On April 3, 2018, Sophia Yan of the Associated Press published an interesting report on the future of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands-Only (CW1) Transitional Worker visa program. The CW1 visa program is a special temporary nonimmigrant work visa program that applies only to the Northern Mariana Islands. The program is gradually being phased out, with a slated expiration at the end of December 2019. Despite the impending expiration of the CW1 program, which has been long known, the program remains popular with many Northern Mariana Islands employers. There are efforts to save the CW1 program in Congress. In this post, we discuss some interesting statistics involving the economic impact and scope of the CW1 program and its uncertain future.
On May 7, 2018, the U.S. Department of State (DOS) released the Immigrant Visa Bulletin for June 2018. In this article, we will examine the pertinent charts from the June 2018 Visa Bulletin, discuss what they mean for those seeking adjustment of status during the month, and examine other news and notes included in the Bulletin.
On May 22, 2018, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) published a Federal Register (FR) notice titled “Termination of the Designation of Nepal for Temporary Protected Status.” TPS for Nepal was slated to expire on June 24, 2018, with the DHS’s decision to terminate its TPS designation. However, in order to ensure an orderly transition for Nepal TPS beneficiaries, Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen delayed the effective date of the termination of Nepal TPS until June 24, 2019. Thus, current Nepal TPS beneficiaries will be able to re-register for TPS benefits, in accordance with the provisions of the FR notice, from the period beginning with May 22, 2018, and ending with June 23, 2018. In this article, we will briefly overview the re-registration rules and procedures for Nepal TPS.
On May 25, 2018, Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen announced that the DHS will make available an additional 15,000 H2B temporary nonagricultural visas for the duration of fiscal year 2018. These 15,000 H2B visas will be added in addition to the 66,000 H2B visas that have already been issued in fiscal year 2018.
On May 24, 2018, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) published a news release discussing its efforts in the investigation of an immigration fraud case involving Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI)-Only Transitional Worker (CW1) visa petitions. These efforts led to the successful prosecution of the leader of the scheme.
On May 23, 2018, President Donald Trump hosted a roundtable on immigration in Bethpage, New York. The roundtable focused extensively on the threat of the MS-13 gang and how its activities intersect with illegal immigration and alien smuggling. The event featured Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Department of Justice (DOJ) officials, three U.S. congressman, local law enforcement officials, and parents of MS-13 crime victims. In this post, we will review some of the more interesting remarks relating to immigration policy delivered in the roundtable with reference to specific times in a video of the event posted by the White House on YouTube.
On January 12, 2018, the Supreme Court of the United States granted certiorari in Pereira v. Sessions, Docket No. 17-459. On April 23, 2018, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the case. The case was taken on appeal from the decision of the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit in Pereira v. Sessions, 866 F.3d 1 (1st Cir. 2017). In the lower court decision, the First Circuit deferred to the precedent decision of the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) in Matter of Camarillo, 25 I&N Dec. 644 (BIA 2011) in holding that the issuance of a notice appear that did not conform with all of the requirements of section 239(a)(1) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) was nevertheless sufficient for triggering the “stop-time rule” in section 240A(d)(1) – i.e, stopping the accrual of unlawful presence necessary to be eligible for cancellation of removal. In this article, we will briefly examine the oral arguments in Pereira v. Sessions and provide analysis.
On May 25, 2018, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is proposing a rule to end the International Entrepreneur Rule. The rule allowed for certain individuals to seek immigration parole to develop and build start-up businesses in the United States.
On May 4, 2018, the “USCIS mailed a number of biometric services appointment notices with incorrect Application Support Center (ASC) locations to petitioners who filed Form I-751, Petition to Remove Conditions on Residence.” In this post, we discuss how the USCIS is working to remedy its error.
On May 17, 2018, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) wrote about the sentencing of an airline staffing executive for his role in an immigration fraud scheme. Eleno Quinteros, Jr., who is the former vice president of operations for two airline mechanic staffing companies, pled guilty to having falsely certified that he had not received payments from mechanics in his employ for whom he had filed immigrant visa petitions. He pled guilty to a single count of violating 18 U.S.C. 1546(a) (making a false claim in support of an immigration application).
