On September 19, 2025, the President issued a Proclamation on the Restriction on Entry of Certain Nonimmigrant Workers, requiring any new H-1B petitions to include an additional $100,000 payment as a condition for eligibility. Following the President’s announcement, USCIS released clarification on the new fee requirement, specifying that the surcharge…
The legal immigration landscape was shaken once again late Friday evening when the President issued a new proclamation barring new H-1B workers from entering the United States—unless their employers pay a $100,000 fee for each sponsored employee. The proclamation took effect at 12:01 a.m. EDT on Sunday, September 21, and…
Flickr Creative Commons Attribution Jeroen Akkermans In the last months, the U.S. Department of State released two significant policy updates that impact both immigrant and nonimmigrant visa applicants. These updates focus on a core change: applicants will now be required to have their visa interviews in their place of residence…
After years of criticizing the H-1B work visa program, benefitting highly skilled foreign talent, on Saturday the President-elect shocked the world when he pledged his support for the program. In an interview with the New York Post, Trump said, “I’ve always liked the visas, I have always been in favor…
New changes to the H-1B work visa program are coming on January 17, 2025. A new final rule published by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in the Federal Register lays out some of the critical changes that H-1B beneficiaries and U.S. employers can expect. These changes will become effective…
In this blog post, we discuss how Trump’s return to the White House on January 20th could impact employment-based visa applicants and their employers in the years ahead. While the Trump campaign has been very vocal about their zero-tolerance policy toward illegal immigration, much less has been said about employment-based…
If you’ve been a long-time follower of our blog, you’ll know that on January 29th the Department of State launched a pilot program giving certain H-1B applicants the ability to renew their visas without ever having to leave the United States. The State Department accepted applications for this pilot program…
The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) recently announced that it will be launching organizational accounts for non-cap filings and the fiscal year (FY) 2025 H-1B cap season. These efforts will increase efficiency and facilitate collaboration between H-1B employers and their legal representatives. USCIS has said that organizational accounts…
The rumors are true. For the first time in nearly two decades, the Department of State (DOS) will process domestic visa renewals for certain H-1B visa applicants without requiring them to leave the United States. This is all part of a new pilot program starting January 29, 2024, through April…