According to media reports, the U.S. Department of State (DOS) issued new public charge guidance to U.S. embassies and consulates worldwide on or about November 6, 2025. This guidance applies to visa applications processed outside the United States, including...
Disclaimer: Any foreign national considering international travel should have an attorney review the particular circumstances of their case. UPDATE 09/24/2025Since President Trump released his proclamation on Friday, September 19, 2025, imposing a $100,000 fee on...
On July 25, 2025, the Department of State (DOS) announced an updated visa interview waiver policy, which will take effect on September 2, 2025. Previously, visa interviews could be waived for applicants who previously held most types of visas in the same category that...
On February 18, 2025, the Department of State (DOS) announced an updated visa interview waiver policy, which took effect sometime in the last week. Previously, visa interviews were waived for nonimmigrant visa applicants applying for any nonimmigrant visa...
On December 21, 2023, the Department of State (DOS) announced an updated visa interview waiver policy, which took effect on January 1, 2024. The policy both expands and limits the policy that was in place for 2023 and is in place until further notice. ...
Last updated: 02/25/2021On February 24, 2021, President Biden issued a President Proclamation revoking Proclamation 10014, known as the Immigrant Visa Ban or “IV Ban”. The IV Ban prevented the issuance of U.S. permanent residence (green card) visas by U.S. Embassies...
As previously posted, on Monday, January 27, 2020, the U.S. Supreme Court granted the administration’s request for a stay of the nationwide injunction against the administration’s public charge rule, which cleared a path for the Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”) to implement the public charge rule within the United States starting on February 24, 2020.
The new rule drastically changes the standard by which a foreign national is determined to be “likely at any time to become a public charge” (and consequently inadmissible to the U.S.), and affects not only family-based but also employment-based filings.
On January 31, 2020, the Trump administration expanded the current Travel Ban (commonly referred to as “Travel Ban 3.0”), which has been deemed lawful by the U.S. Supreme Court, to include additional countries. As with prior versions of Travel Ban 3.0, the expansion suspends entry by preventing visa issuance to citizens and nationals of the listed countries. As the ban is a visa issuance restriction and not an entry restriction, nationals from the affected countries who already hold visas may continue to use those visas.
Update:
USCIS announced on January 31, 2020 that it will implement the rule changes for filings received on or after February 24, 2020. New forms are to be released the week of February 3, 2020.
Original post:
As discussed in a prior post, the administration’s “public charge” rule changes the standard by which a foreign national is determined to be “likely at any time to become a public charge” (and consequently inadmissible to the U.S.). While litigation has delayed the implementation of the rule, on Monday, January 27, 2020, the U.S. Supreme Court granted the administration’s request for a stay of the nationwide injunction against the rule, which clears a path for the Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”) to implement the public charge rule within the United States, except for Illinois, which has a statewide injunction that remains in place.
