Immigration News, November 2018

The Trump Administration is proposing changes to the H-1B system that would negatively affect many individuals. This morning, United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced possible changes to the H-1B process for the upcoming lottery. The proposed rule would require employers seeking to petition for H-1B workers subject to the statutory visa cap to pre-register for the H-1B lottery starting in April of 2019. USCIS is also considering prioritizing the allocation of visas based on the most skilled or highest-paid beneficiaries according to criteria in a 2017 executive order by President Trump, and changing the order of the lottery so that beneficiaries with master’s degrees have higher chances of being selected. Regulations have not been filed and changing the current rules is a time consuming and detailed process.  Nothing may change this year.  For now, we are monitoring the situation and will be sure to update you as further information becomes available.

As announced in our last newsletter, as of October 3, 2018, Temporary Protected Status (TPS) will remain in effect for individuals from Sudan, Nicaragua, Haiti, and El Salvador. The Department of Homeland Security has now confirmed that they are taking steps to comply with the preliminary injunction ordered by the court.  For more information click here. Please do not hesitate to contact our offices if you have any questions.

In an interview earlier this week, Trump announced his new crusade to end birthright citizenship for children born in the United States to noncitizen and undocumented parents.However, these children are protected under the 14^thAmendment of the United States Constitution, and will remain so. This amendment was intended to put citizenship above prejudice and politics and ensure due process and equal protection to everyone. Birthright citizenship is also supported by Supreme Court precedent.

President Trump should do his research before tweeting. We stand with civil and immigrant rights groups against this unconstitutional proposal. Read more here.

Several schools have joined together and filed suit against Trump’s policy regarding foreign students and exchange visitors accruing unlawful presence. Unlawful presence is the period of time spent in the U.S. beyond one’s permission to do so. Previously, students and exchange visitors used to get notice before unlawful presence would begin to count. In August 2018, the administration changed this long-standing practice by announcing a new policy, not going through the lengthy process of rulemaking.  Foreign students and exchange visitors can now find themselves out of status and barred from entering the country for years without being given an opportunity to correct the mistake.A group of higher educational institutions, noting the unfairness of the policy and the inappropriate way it was implemented, have now challenged the policy in court. We hope that the courts will roll back this harsh and punitive policy and require the administration to use the proper legal channels to change rules which have been in effect for decades.

The Visa Bulletin includes “Final Action Dates” and “Dates for Filing Applications” for the family- and employment-based categories. The employment-based second and third preference categories remain “current” for all countries except China and India.  As with last month, individuals filing employment-based adjustment of status applications may do so based on the more generous DOS “Dates for Filing” chart as opposed to the “Final Action Dates” chart. The DOS Visa Bulletin for November 2018 is available at:https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/legal/visa-law0/visa-bulletin/2019/visa-bulletin-for-november-2018.html