The Department of Homeland Security has announced the implementation of its REAL ID enforcement measures at Transportation Security Administration (TSA) checkpoints nationwide as of May 7th.
Anyone 18 years and older traveling domestically within the United States must have a REAL ID-compliant state-issued driver’s license or another accepted form of identification to board a commercial flight.
According to the agency, 81 percent of travelers are already REAL ID compliant.
Following a wave of lawsuits from international students whose visas and Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS) records were terminated without prior notice, the Trump administration has suddenly changed its course.
In recent weeks, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has begun reinstating SEVIS records that were previously terminated, after seemingly recognizing that the government did not go through the appropriate channels to do so.
Over the past month, it is estimated that the State Department and ICE collectively cancelled over 300 F-1 student visas and terminated more than 4,736 SEVIS records primarily due to student encounters with law enforcement, criminal charges that were dismissed, and old misdemeanors pre-dating visa issuance. These SEVIS terminations automatically exposed students to unlawful presence in the United States, and the risk of deportation.
It was further discovered that ICE utilized AI assisted programs to screen the social media posts of F-1 international students and terminated their legal status based on antisemitic activity or alleged support for terrorist organizations such as Hamas and Hezbollah.
In response, students across the country sued the government to preserve their status, leading federal judges to issue a series of emergency orders to stop the government from cancelling visas and SEVIS records.
Starting April 11, 2025, USCIS will begin requiring certain foreign nationals to register with the agency and submit to fingerprinting if they remain in the United States for 30 days or longer. Foreign nationals who remain in the U.S. for less than 30 days are not required to register.
Failure to comply may expose you to criminal or civil penalties, but registering also means providing sensitive personal information to USCIS that may be used in future enforcement actions.
This makes it important for noncitizens to seek the guidance of an immigration attorney. (See important warnings below.)
In this blog post you will learn what the registration requirement is about, who is required to register, the risks of registering, and information about the registration process.
What is the Alien Registration Requirement?
The requirement for foreign nationals to register with the U.S. government is not new—it began in 1940, when Congress first passed a law requiring all foreign nationals to register with the federal government, to provide biographic details (fingerprints), and carry proof of their registration.
Most foreign nationals have been unaware of this requirement because the vast majority are considered “automatically registered” when undergoing the routine visa issuance process and lawfully entering the United States through a port of entry.
However, the alien registration requirement had one glaring flaw. Those who entered the country unlawfully had no way to comply with the registration requirement and meet their obligations under the law.
F-1 International Students at university campuses across the country have been rocked by alarming reports that their visas and SEVIS records have been suddenly terminated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), without any prior notice to the university or the student.
This new wave of SEVIS terminations which began early this month has led to a string of lawsuits filed in federal district court, challenging the legality of the terminations.
School officials became aware of terminated F-1 student records only after conducting checks of the Student & Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS) system. The records of those impacted simply state that the visa revocations were due to an immigration status violation.
The following three generic classifications have been provided for the terminations:
No further details regarding the reason for the terminations have been provided by the government, nor were school officials notified of actions taken.
What is SEVIS?
The Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS) is an online system used by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to maintain information on Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP)-certified schools, F-1 and M-1 students who come to the United States to begin a program of student.
Designated school officials use SEVIS to issue Forms I-20 to specific nonimmigrants to obtain F or M status while enrolled at the school and to satisfy their legal responsibilities.
In this blog post, we bring you an important announcement regarding the H-1B visa fiscal year (FY) 2026 cap season.
Today, March 31st the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that it received sufficient electronic registrations during the initial registration period to meet the annual numerical limitations for fiscal year 2026, including for the advanced degree exemption (also known as the master’s cap).
Due to this, the agency has completed the H-1B visa lottery and selected unique beneficiaries at random from the properly submitted electronic registrations to reach the H-1B cap.
As of today, March 31st USCIS has notified all prospective petitioners of their selection via their myUSCIS organizational accounts. Please be aware that only selected beneficiaries are eligible to file an H-1B cap-subject petition with USCIS.
Congratulations to all those who were selected!
How will I know if I was selected in the lottery?
Petitioners with selected registrations will have their myUSCIS online organizational accounts updated to include a selection notice, which includes details of when and where to file. If you submitted your electronic registration with the assistance of an attorney, you should contact your legal representative to determine whether you were selected in the randomized lottery and your next steps.
Please note that a registrant’s USCIS online account will show one of the following statuses for each beneficiary registered:
Today March 21, 2025, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) released an advance copy of a notice in the Federal Register ending four Biden-era parole programs for Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela (CHNV).
When
The temporary parole period of aliens in the United States under the CHNV parole programs will terminate on April 24th (30 days from the date of the notice’s publication in the Federal Register)
Parolees without a lawful basis to remain in the United States following this termination of the CHNV parole programs must depart the United States before the program’s termination date.
Who will be impacted
Nationals from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela who flew to the U.S. under Biden’s CHNV humanitarian parole program.
Parolees granted admission under CHNV were given a temporary two-year parole period to remain in the U.S., work authorization, and protection from deportation. The purpose of the program was to reduce illegal immigration at the southern border and provide alternative legal avenues.
Approximately 532,000 nationals entered the United States using this program.
Termination of Employment Authorization Documents
Parole-based employment authorization for CHNV parolees will also automatically terminate on April 24th and will be revoked pursuant to 8 CFR 274a.14(b).
Expedited Removal
Following parole termination, DHS intends to promptly remove aliens who entered the United States under the CHNV parole programs, who do not depart the United States before their parole termination date and who do not have any lawful basis to remain in the United States.
A new article published in the New York Times reveals the 43 countries that are reportedly included in President Trump’s new travel ban, expected to be released by executive order on Friday March 21st.
According to anonymous government sources, the White House is considering a draft proposal establishing partial or full suspensions on entry to the United States for countries falling into three different tiers: red, orange, and yellow.
The “red” list of countries includes nationals whose entry to the United States would be barred for a temporary period that is yet to be determined by the U.S. government including:
The draft proposal also includes an “orange” list of countries whose nationals would not be barred from the United States, but who must be properly vetted and screened at mandatory in-person visa interviews before gaining admission to the United States.
We knew it was coming. The Trump administration is preparing to roll out a new ban on travel to the United States, restricting the entry of citizens from certain countries for which vetting and screening warrants a partial or full suspension of admission to the United States. This travel restriction is rumored to take place by executive action next week.
If this sounds like déjà vu, that’s because it is.
During his first term in office, in 2017 Trump signed Executive Order 13769 entitled, “Protecting the Nation from Foreign Terrorist Entry into the United States,” which banned nationals from seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the United States for a period of 90 days.
This executive order caused international chaos, due to several key provisions:
Implementation of this executive order led to controversy and numerous legal challenges:
Last week the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) released a new policy memorandum that requires the agency to initiate removal proceedings after it denies an application for an immigration benefit, if the foreign national is no longer lawfully present in the United States.
Importantly, the memo exempts certain individuals including beneficiaries of employment-based petitions, but it does not exempt dependent family members.
The memorandum also broadens USCIS’s authority to begin removal proceedings for certain foreign nationals with previous criminal charges, arrests, or convictions.
It is effective immediately.
How will USCIS implement this policy?
Under this policy, USCIS will initiate removal proceedings against a foreign national by issuing a Notice to Appear (NTA) after it has denied an application for an immigration benefit, if the foreign national no longer has a lawful basis to remain in the United States.
The issuance of a Notice to Appear (NTA) commences removal (deportation) proceedings in immigration court. Those who are issued an NTA must appear on the scheduled date before a judge who will decide whether the foreign national has a lawful basis to remain in the country or should be removed.
Traditionally, Notices to Appear (NTAs) have been issued by Immigration Customs and Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials.
However, USCIS also has the authority to issue NTAs in limited circumstances defined in policy memorandums issued by the agency.
On February 18, 2025, the U.S. Department of State (DOS) announced new changes to the Visa Interview Waiver program, further adding to the unpredictability of the Trump administration.
Among these changes, the State Department has limited the categories of non-immigrants who are eligible to receive waivers of the in-person interview requirement.
Moving forward only the following individuals may qualify:
Additionally, those seeking interview waivers must also meet the following requirements:
Previously, non-immigrant visa applicants applying for visa renewals in the same visa category could seek an interview waiver if their visa was expiring within 48 months. The Trump administration has now cut this time to just 12 months.
This means that renewal applicants with visas that expired past the 12-month window will be required to attend in-person interviews at a U.S. Consulate or Embassy.
These visa restrictions along with Trump’s recent executive order requesting Consulates to fire visa officers and local employees, means that wait times for visa appointments will drastically increase, especially in countries already facing severe backlogs.
The State Department has said that visa renewal applicants who qualify for an interview waiver based on the previously stated guidelines may still be required to attend an in-person interview by the Consulate. This is because the interview waiver process is discretionary. It is never guaranteed.
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