On April 11, 2025, a significant change to US immigration enforcement took effect. The United States Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”), through US Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”), began implementing a new registration requirement for certain foreign nationals physically present in the United States for 30 days or longer. This change stems from President Trump’s January 2025 Executive Order titled Protecting the American People Against Invasion and is detailed in an Interim Final Rule published in the Federal Register on March 12, 2025. This post explains what the new registration requirement entails, who it affects, and what actions foreign nationals must take to remain in compliance with US immigration law.
Read moreDHS Publishes H-1B Modernization Final Rule to Improve Program Integrity and Efficiency
On December 18, 2024, the Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”) published a Final rule in the Federal Register modernizing and increasing the efficiency of the H-1B program, adding benefits and flexibilities, and improving integrity measures. This rule will become effective January 17, 2025.
The final rule imposes changes to the H-1B program and codifies a number of existing rules. We must point out that the final rule is quite lengthy; therefore, our summary does not cover all of the changes. We have outlined a few of the most notable updates and changes below which we feel may be of most interest to our community.
Read moreDHS Publishes Proposed Rule to Modernize H-1B Program
On October 23, 2023, the Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”) published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking in the Federal Register to “modernize the H-1B specialty occupation worker program.” There is a sixty-day notice and comment period for the proposed rule, and the public is invited to submit comments on the Federal Register website.
The proposed rule sets out to impose changes to the H-1B program, as well as to codify a number of existing rules. We must point out that the proposed rule is quite lengthy; therefore, our summary does not cover all of the proposed changes. We will outline a few of the most notable proposed changes below which we feel may be of most interest to our community.
Read moreDACA is Codified, but Remains in Jeopardy
The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (“DACA”) program celebrated a decade of existence earlier this year. DACA went into effect as an executive order signed by President Obama to protect undocumented immigrants who arrived in the United States as minors without “the formal agency rulemaking process, which requires public notice and comment”. It was intended as a “stopgap measure to protect some of the nation’s most vulnerable immigrants”, from deportation and allow beneficiaries to obtain work authorization and reside legally in the US. DACA was never meant to be a permanent solution but a means to be used for a limited time until Congress passed new immigration legislation addressing the immigration status of certain undocumented minors.
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