The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will begin premium processing for cap-subject H1B petitioners requesting a change of status on their Form I-129, Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker on May 20, 2019. The USCIS also announced that starting on May 20 and running through June 3, it will “not use pre-paid mailers to send out final notices for premium processing for FY 2020 cap-subject H1B petitions requesting change of status.”
On March 22, 2019, the Government of Sierra Leone notified the DOS that it had temporarily suspended all intercountry adoption cases until April 30, 2019.
On March 27, 2019, the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) published advance notice of proposed rulemaking with request for comment in the Federal Register (FR) at 84 FR 11446 (Mar. 27, 2019). The EOIR is seeking public comment on or before April 26, 2019, on several proposals involving its rules and procedures governing representation and appearance in proceedings before EOIR immigration courts and the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA).
On March 21, 2019, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) published a reminder about STEM OPT reporting requirements for F1 students on STEM OPT extensions.
On March 15, 2019, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein delivered remarks at the investiture ceremony for 31 new immigration judges. The Deputy Attorney General’s (DAG) remarks focused on the enforcement of immigration laws and the asylum backlog.
On March 18, 2019, the Supreme Court of the United States agreed to hear an interested immigration-related case in Kansas v. Garcia, Docket No. 17-834.
On March 25, 2019, President Donald Trump signed an historic Presidential Proclamation making official the United States’ recognition of the Golan Heights as part of Israel. In this post, I examine the reasoning behind this welcome and historic decision.
On March 4, 2019, the U.S. Department of State (DOS) announced that the U.S. Embassy in Tunis is now the primary site for processing immigrant visas for Libyan nationals living in Libya. The designated site for Libyan nationals living in Libya was previously the U.S. Embassy in Casablanca, Morocco.
On February 26, 2019, the Department of State (DOS) announced that the U.S. Embassy in Caracas, Venezuela, has suspended routine visa services due to the departure of non-essential personnel from the Embassy. Accordingly, the DOS designated the U.S. Embassy in Bogota, Colombia, as the primary site for processing immigrant visas for residents of Venezuela.
