The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has announced that it plans to add mandatory social media collection to the Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA) process.
ESTA is an automated online system that makes an initial determination about a visitor’s…
Through a joint effort of our immigration team headed by John Exner in our Los Angeles office and our sports industry group led by Gregg Clifton in our Phoenix office, Jackson Lewis was able to guide Olympic bobsledder Kaillie Humphries…
The U.S. House of Representatives passed the Build Back Better Act (BBBA) (H.R. 5376) by a vote of 220–213. Supported by the Biden Administration and congressional Democrats, the controversial bill heads to the Senate with key immigration reform…
USCIS entered into a settlement agreement in Madkudu v. USCIS that may signal changes in how USCIS will determine which positions qualify as a “specialty occupation” for H-1B purposes. During the Trump Administration, USCIS often denied cases because more than…
As governments and people all over the world await more scientific data about the transmissibility and danger of the COVID-19 Omicron variant, countries are quickly issuing travel restrictions – primarily restricting travel from southern Africa. The restrictions vary from full…
The Administration has imposed new restrictions beginning November 29, 2021 at 12:01 a.m. ET on individuals travelling to the United States from Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Malawai, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, and Zimbabwe (the “South African restrictions”) in response to the…
U.S. passport agencies maintained extremely limited operations as a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic. There were significant delays, application status could not even be checked online and people were encouraged to wait to apply until normal operations resumed absent…
Nonimmigrant spouses of H-1B and L-1 visa holders with long-pending EAD applications have finally received some relief. Based upon a settlement in Shergill v. Mayokas, USCIS is making major policy changes. Going forward, certain H-4 spouses with pending EAD…
More business immigrant visas may become available if the latest version of the Build Back Better reconciliation bill passes.
If approved by the Parliamentarian and passed as it stands, the bill would make more immigrant visas available by:
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Efforts to pass “Dreamers” bills that would provide a pathway to citizenship for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients have remained stagnant. In an effort to stabilize the DACA program, absent congressional action, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS)…
