Critical Developments In US Employment-Based Immigration

As the presidential election approaches, U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services ("USCIS") has announced some potentially transformative regulatory changes. Likewise, the federal courts have also been active with litigation challenging the flurry of Trump Administration actions (which are often announced without going through standard "notice and comment" rulemaking procedures). Just in recent days, we have seen USCIS announcements to increase expedited processing fees, while the agency's request to substantially increase filing fees was temporarily halted in federal court. In addition, the administration's H-1B and L visa ban was stopped by a federal judge in California (although that ruling appears limited to the plaintiffs' in the case.)