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By: Jake Campbell, Weija (Victoria) Ma, and Jason Burritt

Seyfarth Synopsis: The below summarizes recent legal updates that impact U.S. immigration:

1. Government Shutdown Avoided – For Now

On September 30, 2023, Congress passed a stopgap bill to keep the government running for another 45 days. For more information on potential impacts if the government were to shutdown, please see our legal alert–Potential Government Shutdown: Immigration Consequences for Employers and their Foreign Employees—here.Continue Reading October 2023 U.S. Immigration Alert

By: Nelli Shevchenko

The U.K. Home Office has updated the Employer’s Guidance on Right to Work Checks on 28 February 2023. The guidance contains important information about obligations and compliance processes for UK right to work applications made by UK-based employers. Changes include clarifications on eVisa and BRPs checks, use…

Continue Reading UK Right to Work Checks Guidance Changes: Clarifications and Legal Updates

By Tieranny Cutler and Dawn Lurie

Earlier this week, on January 26, 2021, the Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) rescinded its  intention, announced less than two weeks earlier, to develop an OPT Employment Compliance Unit. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) compliance-focused plan included close collaboration with other government agencies.

According to SEVP, following additional reviews of ICE’s current Optional Practical Training (OPT) compliance efforts, much of the work to be designated to the OPT Employment Compliance Unit is already being performed by SEVP and therefore they determined the additional unit is not needed.  While we are uncertain as to the internal discourse leading up to the quick rescission, it is likely that new administration team members reviewed the optics of the unit, the timing of the announcement (a week before the inauguration), and the potential impact on foreign students wanting to study in the U.S., before deciding to reconsider the rollout of the unit.  While humanitarian actions, including the focus on DACA and TPS have been the initial focus of the Biden administration, we are hopeful that they will turn to business and employer issues in an effort to keep the U.S. competitive globally. We expect an enforcement-minded, but practical approach; this early action should not be viewed as an indicator of anything otherwise.
Continue Reading Compliance Whiplash: ICE Establishes, and then Rescinds, Plan to Create OPT Employment Compliance Unit

The Trump administration, in response to a lawsuit filed by Harvard University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology, as well as several other suits, agreed to rescind its surprise Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) directive. We previously blogged about ICE’s Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) July 6th announcement, prohibiting foreign students from studying in the United States where their colleges and universities had canceled in-person class instruction.
Continue Reading Trump Administration Defrosts ICE’s International Student Directive