Business and the Workforce

While updating our immigration system has been a slow process, over the last decade, there have been efforts to pass comprehensive immigration reform legislation and the DREAM Act. Other reform efforts include executive actions such as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents (DAPA). Learn more about the ways America can upgrade its immigration system.

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March 7, 2017

United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has announced it will halt premium processing of H-1B visa petitions on April 3, for up to six months. Through the H-1B visa category,...

January 18, 2017

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Administrative Appeals Office (AAO), recently issued Matter of Dhanasar, which changes the standard that USCIS officers must follow when...

January 9, 2017

When President-elect Donald Trump is sworn in later this month, for the first time in a decade, the Republican Party will have control of the House of Representatives, U.S. Senate, and the...

January 5, 2017

The U.S. Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Civil Rights Division recently issued a final rule, effective January 18, to update regulations that the agency uses to enforce employment-related anti-...

December 8, 2016

High-skilled new Americans often face obstacles in obtaining jobs appropriate to their skill level. There are many reasons for this. Those who are educated outside the U.S. may fail to have their...

November 28, 2016

It is well known that immigrants make enormous contributions to the U.S. economy as workers, consumers, taxpayers, and entrepreneurs. As part of the labor force, immigrants are employed in a wide...

November 3, 2016

The U.S. has long been the beneficiary of the new ideas and energy generated by immigrants, yet today’s U.S. immigration system does a poor job of accommodating foreign entrepreneurs who want to...

September 22, 2016

Immigrants and their descendants make valuable contributions to the U.S. economy, according to a new report just released by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine entitled...

September 13, 2016

Despite its 3,000 mile border and long shared history, the U.S. and Mexico do not currently have a bilateral agreement to regulate the flow of “lower-skilled” labor. Yet, as has long been the case...

September 8, 2016

Congress returned to work this week after a six week recess. While September promises to be a busy month for lawmakers, it is unlikely that immigration reform will be high on their “to do” list....

April 6, 2020

Immigrants living in the United States are eligible for unemployment benefits. But as the health and economic impacts of the coronavirus spread across the country, many are reportedly afraid to...

Publication Date: 
April 6, 2020
This fact sheet defines the various components of the permanent, employment-based immigration system—and then describes how those components relate to each other in the application processes for each...
March 26, 2020

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) completed its first registration period on March 20 for H-1B petitions. The H-1B visa category allows highly educated foreign workers to...

March 24, 2020

As the COVID-19 pandemic unfolds, the U.S. health care system will likely be pushed to its limits. During this time, it is important to remember the role that immigrant health care workers play...

March 4, 2020

The Trump administration has worked to close the door on all types of immigrants—including people trying to come to the United States on visas. Consequently, the United States is experiencing a...

February 26, 2020

For the first time, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is requiring U.S. employers to register in order to have a chance to file an H-1B petition that is subject to the annual...

February 6, 2020
The American Immigration Council calls on USCIS to withdraw the Notice immediately as it contains significant changes that contravene long-established policy, harms an applicant’s access to administrative review, and was not issued under the proper legal framework under the Administrative Procedure Act.
January 16, 2020

The new process for petitioning for highly educated H-1B workers will officially begin on March 1, 2020. For the first time, a U.S. employer who wants to file a petition that is subject to the...

Publication Date: 
December 16, 2019
The American Immigration Council filed this brief in support of a U.S. employer’s challenge to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service’s denial of a computer programmer H-1B petition.
December 12, 2019
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) recently announced that U.S. employers will have to pay a $10 fee and register to have a chance at filing an H-1B petition subject to the statutory “...

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