On May 29, 2018, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) published a notice in the Federal Register proposing elimination of the International Entrepreneur Rule (IER). Public comments on the proposed elimination are due by June 28, 2018. USCIS expects that, after the comments are considered and a final rule is published, the final rule would take effect 30 days after publication.
The Trump administration was due to propose new regulations by the end of February 2018, eliminating the ability of certain H-4 dependents to work. Although it has not yet issued proposed regulations, there is now a potential timeline for that to occur. In ongoing litigation over the regulation allowing H-4 employment, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ordered the case to be held in abeyance following a motion from the Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”) requesting time to issue a proposed “rescission” regulation in February 2018. Although DHS did not issue such a regulation in February, the Circuit Court order, issued February 21, 2018, gives the DHS 90 days, or until May 22, 2018, to provide an update on rulemaking.
On December 18, 2017, U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS) announced a policy change affecting the adjudication of applications for TN visa status under NAFTA.
Background on TN visa status
TN visa status allows citizens of Canada or Mexico to work legally in the U.S. if their employment fits within any of 62 occupational classifications and they have the corresponding educational and/or professional qualifications. One such occupational classification is “Economist.” The full list of eligible occupational classifications is found in Appendix 1603.D.1 of the NAFTA treaty, as well as in the federal regulations at 8 C.F.R. Section 214.6.
On December 14, 2017, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that it is implementing the International Entrepreneur Rule (IER), in compliance with a federal court order. The IER regulations, 8 CFR § 212.19, allow qualifying foreign national entrepreneurs to enter the U.S. temporarily to develop and grow new businesses. At the same time it is accepting applications under the IER, however, the agency is preparing to publish a Notice of Proposed Rule-Making (NPRM) to rescind the IER. Thus, it is unclear whether individuals who apply to enter the U.S. pursuant to the IER will ultimately receive the benefits of the rule, or for how long.
Issuing two separate orders (here and here) on the Trump Administration’s Travel Ban today, the U.S. Supreme Court allowed the third iteration of the ban, issued via Presidential Proclamation on September 24, 2017, to take full immediate effect. We detailed the ban in...
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals today issued an order reinstating the Trump Administration’s third version of a travel ban. The ban was announced in President Trump’s September 24, 2017 proclamation and is now in effect; affected are nationals of Chad, Iran, Libya,...
In two separate Federal Court decisions issued on October 17, 2017, the majority of the travel restrictions set forth in President Trump’s September 24, 2017 proclamation titled “Enhancing Vetting Capabilities and Processes for Detecting Attempted Entry into the...
As discussed in an earlier post, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced on August 28, 2017 that it will cease waiving interviews of applicants applying for “adjustment of status” (AOS) to U.S. permanent residence (green card) based on employment. As part of the Trump administration’s plan to apply “extreme vetting” to would-be immigrants (and others), employment-based AOS applicants will be required to undergo an in-person interview at a USCIS field office. Approximately 130,000 applicants are expected to be affected per year.
On September 24, 2017 President Trump announced an extended and enhanced version of the travel ban that was previously in place under Executive Order 13780 (EO-2). The Presidential Proclamation titled “Enhancing Vetting Capabilities and Processes for Detecting Attempted Entry into the United States by Terrorists or other Public-Safety Threats,” a related Fact Sheet, and FAQs for the new ban are available on the White House website. As with EO-2, the ban affects immigrant and nonimmigrant visa issuance only. Therefore, nationals from the affected countries who already hold visas will not have those revoked. The U.S. Department of State has also announced that previously scheduled visa appointments will not be cancelled.
