The Trump administration has officially moved to end the International Entrepreneur Rule, which was finalized in the final days of Barack Obama’s presidency and would have granted qualifying foreign entrepreneurs permission to remain temporarily in the U.S. to grow their startup businesses.

Key points: 

• The administration has provided notice to the Office of Management and Budget that it plans to end the rule, which never took effect. The publication of an official proposal to repeal the rule will set off a notice and comment period, during which time stakeholders will be afforded the opportunity to provide input.
• The administration’s decision to end the rule is not a surprise. In July, the administration delayed the implementation of the rule and signaled its intent to rescind the rule altogether.  

• The International Entrepreneur Rule was published in the Federal Register Jan. 17, 2017, and would have granted qualifying foreign entrepreneurs permission to remain temporarily in the U.S. to grow their startup businesses. Applicants would have been required to meet minimum requirements for capital investments or government grants and to demonstrate that their startup would have provided a significant public benefit through rapid growth and job creation in the U.S. Shortly after President Trump took office, the administration signaled it would scrap the rule, consistent with Trump’s harder line on immigration and his push to reverse a number of Obama administration immigration policies.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has said it will accept Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) renewal requests from applicants who have “individualized proof” that their requests for renewal were rejected because they were delayed in the mail.

The decision followed media reports that identified dozens of cases in which DACA renewal requests were mailed well in advance of the Oct. 5 deadline, only to be received after the deadline. The U.S. Postal Service acknowledged it was at fault in at least some of the cases.

DHS said in a statement that United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will accept resubmitted renewal requests from applicants who can show that their requests were “originally mailed in a timely manner and that the cause for receipt after the Oct. 5, 2017, deadline was the result of USPS mail service error.” DACA renewal applicants without proof of when they mailed their requests should contact USPS, which, according to Acting Homeland Security Secretary Elaine Duke, will review individual cases and issue letters if appropriate.

DHS also said it had identified some cases where DACA renewal requests were received at the appropriate filing location on time, but were nonetheless rejected as late. USCIS will contact applicants in these cases to inform them that they will also be permitted to resubmit renewal requests, the DHS statement said.

The Trump administration announced in September that it will terminate the DACA program in March, giving Congress six months to find a legislative substitute. Several bills have been proposed, but no permanent fix has been finalized.

American Immigration Council, November 2017

​Bird Technologies Group, Inc. v. United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, et al.

The United States is home to an increasing number of multinational companies that sell their products and services in the global marketplace. Under our immigration laws, employment-based visas are available to certain managers or executives of these multinational companies who have worked in either capacity outside of the United States for the time required by law. Multinational companies file petitions with United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) on behalf of managers or executives who, if USCIS approves the petitions, may eventually be eligible for permanent residence in the United States.
Plaintiff Bird Technologies Group, Inc. (BTGI) – a multinational company headquartered in Ohio with several U.S. and foreign subsidiaries – has challenged the denial of an immigrant petition filed on behalf of a BTGI manager whom BTGI employed in Brazil as a manager for nearly nine years. USCIS denied the petition because BTGI was not incorporated in Brazil, and did not have a subsidiary or affiliate in Brazil. BTGI argues that it need not be incorporated in, or have a subsidiary or affiliate in Brazil to petition for a manager 1) BTGI employed abroad directly for the required statutory period, and 2) will continue to employ as a manager in the United States.

Link to entire article.

Earlier today, the employees of Tel Aviv's Ministry of Interior (the largest Ministry of Interior office in Israel) have advised of their intent to suspend operations on Sunday, November 05, 2017. During this strike, the Ministry of Interior will not provide any services and the duration of the potential strike has not been announced. This could delay immigration processes in Tel Aviv, thus, foreign employees and foreign nationals awaiting approval of visa applications may experience delays. 

The San Francisco Asylum Office has clarified their new policy regarding the presence of attorneys at Credible and Reasonable Fear Interviews (CFI/RFI). Most interviews will now be conducted by phone. Both the asylum officer and interpreter will appear by phone and if an attorney is representing the applicant, the attorney must also appear by phone. In other words, the Asylum Office will not allow the attorney to be in the room with the applicant during the interview. The only exception will be when the asylum officer is also physically present. 

BAL (Nov. 1, 2017)
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President Donald Trump on Wednesday called on Congress to end the Diversity Visa Lottery amid reports that the man suspected of killing eight people in an attack in New York City Tuesday came to the U.S. through the program seven years ago.
“I am today starting the process of terminating the Diversity Lottery program,” Trump said at a Cabinet meeting. “I’m going to ask Congress to immediately initiate work to get rid of this program.”

The Diversity Immigrant Visa Program, also called the green card lottery, provides 55,000 immigrant visas to people from countries with historically low levels of immigration to the United States. Applicants must meet certain eligibility requirements and are selected through a randomized computer drawing.

This is not the first time Trump has called for ending the program. The Reforming American Immigration for Strong Employment (RAISE) Act, which Trump announced his support for in August, would do away with the program. The proposal would also drastically reduce legal immigration and introduce a points-based system for deciding applications for green cards.
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While Trump said he wanted to eliminate the Diversity Visa Lottery, whether Congress would vote to do so is another question. The program has survived a number of repeal attempts in the past. Any legislation to eliminate the program is unlikely to affect the 2019 Diversity Immigrant Visa Program, the registration period for which currently remains open.

 Often called the "Green Card Lottery," DV-2019 is the only official lottery program for immigrant visas to the United States. Registration began at noon Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) on Tuesday, October 03, 2017 and was supposed to end at noon EDT on ​Tuesday, November 07, 2017. However, due to a technical issue, the DV-2019 entry period that began on October 03 is closed. Entries that had been submitted between October 03 and October 10, 2017 are not valid and have been excluded from the system. 

Instead, a new full entry period began at noon EDT on October 18, 2017 and will run until noon Eastern Standard Time on Wednesday, November 22, 2017. Only entries during this period will be accepted and considered for selection in the lottery. Please throw away any confirmation number or other documentation that you have if you submitted an entry during October 03 - 10, 2017. 

For more information or to submit an entry, please visit the Diversity Visa Lottery page. ​