3, and H-1B1 and PERM cases. Specifically, the following shows how much the increases are compared to previous wage levels: Level I Wage: current -17

The DHS published a Final Rule this morning that prioritizes the selection of H-1B registrations based on employers who pay the highest wages, replacing the current random selection process with a new wage-based selection process. Under the final rule, the H-1B selection will prioritize the highest OES prevailing wage level, starting with the highest wage level IV, and then continuing to select cases in descending order from OES wage levels III, II and I. This means that with