The New York Times: “Colleges Warn Foreign Students to Get to Campus Before Trump Takes Office”

Ahead of President Trump’s upcoming inauguration on January 20, 2025, some universities, including Harvard, USC, and Cornell are advising their international student body to prepare to return to campus from their winter breaks before Trump is sworn in to office. The warnings are a result of Trump’s expressed desire to reimpose a travel ban previously instituted during his first term as President and ended by President Biden when he took office.

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USCIS Reaches Fiscal Year 2025 H-1B CAP

United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) announced on December 2, 2024, they had reached the H-1B Cap for fiscal year 2025. The Service reported having received enough petitions to reach the congressionally mandated limits for the H-1B visa regular cap, as well as the advanced degree exemption (master’s cap) for FY2025. USCIS will be sending non-selection notices to registrants through their online accounts “over the next few days.” 

Employers submitted registrations for 442,000 unique beneficiaries during FY 2025 H-1B cap registration period. USCIS went on to conduct two lottery selections, one in March 2024 and another in August 2024. For those not selected, remember there may still be hope.

The Aftermath of the H-1B Fiscal Year 2025 Visa Lottery: Next Steps and Alternatives

In April this year, United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) announced they had received sufficient electronic registrations for unique individuals for the fiscal year 2025 (“FY2025”) cap, including the advanced degree exemption (master’s cap). USCIS randomly selected properly submitted registrations and notified all employers.

Those with selected registrations were able to begin filing H-1B cap subject petitions for FY2025 as of April 1, 2024. The deadline for filing H-1B cap subject petitions online, based on a valid registration selection notice, was June 30, 2024, and paper-based H-1B cap subject petitions had to be received at a USCIS Lockbox Facility by July 1, 2024 (since June 30 was a Sunday).

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New Visa Processing Fees Effective May 30, 2023

The Department of State (“DOS”) published its updated fee schedule for Consular Services – Nonimmigrant and Special Visa Fees. Beginning May 30, 2023, there will be an increase in fees charged for nonimmigrant visas (“NIVs”) and border crossing cards (“BCCs”). The good news is that the fee increases are less than “originally proposed for all categories of NIVs.”

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Judge Issues Preliminary Injunction Halting Proclamation Suspending Entry of H-1B, H-2B, J-1, and L-1 Workers for Plaintiffs

In early October, Judge Jeffrey S. White of the US District Court for the Northern District of California temporarily blocked further implementation of section 2 of the June 22 presidential proclamation (PP 10052) that suspended entry into the US for H-1B highly-skilled workers, H-2B nonagricultural workers, J-1 exchange visitors including interns, trainees, teachers, camp counselors, and au pairs, and L international intracompany transfers, and all their dependents. This injunction is not nationwide and only applies to plaintiffs and members of the plaintiff groups. In his opinion, Judge White criticized the June 22 presidential proclamation noting it did not address the issue it was supposed to fix, namely helping the domestic economy by providing more job opportunities for Americans. “[T]he Proclamation completely disregards both economic reality and the pre-existing statutory framework. Furthermore, without any consideration of the impact on American firms and their business planning, the Proclamation abruptly changed the scope of immigration policy in the United States.”

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State Department Broadens National Interest Exceptions for H-1B, H-2B, L-1, and J-1 Applicants

The US Department of State (DOS) has issued guidance explaining additional ways for H-1B, H-2B, L-1, and J-1 visa applicants to overcome the travel restrictions detailed in President Trump’s June 22, 2020, presidential proclamation (PP 10052). This June 22 proclamation suspended the entry of foreign nationals into the US on H-1B, H-2B, L, and J visas until at least December 31, 2020, and also extended the suspension of entry to the US of most immigrant visa applicants through the end of the year. The DOS guidance, issued August 12, 2020, broadened the exceptions to the June 22 proclamation, but not everyone is pleased. Jesse Bless, American Immigration Lawyers Association’s (AILA) director of litigation, criticized the guidance in an interview in Forbes: “The guidance is an attempt to place new statutory requirements for these visas in violation of the Immigration and Nationality Act and, to the extent the law is ambiguous, without notice and comment to enact regulatory change.” He added: “Some may benefit, but it’s an unlawful attempt nonetheless.”

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Can I Travel to the US? COVID-19-Related Travel Restrictions and Issues

What a strange and unpredictable year this has been! As countries start to open up their borders to international travelers, the most common question we have been getting over the last few months has been, "Can I travel to the US?" Unfortunately the very lawyerly answer is: "It depends." It depends what country you are coming from. It depends if you have a visa and in what visa category you intend to travel to the US. It depends on whether you have a Green Card. It depends on whether you have a legal permanent resident or US citizen relative. It may even depend on what exactly you intend to do in the US. Below we will try to unravel some of these issues but in many cases there are no clear answers. One caveat: the information about travel to the US is changing on an almost daily basis, therefore more than ever before, if you intend to travel to the US, it is vitally important you check with an immigration lawyer for specific advice on your individual circumstances.

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PRESIDENT TRUMP ISSUES PROCLAMATION SUSPENDING CERTAIN WORK VISAS INCLUDING H-1B’S FOR THOSE OUTSIDE THE US (UPDATED JULY 2, 2020)

President Trump today issued a proclamation temporarily suspending certain employment-based work visas for those outside the United States through December 31, 2020. This order, which does not affect foreign national workers already in the US in any category, could effectively bar hundreds of thousands of foreign nationals from coming to work in the US. President Trump claims his actions are necessary to protect US jobs amid the economic downturn caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

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The Aftermath of the H-1B Fiscal Year (FY) 2020 Visa lottery: Next Steps and Alternatives

US Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS) have announced the lottery results for this year’s H-1B cap (Fiscal Year 2020) with USCIS reporting that it received 201,011 H-1B petitions. Additionally, the agency announced last week that they completed data entry for all FY 2020 H-1B cap-subject petitions selected (including master’s cap cases), which means they will be sending receipt notices for those cases selected and returning those cases not selected.

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Visa Options for Internships and Training Programs in the US

For foreign students who want to boost their resume with real-world experience, or young professionals starting out their career who want to sharpen their skills, or even seasoned professionals who want to round out their global industry knowledge, internships and training programs in the US might be excellent opportunities. When foreign nationals secure internships/training programs in the US, there are three nonimmigrant visa types in particular that may be most appropriate: the J-1, H-3, or B-1. In this post, we explain the basics of each visa type and also include a chart that breaks down in more detail their differences. As always, foreign nationals should consult with an experienced immigration attorney when deciding what the best visa option is for their particular circumstances.

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