Showing Articles for "USA Visa"

Professionals look set to benefit as President Trump reveals plans to replace existing green cards with the merit-based “Build America” visa. In a shift away from a family-based green card policy, the plan is for a merit-based visa allocation system that will favour those with job offers, post-graduate degrees and high-level skills over applicants with relatives already on the country. However, the…

Introduction A preliminary injunction has been issued by a district court preventing USCIS (United States Citizenship and Immigration Services) from implementing the ”adverse policy” dating from August 9th, 2018, according to which the “unlawful presence” of foreign students and their dependents is calculated retroactively.  This is a significant action by the court as “unlawful presence” can be…

Trump administration plans to close international immigration offices USCIS has outlined projected target dates for the closure of all its international offices. Last month, USCIS Director Francis Cissna messaged all USCIS employees to say that plans were being drawn up for the duties of the international offices to be transferred to the State Department, with the aim of freeing up funds to clear…

Will April 2019 see the start of the H1B lottery system? In January this year, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) approved the so-called “merit-based” H1B lottery draw and this method of allocation looks set to go live on April 1, 2019. Applicants must still file paper applications H1B visas as the online registrations system for HB1 will not start being tested until next year. There is a little…

Introduction The US Department of State Visa Bulletin for March 2019 has just been released and reveals some significant changes in wait times for both the employment-based and family-based categories. If you’re waiting for a green card, we advise you to have all the documents required for your application ready to hand so that you can file it as soon as the visa bulletin shows that an opportunity…

Introduction More than 37,000 US visa applications were rejected by the US State Department in 2018 due to President Trump's "travel ban," according to figures released earlier this week.  The State Department confirmed that the 2017 E.O. on immigration had been fully effective since December 2018. The third version of President Trump’s executive order, this places restrictions on immigration from…

President Trump declares a national emergency to get his border wall built In trying to avoid another Federal government shutdown, President Donald Trump has invoked his emergency powers to bypass Congress. He will divert up to $3.6 billion from Pentagon military funding towards the construction of the border wall with Mexico, a move that he justifies by declaring that the US is threatened by criminal…

Trump Administration Policies affect on Immigration The first U.S. government shutdown of 2019 ended last week, however, President Donald Trump is considering declaring a state of national emergency if the Democrats fail to approve $5.7 billion for the completion a border wall with Mexico. The wall was a flagship of his election campaign but other less visible policies have already had an impact on…

President Trump addresses his administrations immigration goals in his first Oval Office address to the nation Donald Trump described the situation at the Mexican border as a national crisis. He argued that the current immigration system allows organised criminals and gangs to prey on the vulnerable, especially women and children; Trump also continued to make his argument for the border wall which…

Introduction President Donald Trump has informed Republicans that he refuses to accept a stopgap bill that excludes funds for his border wall. Just a few weeks ago, President Trump appeared to soften his stance in the interests of fulfilling his hardline stance on immigration policy and border security. Now, however, a deal to avoid a shutdown of parts of the government over the holidays has been…