Recent federal actions have significantly expanded both U.S. travel restrictions and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) adjudication policies affecting foreign nationals from designated countries. These changes have immediate and far-reaching implications for visa applicants, employers, and individuals with pending or approved immigration benefits. On January 1, 2026, the White House implemented an expanded travel...
News
Dec122025
USCIS announced on December 4, 2025, that certain Employment Authorization Documents (EADs) will now have shorter validity periods for both initial and renewal applications, affecting many individuals seeking or extending work authorization in the U.S. USCIS explained that the purpose of these changes is to ensure more frequent vetting, deter fraud, and identify applicants who...
On June 27, 2025, the Supreme Court issued a decision in the ongoing legal battle surrounding birthright citizenship. Unfortunately, the decision failed to address the substance of the executive order, and its decision was focused on whether lower federal courts have the authority to issue nationwide injunctions. Background On the first day of his presidency,...
Jun262025
The U.S. Department of State has announced a significant change in the visa vetting process for international students and exchange visitors. Under new guidance released on June 18, 2025, all applicants in the F, M, and J nonimmigrant classifications will now be required to make their social media accounts public as part of expanded security...
Jun52025
President Donald Trump has reintroduced a key policy from his first term, announcing a new travel ban that affects citizens from 12 countries, with additional restrictions for seven others. This ban is set to take effect on Monday at 12:01 a.m., a move designed to prevent the chaos seen in 2017 when a similar ban...
On the first day of his presidency, Donald Trump signed an executive order challenging a fundamental constitutional right, birthright citizenship. The Fourteenth Amendment guarantees citizenship to individuals born within the United States. Trump’s order seeks to redefine eligibility, denying citizenship to children born to parents who are in the U.S. unlawfully, as well as to...
Starting August 19, 2024, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) began accepting online applications for its new Parole in Place program, introduced under the “Keeping Families Together” initiative. This program is designed to assist non-citizen spouses and stepchildren who entered the U.S. without proper admission or parole. By granting temporary Parole in Place, these individuals...
USCIS just announced an increase in filing fees, the first hike since 2016. The agency claims that the current fees are not sufficient to cover the cost of operations, the expansion of humanitarian programs, federally mandated pay raises, and additional staffing requirements. Additionally, USCIS asserts that the enhanced filing fees will be allocated towards the...