Reportedly, USCIS will soon announce the temporary furlough of the majority of its employees – 15,000 employees, or three-fourths of its workforce.

The furloughs will begin in August 2020 if the agency does not receive additional fiscal support.

While being called temporary, the head of the American Federation of Government Employees is concerned the reduction-in-force

Additional restrictions on entry into the U.S. may be expected soon. Initial indications are that the Administration is considering barring H-1B, H-2B, L-1, and J-1 status among other non-immigrant visa categories.

On April 22, 2020, President Donald Trump issued the “Proclamation Suspending Entry of Immigrants Who Present Risk to the U.S. Labor Market During the

Premium processing will resume in stages according to USCIS. Cap-subject H-1B petitions will be included only in the last phase.

June 1, 2020: USCIS will accept requests for premium processing for all eligible Form I-140 Immigrant Visa Petitions.  EB1-C Multi-National Manager or Executive and EB2 National Interest Waiver petitions are not eligible for premium

In addition to the  COVID-19-related travel restrictions and consular closures, Chinese graduate students and post-doctoral researchers will now face another hurdle in coming to the U.S. As of noon (EDT) on June 1, 2020, President Donald Trump’s “Proclamation on the Suspension of Entry as Nonimmigrants of Certain Students and Researchers from the People’s Republic

To support the Trump Administration’s COVID-19 reopening policies, Chad F. Wolf, the Acting Secretary of Homeland Security, signed an order exempting some foreign professional athletes (and their staff and dependents) who compete in certain leagues, from the COVID-19 travel restrictions that are in place for 30 countries: China, Iran, Ireland, the U.K, and the 26

Beginning 11:59 p.m. on May 26, 2020, travelers from Brazil will be restricted from entering the U.S. under President Donald Trump’s “Proclamation on Suspension of Entry as Immigrants and Nonimmigrants of Certain Additional Persons Who Pose a Risk of Transmitting Novel Coronavirus.”

President Trump added Brazil to the list of countries subject to his previous