Immigration News

24 Jun

0

Biden Administration announces plan to grant status to undocumented spouses of U.S. Citizens

In US Immigration News

On June 18, 2024 the Biden administration announced a plan to provide a path to green cards and eventually citizenship to undocumented husbands and wives of U.S. citizens. This program would, at first, provide "parole in place" and the right to apply for work authorization known as an EAD. The program would be open to undocumented persons who meet the following conditions: Entered the U.S. without inspection or parole on or before June 17, 2014 Have lived in the U.S. continuously for at least ten years Married to a U.S. citizen as of June 17, 2024 Do not have a...

24 Jun

0

Parent born in Canada? You’re Canadian!

In Canada Immigration News

Was your mother or father born or naturalized in Canada? Under recent amendments to Canada's Citizenship Act, nearly all persons whose parent was born or naturalized in Canada are now Canadian citizens. This is true even if your parent left Canada as a child; married an American citizen (or other non-Canadian); or became a U.S. citizen (or citizen of another country). There is no age limit on claiming your Canadian citizenship. If your parent was naturalized in Canada, the naturalization must have occurred before you were born. At the moment these laws apply only to the first generation born abroad. So...

23 May

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Canada to expand second generation citizen rights

In Canada Immigration News

On May 23, 2024, the Canadian government introduced legislation in Parliament to allow more persons to become Canadian citizens by descent. In 2009 and 2015, Parliament passed legislation that extended Canadian citizenship to anyone who had a parent that was born in Canada, or naturalized in Canada before the person's birth. This was done to fix the status of thousands of "lost Canadians" who lost their Canadian citizenship, or never acquired Canadian citizenship in the first place, because of the many technicalities of previous Canadian law. However, the 2009 and 2015 amendments cut off the right to citizenship after the...

29 Oct

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USCIS proposes broad rule to amend H-1B regulations

In US Immigration News

On October 23, 2023, USCIS published a comprehensive proposed rule to make many desirable changes to the H-1B regulations. The Rule is titled Modernizing H-1B Requirements, Providing Flexibility in the F-1 Program, and Program Improvements Affecting Other Nonimmigrant Workers. Proposed rules are issued for public comment and are not yet legally binding. USCIS stated final rules may be issued to implement parts of the proposed rule in separate components and at different times. The proposed rule is published at 88 Federal Register 72870.Any member of the public can submit comments on the rule. Comments must be submitted on or before...

27 Oct

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Canada announces reforms to prevent fraud in Letters of Acceptance for foreign students

In Canada Immigration News

On October 27, 2023, new Canadian immigration minister Marc Miller announced plans to prevent the issuance of fraudulent "Letters of Acceptance" for foreign students. In recent years, numerous prospective students were issued fraudulent acceptance letters through unscrupulous immigration "consultants." In the majority of cases the students were not aware the letters were fraudulent, but then faced deportation after arrival in Canada. Beginning December 1, 2023, all post-secondary educational institutions will be required to confirm every applicant's letter of acceptance directly with IRCC (Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada). This means all genuine letters of acceptance will be verified by IRCC. Minister...

30 Jun

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Canada announces new program for “Digital Nomads”

In Canada Immigration News

On June 27, 2023 Canadian Immigration Minister Sean Fraser announced a new initiative to attract so-called "digital nomads." This program allows persons who work remotely for U.S. or other foreign employers to live in Canada for up to six months while continuing to work remotely. These workers would have visitor status in Canada. Canadian immigration authorities have not previously stated that full time remote work for a foreign employer is consistent with visitor status.While the announcement mentioned a six month time period, visitors in Canada can apply for extensions. So it is possible that nomads will not be limited to...

19 Jan

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USCIS resumes premium processing of concurrent H-4/EAD extensions

In US Immigration News

As part of the settlement of a federal court lawsuit reached on January 19, 2023, USCIS has agreed to resume "bundling" of H-4 and H-4 EAD extensions along with the spouse's H-1B extension. This will apply to both regular processing and premium processing. This means if an H-1B petition is filed with premium processing, the H-4 extension and new H-4 EAD will also receive premium processing. Both the H-1B and H-4 must be filed together in the same envelope. This will result in much faster processing of H-4 EAD extensions, putting an end to the long periods of forced unemployment...

15 Mar

0

EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act signed into law

In US Immigration News

On March 15, 2022 President Biden signed into law the EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act of 2022 ("RIA"). This law makes major changes to the EB-5 program. Most importantly, the new law revives the Regional Center program, which sunset on June 30, 2021. Ninety percent of all EB-5 petitions are filed under the Regional Center program. Changes brought about by the new law include the following: The Regional Center program is extended to September 30, 2027. The minimum investment for Targeted Employment Areas is raised from $500,000 to $800,000. The minimum investment for non-TEA investments is raised from $1,000,000 to...