Immigration Update with Lin Walker

COVID-19 related travel restrictions and exceptions are increasingly fluid, with immigration practitioners and the general public receiving little if any advance notice of shifting priorities or new restrictions before they are enacted.

On April 30, 2021, President Biden issued a Presidential Proclamation that will suspend the entry of nonimmigrants, with certain exceptions, from the Republic of India who pose a risk of transmitting COVID-19.

In this week's podcast we explain what this means for employers, nonimmigrants and immigration professionals alike.

The Biden administration's track record so far with regard to immigration reform reveals a few bright spots but far too many disappointments.

This past Thursday April 15th, AILA held its annual Spring Conference which provided Government Relations Updates from many agencies. The news was mixed and at times, frustrating, but there were some key points that we feel are important.

Meyner and Landis attended 7 panels and distilled about 9 hours of presentations into this rapid-fire highlights podcast.

This week the writer of the Immigration Update Podcast, partner Lin Walker, personally brings us an update about how U.S. Embassies and Consulates have been misinterpreting and misapplying Presidential Proclamations, from both Trump and Biden, meant to suspend the entry of those who pose a risk of transmitting COVID-19.

If you were lucky enough to have your H-1B Cap Registration selected, what are the next steps? Well, there is still some work to do!

In this week's podcast we will examine and summarize what the H-1B Registration Selection notice states and the next steps for those whose registrations were selected during the fiscal year 2022 lottery.

This week we share some good news about three client success stories in the diverse fields of chemical engineering, social psychology, and music.

Each of these stories represent what we consider the very best of the U.S. immigration system and, when the system works well, what it can accomplish.

This week we have some unfortunate COVID related news that has been negatively impacting immigration. We discuss President Biden's Presidential Proclamation 10143 which suspended entry of immigrants and nonimmigrants who pose a risk of transmitting COVID-19.

With this new, more stringent requirement for an NIE, the number of NIV and NIE refusals will only increase, further jeopardizing U.S. company ability to conduct business and meet contractual obligations.

This week we talk about a few more details of the current registration process to keep in mind…along with some common mistakes to watch out for and a few tips to help your registration process to go smoothly.

In this informative podcast Meyner & Landis Immigration partner Lin Walker and immigration associate Kristen Sisko discuss one of their recent client success stories.

This is an interesting case, concerning the apparent conflict between practical training as authorized by USCIS regulations, hybrid graduate programs as authorized by ICE, and how USCIS determines maintenance of status for F-1 students.

Lin and Kristen explain the relevant regulations, the discrepancies they found, and their solutions for the problems that arose.

A sudden advancement in the availability of immigrant visa numbers has led to an exponential increase in the number of immigrant petitions and applications for adjustment of status filed with USCIS.

The delays have been compounded by the historically cold and storm-laden winter of 2021.