On May 21, 2026 U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services issued a startling memorandum (“Adjustment of Status is a Matter of Discretion and Administrative Grace, and an Extraordinary Relief that Permits Applicants to Dispense with the Ordinary Consular Visa Process”).
As the memo’s title boldly proclaims, USCIS doubles down on its contention that adjustment of status
[Blogger’s note: The H-1B Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM)(” Weighted Selection Process for Registrants and Petitioners Seeking To File Cap-Subject H-1B Petitions”) closed for comments October 27, 2025. More than 9,000 have been submitted with additional comments possible on the lottery registration form until November 24, 2025. On varying and at times overlapping or contrary
U.S. businesses sponsoring noncitizen workers for employment-based immigration benefits are facing particularly challenging headwinds stirred up by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).
In a recent article I co-authored with David J. Bier of the Cato Institute, we highlight the latest USCIS tempests that are creating significant difficulties for American employers.
Read the full article
[Blogger’s Note: U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has invited public comment on its proposal to allow paralegals under attorney supervision to interact with the agency in limited ways, such as requesting or rescheduling client appointments and communicating by phone with its customer service representatives. The proposal was published as a notice of an intended
My last blog post bewailed a notice in the Federal Register that seemed to give the immigration stakeholder community and the public only one day to comment on the practices and operations of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). Well, lickety-split, USCIS has issued a correction. Now, comments are invited on 17 wide-ranging issues
“Hell is paved with good intentions.” ~ Samuel Johnson
To its credit, United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) – the beleaguered Department of Homeland Security (DHS) component charged with adjudicating requests for immigration benefits – is trying in earnest to improve. On April 18, 2021, the agency posted a notice (“Identifying Barriers Across [USCIS]
In the wake of recent losses in the federal courts, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) — on June 17, 2020 — issued a memorandum that rescinds two agency policies which, for more than ten years, had forced employers of H-1B (Specialty Occupation) workers stationed at customer worksites to submit voluminous and burdensome evidence. Thankfully,
Much like patient vintners, federal immigration agencies often take time to offer up a grand cru. One such agency, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), the Homeland Security component that administers the legal immigration system, just produced a long-awaited, delectable quaff. On May 5, it issued a policy memorandum that anointed as binding precedent
[Author’s Note: This article was originally published on May 8, 2020 by the Bureau of National Affairs, Inc., on Bloomberg Law, and is accessible here. It is reproduced with permission from The Bureau of National Affairs, Inc. (800-372-1033) www.bloombergindustry.com. Copyright 2020] 
Covid-19’s impact is ongoing and Americans are eager to return to
President Trump’s October 9, 2019 overtures landed as music to the ears of many grizzled immigration lawyers who persistently suffer battle fatigue from the culture of virtually never. On that day the President released a double album, each with artfully penned liner notes: