On January 18, 2018, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) published the list of countries whose nationals are eligible to receive H-2A and H‑2B visas in 2018. The notice listing the eligible countries was published in the Federal Register. Effective Jan. 18, 2018, nationals of the following countries are eligible to receive H-2A and H‑2B visas: #H2A
On January 31, 2018, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that it will schedule asylum interviews for recent applications ahead of older filings, in an attempt to stem the growth of the asylum backlog. USCIS currently faces a crisis-level backlog of 311,000 pending asylum cases as of January 21, 2018, making the asylum system increasingly vulnerable to fraud and abuse. This backlog has grown by more than 1750% over the last five (5) years, and the rate of new asylum applications has more than tripled. According to USCIS, many asylum seekers try to use the existing backlog as a means to obtain employment authorization. Giving priority to recent filings will allow US
Last year, President Trump signed the “Buy American, Hire American” executive order, which specifically discussed the need to reform the H1B program, and called for the implementation of policies that will cause only the highest-paid and most-skilled foreign workers to be granted H1B status. Following the order, the United States Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS) started issuing requests for evidence (RFEs) on the majority of H1B petitions accompanied by labor condition applications (LCAs) that selected level 1 (entry) wage, the lowest permitted wage level for H-1B filings. The wage level 1 is generally determined by the education required for the position and the years of experienc
On January 30, 2018, President Donald Trump delivered his first State of the Union speech at U.S. Capitol in Washington D.C. Among various statements about the country’s domestic policy, President Trump addressed issues of the current immigration system and reforms that are being crafted by the Administration. Over the next few weeks, the House of Representatives and the Senate will be voting on an immigration reform package. The new immigration plan includes the following four pillars: First pillar offers a path to citizenship for 1.8 million illegal immigrants who were brought here by their parents at a young age. Those who meet education and work requirements, and show good moral charact
