Business Immigration Insights

As Forbes has reported, US Immigration & Customs Enforcement has begun visiting the work sites of foreign students with employment authorization based on STEM degrees and employment with E-Verify employers (commonly known as “STEM OPT”).  While authority to conduct such site visits was part of regulations issued more than 3 years ago, during the Obama administration, this is the first time ICE has exercised its authority.

Although STEM OPT work permits do not require employer sponsorship, employers must develop a 2‑year training program that is kept on file with the ...

The Visa Bulletin is released monthly by the Department of State and is used to determine when a sponsored foreign national can submit the final step of the green card process, or if already pending, when the final step can be adjudicated.

Below is a summary of the October Visa Bulletin, including Final Action Dates and changes from the previous month.

China: EB-1 advances more than two years to November 1, 2016; EB-2 retrogresses two years to January 1, 2015; and EB-3 advances twenty-two months to November 1, 2015

India: EB-1 returns to January 1, 2015; EB-2 creeps forward four days to May ...

The UK could leave the EU in 6 weeks, or there may be another delay like the one we saw in April. Brexit watchers have likened the UK to a cat that can’t decide if it wants to be in or out and just sits in the doorway. This has an impact on EU citizens living in the UK who are waiting to see exactly what their status will be post-Brexit. The UK has announced a set of policies that will apply starting on October 31, but much still depends on whether the UK and EU reach a deal. A lot is still up in the air.

In 2018, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced that it will terminate the temporary protected status (TPS) program for nationals of El Salvador on September 9, 2019.  Employment authorization documents (EADs) held by qualifying individuals that expired on March 9, 2018, were automatically extended through September 5, 2018, providing applicants time to apply for new EADs valid through the termination date.  However, in late 2018, a federal court judge in California issued a preliminary injunction preventing the administration from ending the TPS program for El ...

Congress created temporary protected status (TPS) as part of the Immigration Act of 1990.  TPS allows qualifying persons inside the United States to remain and work lawfully until conditions in their home countries improve following civil war, natural disaster or similar extraordinary situations.  DHS has the discretion to determine when the circumstances in a particular country merit TPS designation.  Nationals of those countries already present in the United States can apply for TPS, along with permission to work lawfully.  TPS is usually granted in 6, 12, or 18 month increments, and can be renewed.  Haiti received the most recent TPS designation for a natural disaster, following the 2010 earthquake that devastated the island nation.

As discussed in last week’s post, obtaining US citizenship is the ultimate goal for many foreign nationals in the US who often wait years for a green card and then wait a few more years to apply for citizenship through naturalization. But naturalization is not the only way to obtain citizenship. A major source of data on citizenship laws, GlobalCit’s Global Database on Modes of Acquisition of Citizenship available from the Global Citizenship Observatory has identified 30 different modes of acquisition of citizenship, 10 of which are available under US law through more than 15 different sections of the Immigration and Nationality Act.