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A new policy update from the US Citizenship and Immigration Services will make it easier for children of non-immigrant visa holders in the US to shift to a F-1 student visa, benefiting the children of thousands of H-1B visa holders in the US. Under the previous policy, applicants needed to maintain status up to 30 days before the program start date, which required them to file multiple visa extensions to ensure that they do not have a ‘gap’ in status.

“To prevent a ‘gap’ in status, USCIS will grant the change of status to F-1 effective the day we approve an applicant’s Form I-539, application to extend/change non-immigrant status. If we approve an application more than 30 days before the student’s program start date, the student must ensure they do not violate their F-1 status during that time,” said the policy update. Continue reading “The Economic Times: Policy change to benefit children of H-1B visa holders in the US”

A federal judge in Texas ordered the U.S. government on Friday to close the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program to new applicants, saying the Obama administration did not have the legal authority to grant deportation relief and work permits to undocumented immigrants brought to the U.S. as children.

Granting a request by Texas and other Republican-led states, U.S. District Court Judge Andrew Hanen required the Biden administration to stop approving new applications for DACA, blocking tens of thousands of immigrant teenagers and young adults from accessing the Obama-era legal protections.

Hanen did not order the government to strip the work permits and deportation protections from the more than 616,000 immigrants who are already enrolled in DACA.

Continue reading “CBS News: Judge orders U.S. to close DACA program to new applicants, calling it illegal”

Backlogs, processing delays, and revenue shortfalls are nothing new at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). The agency has long suffered from severe structural problems that hurt people who depend on it for work authorization, adjustment of status, naturalization, and many other immigration benefits.

However, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on agency operations has made a bad situation much worse. As the 2021 Annual Report of the USCIS Ombudsman describes, the agency is now experiencing backlogs of applications and petitions “at record levels,” as well as drastically reduced “customer service functions.”

Continue reading “Immigration Impact – The COVID-19 Pandemic Made USCIS Backlogs Go from Bad to Worse”

Continue reading “CNN Travel – US extends Covid-19 travel restrictions with Canada and Mexico”

Tampa Partner Maria del Carmen Ramos has been re-elected to the Board of Directors for the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) Central Florida Chapter. The AILA Central Florida Chapter is the local chapter for the national association of immigration lawyers established to promote justice, advocate for fair and reasonable immigration law and policy, advance the quality of immigration and nationality law and practice, and enhance the professional development of its members. This will be Maria’s second term on the Board of Directors after having been heavily involved in the AILA Central Florida Chapter for many years, previously serving as the Education Vice Chair and co-chairing the chapter’s law conference in 2019.

Incoming AILA Central Florida Chapter Chair, April Caminez-Bentley said, “It is wonderful to have Maria re-elected to the Board of Directors. Maria’s leadership, wealth of immigration expertise, and her skillful communications bring great value to the Board in carrying out our Chapter endeavors from educating our Members about the latest immigration changes to lobbying Congress for immigration reform.”

Continue reading “Maria del Carmen Ramos Re-Elected to the Board of Directors of the AILA Central Florida Chapter”

WASHINGTON (AP) — A unanimous Supreme Court ruled Monday that thousands of people living in the U.S. for humanitarian reasons are ineligible to apply to become permanent residents.

Justice Elena Kagan wrote for the court that federal immigration law prohibits people who entered the country illegally and now have Temporary Protected Status from seeking “green cards” to remain in the country permanently.

The designation applies to people who come from countries ravaged by war or disaster. It protects them from deportation and allows them to work legally. There are 400,000 people from 12 countries with TPS status.

The outcome in a case involving a couple from El Salvador who have been in the U.S. since the 1990s turned on whether people who entered the country illegally and were given humanitarian protections were ever “admitted” into the United States under immigration law. Continue reading “AP – Supreme Court rules against immigrants with temporary status”

The Biden administration has ended a policy that allowed the U.S. to reject certain visa applications for any blank space on the form – even if that space didn’t apply to the person – a policy that led to thousands of rejections for otherwise qualified migrants.

Continue reading “Spectrum News 1 – Biden Administration Rescinds Policy of Rejecting Visa Forms with Blank Spaces”

Former President Donald Trump on Tuesday announced he will offer Venezuelan exiles protection from deportation, a move he has considered for years but refused to do until his last full day in office.

Trump is using the little-known Deferred Enforced Departure program, or DED, to offer temporary legal status to Venezuelans fleeing the humanitarian crisis brought on by Nicolás Maduro’s regime. DED, similar to Temporary Protected Status or TPS, protects recipients from deportation and allows them to get work permits. However, it is granted directly by the president instead of the Department of Homeland Security.

“The deteriorative condition within Venezuela, which presents an ongoing national security threat to the safety and well-being of the American people, warrants the deferral of the removal of Venezuelan nationals who are present in the United States,” Trump said in a memorandum released Tuesday. Continue reading “Politico – Trump grants Venezuelans temporary legal status on his way out”

President-elect Joe Biden’s efforts to reverse President Donald Trump’s immigration executive actions may not be as simple as issuing a contrary edict, as court rulings show that the government should consider both the scope of authority as well as underlying reasons for actions taken.

As Trump learned when he tried and failed to rescind the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, Biden will need to address the rationales behind policies like the travel and visa bans in order to undo them.

“It used to be that you could overturn a policy in the same way that the policy was written. So if it was a policy memo, you could write a policy memo, a regulation for a regulation,” said SharvariDalal-Dheini, director of government relations at the American Immigration Lawyers Association. Continue reading “Bloomberg Law – Trump’s Executive Orders on Immigration Could be Tough to Undo”

Rule Expected to Protect the Economic Interests of American Workers

WASHINGTON—U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has announced a final rule that will modify the H-1B cap selection process, amend current lottery procedures, and prioritize wages to protect the economic interests of U.S. workers and better ensure the most highly skilled foreign workers benefit from the temporary employment program.

Modifying the H-1B cap selection process will incentivize employers to offer higher salaries, and/or petition for higher-skilled positions, and establish a more certain path for businesses to achieve personnel needs and remain globally competitive. Continue reading “USCIS Modifies H-1B Selection Process to Prioritize Wages”