Employment-Based Immigration

A Department of Homeland Security final rule that would eliminate “Duration of Status” (D/S) for F-1 students (also J-1 visa holders) has now cleared the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). The OMB cleared the rule (RIN: 1653-AA95) on June 17, 2026, the last procedural step before publication in the Federal Register. The rule is...

Last month USCIS issued a controversial memo suggesting that Adjustment of Status was a form of extraordinary relief and that individuals wanting to pursue a green card should leave the US to Consular Process.  As you can imagine this memo sparked fear and chaos throughout the immigration community and many Attorneys started to talk about...

For employers sponsoring their employees for a green card, demonstrating ability to pay the offered wage has always been one of the requirements.  However, although we typically address this with our clients at the outset, during the PERM stage, actually demonstrating the ability to pay does not usually come into play until the I-140 stage. ...

In a long-awaited decision, a federal judge has declared the Trump administration’s attempt to impose a $100k fee on certain H-1B workers to be unlawful. Last September, the immigration community was shell-shocked when the Trump administration announced a $100k fee applicable to certain H-1B workers. Practitioners, employers, and employees initially scrambled to understand what the...

Whether you are petitioning for an internationally recognized artist under O-1B or for the essential support personnel who make that artist’s work possible under O-2, one phrase tends to appear at the center of nearly every Request for Evidence (RFE): critical role.  For O-2 petitions in particular, proving that a foreign national plays a critical...

In yet another attempt to create fear and chaos within the immigration community, USCIS released a memo right before the long weekend reminding its officers that adjustment of status is a form of extraordinary relief. This comes despite decades of USCIS routinely adjudicating and approving adjustment of status applications as a normal part of the...

A single improper signature could now cost you your filing fee, your case, and precious time. On May 11, 2026, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) published an Interim Final Rule that fundamentally changes how USCIS handles signature defects on immigration forms. Effective July 10, 2026, the rule gives USCIS officers explicit authority to...

Over the past year, I have seen a growing number of highly educated, accomplished, and genuinely talented professionals assume they qualify for EB-1A classification simply because they have a strong résumé. That is not enough. In 2026, USCIS is scrutinizing EB-1A petitions far more aggressively than it did several years ago. Many denials are not...