US Immigration News

International students bound for the US have expressed their frustration over problems they’re facing amid a lack of visa appointments at American Embassies in certain countries. The problems come despite US officials saying that they would ‘prioritize student and exchange visitor visa programs.’

 

US immigration officers are reportedly visiting the homes of H1B visas holders working remotely. With the coronavirus pandemic forcing much of the US workforce into remote working, United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) agents are making home visits to ensure that foreign employees are complying with H1B visa rules.

 

In yet another Home Office immigration U-turn, 6,000 frontline migrant NHS workers will have their UK visas further extended. The government agency had initially refused to extend the visas of foreign NHS staff any further, forcing many to leave the UK. The move has been welcomed, although the Home Office has been slammed for not extending visas earlier.

 

In a letter to the US Department of Labor (DOL), the US Small Business Administration (SBA) has called for a proposed H1B visa wage hike to be delayed. In September, Workpermt.com reported that the DOL had requested that wages paid to H1B visa holders be increased in an effort to deter companies from relying on migrant labor.

 

In yet another blow to Donald Trump’s attempts to scrap the DACA US immigration program, a New York judge has ruled that Chad Wolf, the acting Department of Homeland Security (DHS) chief, was appointed unlawfully.  

The ruling means that his suspension of the DACA program is invalid because he did not have the authority to stop the scheme.

The US citizenship test has been updated and will now feature more questions than ever before. Experts claim that the test will be ‘harder for immigrants’ and will slow down the number of tests that can be held each day. The new-look test is set to launch on December 1, 2020.