A brief federal government shutdown ended this morning as the House and the Senate passed a Continuing Resolution (the “CR”) which provides a bipartisan budget bill that raises spending caps for two years and funds the federal government through March 23, 2018.  The President signed the bill this morning.  This new short-term extension has the effect of extending the EB-5 Regional Center Program in its existing form, meaning individual investors may continue to file I-526 petitions until this date. Read more ›

On January 5, 2018, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) kicked off two new “traveler compliance initiatives” aimed at assisting those travelers to the US on the Visa Waiver Program (VWP).

These newly added features to the I-94 website (https://i94.cbp.dhs.gov/I94/#/home) under the “View Compliance” tab, allows travelers to check the status of their admission to the United States. This check alerts travelers of the number of days remaining in their lawful period of admission or the number of days they have remained beyond that period.

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Anyone flying within the United States on or after January 22, 2018 will have to ensure that their state-issued driver’s license or identification card is compliant with the Real ID Act and its standards or has received an extension in which to comply.  If the traveler has a license or identification from a State that is not compliant he/she must present a valid passport or other acceptable form of documentation for air travel after January 22, 2018. Read more ›

The federal government shutdown came to an end last night as the House and the Senate passed a Continuing Resolution (the “CR”) last night which extended the Federal budget until February 8, 2018.  The President signed the bill late last night.  This new short-term extension made no changes to any federal programs, and as a result, the EB-5 Regional Center Program has been extended in its existing form, meaning individual investors may continue to file I-526 petitions until this date. Read more ›

As expected, the House and the Senate passed a Continuing Resolution (the “CR”) last night which extended the Federal budget until January 19, 2018.  It is expected that the President will sign the CR today. This new short-term extension made no changes to any federal programs, and as a result, the EB-5 Regional Center Program has been extended in its existing form, meaning individual investors may continue to file I-526 petitions until this date. Read more ›

USCIS has issued new guidance on the TN nonimmigrant classification for economists. Following a Policy Memorandum dated November 20, 2017, USCIS will no longer classify financial analysts, market research analysts, and marketing specialists in the TN economist category. Effectively immediately, these restrictions apply to new applications for TN status, extensions of previously approved applications, and international travel of employees presently in TN economist status. Read more ›

On Friday, December 8, 2017, President Trump signed House Joint Resolution 123, the “Continuing Appropriations Act”, which prevented a U.S. federal government shutdown.  The Act provided a short-term extension which will keep the U.S. federal government open through December 22, 2017.  Within this continuing resolution, no changes were made to any federal programs.  As a result, the EB-5 Regional Center Program has been extended in its existing form, meaning individual investors may continue to file I-526 petitions until this date.  Read more ›

Employers can expect an increase in immigration compliance audits and investigations by “four to five times” beyond their current levels, the director of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE) announced yesterday. Read more ›