Category: News

The United States and Mexico have reached a preliminary trade agreement that is set to replace NAFTA. President Trump announced on Monday that he will be terminating the existing trade deal between the U.S., Mexico and Canada and enter into a new deal with Mexico. According to Trump, it could end up being “one of […]

The Foreign Affairs Manual (FAM) and the Foreign Affairs Handbooks (FAHs) are the comprehensive and authoritative sources for the U.S. Department of State’s (DOS) organization structures, policies and procedures. These resources convey codified information to DOS staff and contractors, so they can carry out their duties in accordance with statutory, executive and Department mandates. Recently […]

A new policy proposal is expected to be released shortly by the Trump Administration that would make the process of obtaining citizenship or green cards more difficult for applicants that have used public benefits like the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare), the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) or the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). Several news […]

In a recent August 2018 statement, the U.S. Department of State indicated that there will be significant delays in the processing time for visas in the EB-1 category. This is the first time in recent memory that such a delay has impacted EB-1s. DOS has now reported that “limited, if any movement can be expected […]

Americans born in the U.S. and naturalized Americans alike should take note that citizens who have significant overdue tax debt can be denied passports under a law passed by Congress in 2015. Under this law, the IRS and State Department are required to deny passports to Americans who owe more than $51,000 in overdue tax […]

On July 17, 2018, AILA released “AILA Policy Brief: New USCIS Notice to Appear Guidance.” This document provides an overview of recent policy shifts regarding USCIS, as well as how this policy shift will impact immigrants in the U.S. On June 28, 2018, USCIS announced a new policy regarding the issuance of Notices to Appear […]

Earlier this year, Canada passed legislation that would fully legalize the recreational use of marijuana on October 17, 2018. As our previous blog posts have mentioned, while marijuana has already been legalized in some U.S. states, it still remains an illegal substance federally. Consequently, as these state and federal (and now Canadian) laws collide, we […]

On July 13, 2018, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) posted a guidance document restoring an adjudicator’s ability to exercise discretion and deny applications, petitions or requests without first issuing a Request for Evidence (RFE) or Notice of Intent to Deny (NOID) should they include (1) insufficient initial evidence, or (2) evidence for which […]

On June 12, 2018, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) released a document titled the DHS Northern Border Strategy. This document published findings of the assessment DHS conducted in 2017 regarding security issues and concerns at the U.S. border with Canada.  While DHS concluded that the Northern Border faced more limited threats compared to the […]

On June 26, 2018, the Supreme Court issued a ruling in favor of President Trump in Trump v. Hawaii, 5-4. This was one of the most highly publicized cases the Supreme Court looked at this term. In addition to the immediate importance of its ruling, this case will also have lasting implications.  The immediate and […]