As the final Brexit date approaches, EU-member state governments are putting in place specific plans for British nationals living within the EU after March 29, 2019.  Earlier this week the Dutch Immigration and Naturalisation Service (“IND”) shared a template letter it will begin sending to UK nationals legally residing in the Netherlands regarding the continuation of residence post Brexit in case there is no withdrawal agreement ratified between the UK and the EU.  Key points contained in…

In a recent Bloomberg Law article discussing what 2019 has in store on the immigration front, Liz Stern remarks on the changing landscape of business immigration as USCIS challenges and narrows the definition of the H-1B specialty occupation visa category.  Although comprehensive immigration reform is not likely, Stern anticipates more litigation as businesses become increasingly frustrated with the shift in adjudication patterns, new regulations, and changes to specific immigration categories and benefits.  For more on what’s in store…

Last week the German newspaper, Süddeutsche Zeitung, published an article detailing a preliminary draft for a new immigration law in Germany.  Although the draft is not publicly available, the newspaper revealed that the new immigration law is set to be approved by Angela Merkel’s cabinet on December 19, 2018.  According to Süddeutsche Zeitung the key aspects of the law are as follows: Any foreign national who signs an employment contract and meets qualification requirements (or their equivalent) will be permitted to…

According to a Financial Post article, US Customs and Border Protection (“CBP”) permanently barred a Vancouver man with ties to the marijuana industry from entering the United States on November 14, 2018.  The individual, who invests in a Canadian cannabis business, was traveling from Vancouver to Las Vegas to attend a cannabis convention and tour a marijuana facility.  According to the article, when CBP learned that the individual “was going down to tour the…

A federal judge has barred President Trump’s recent asylum ban, now forcing the administration to accept all migrants crossing the southern border who seek protection, rather than limit asylum requests to U.S. ports of entry. As of last evening, Judge John Tigar of the U.S. District Court of Northern California issued a temporary restraining order that will require the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol to process all individuals crossing the California, Arizona, and Texas border.…

Mayer Brown attorneys, including partner Paul Hughes, filed a lawsuit in the US District Court of the Middle District of North Carolina, challenging the legality of the August 9, 2018 USCIS policy memorandum on the accrual of unlawful presence for F, J, and M visa holders. If an individual accrues more than 180 days of unlawful presence, she is subject to a 3-year reentry bar. That bar grows to 10 years if the individual is unlawfully…

In an article appearing in Law360, Lisa Pino offers expert analysis on the key points from USCIS’s new Notice to Appear (“NTA”) policy.  In the article, Pino notes that although the new NTA policy does not currently impact employment-based petitions, it nevertheless “is of concern to unauthorized immigrants.”  Pino writes that “unless applicants seeking immigration benefits are confident that their respective applications will be approved, their chances and risk of facing an NTA and a subsequent…