US Immigration Law

A US federal judge has temporarily blocked a Trump administration new rule that would impose stricter limits on how long foreign students and journalists can study or work in America. The decision by the Massachusetts district judge on Monday will bring some relief to international students, including many from India and has came one day before it was to come into effect. The judge ruled that the new policy would probably cause "catastrophic" damage to the US economy and higher-education system, rejecting the government's claims that it was needed to protect the country. Judge F Dennis Saylor IV also rejected the government contention that the relief being granted be limited to the plaintiffs and not the entire country. The preliminary injunction halts the implementation of the new rule while the case is heard in court. Plaintiffs represent almost 600 public and private institutions. But there are more than 5,000 higher-education institutions in the United States, the judge ...

Three Italian nationals flew from Delhi to Munich without mandatory immigration clearance, prompting a show-cause notice to Air India. Here's what happened and what the rules say

The Trump administration has paused immigrant visa applications worldwide for consular officer training, delaying scheduled interviews as the US steps up checks on visa applicants

A green card doesn't guarantee safety from ICE: What Indian immigrants need to know

In July, the White House issued a rule that eliminates the system that allowed foreign pupils to remain in the country, as long as they maintained their student status

The US will soon make online applications mandatory for immigration benefits such as green card, citizenship, and asylum, among others, in a bid to improve efficiency and reduce operational costs. The US Citizenship and Immigration Services, in a new rule published in the Federal Register on Monday, said it will now be mandatory to fill any form that has been available for e-filing for at least 180 days. It would also establish a process that allows the agency to make forms online-only after providing at least 60 days' notice. The rule could affect a wide range of immigration benefits, including green card applications and renewals, family-based petitions, citizenship requests, asylum claims, employment authorisation applications and Temporary Protected Status filings. Applicants will generally submit filings through a USCIS online account by either by completing the form online; or uploading a PDF version of the completed form and supporting evidence. The USCIS said the rule is .

The court handed President Trump victories in his push to rescind deportation protections for hundreds of thousands of people and turn away migrants at the southern border

The US State Department will offer a "premium" expedited service for foreigners seeking business or tourist visas to come to the United States that will set applicants back USD 750 -- on top of the initial fee of USD 185. In a notice to be published in the Federal Register this week, the department will unveil a pilot programme that will allow visa applicants to pay the USD 750 to schedule an appointment for an interview within 10 days of the payment at select US embassies and consulates. The pilot programme will run from July 1 to December 31, according to internal documents obtained by The Associated Press and a State Department official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the programme has not yet been announced. The move is a potential effort to ease conditions caused by the Trump administration's push to make entering the US more difficult. The administration has cracked down on most forms of migration for foreigners -- demanding that bonds of up to USD 15,000 be paid

US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officials said memo merely reaffirmed existing discretionary powers after concerns that green card applicants could be forced to leave the US during processing

In the 86 cities that saw the sharpest rise in ICE arrests, they found roughly 13 lost jobs associated with each excess arrest

The USCIS memo does not change Green Card law, but immigration lawyers say it may make the final adjustment-of-status stage less predictable for applicants

US lawmakers and immigration advocates have criticised sharply as "reckless and wrong," the Trump administration's new policy that requires green card seekers to make their applications from their home country. Democratic lawmakers said they will pursue every avenue to fight against the "reprehensible" decision of the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) and push for its reversal. The USCIS did not spell out which groups would be exempted, only suggesting that the policy may not apply to persons seeking asylum. In a statement late on Friday, USCIS spokesperson Zach Kahler said that people who "provide an economic benefit or otherwise are in the national interest will likely be able to continue on their current path." It was not immediately clear whether these exceptions would extend to skilled foreign workers on H-1B visas. "This puts 1.2 million Indian Americans and their families in limbo after they followed every law, paid taxes and waited legally for decades," Ajay

The California-based physician is being examined over alleged links to services that assisted pregnant foreign nationals travelling to the US for childbirth and citizenship-related benefits

Study questions whether stricter immigration enforcement boosts jobs for Americans, noting foreign-born and native-born workers often complement each other rather than compete for the same roles

Eleven Indian nationals allegedly staged armed robberies at stores across multiple US states to falsely claim crime victim status and seek immigration benefits under the U Visa programme

A Columbia University student was arrested early Thursday by federal immigration agents who gained entry to a campus residence by claiming they were searching for a "missing person," according to her attorneys and the school's president. The student, Ellie Aghayeva, is a senior from Azerbaijan who is studying neuroscience and political science, her lawyers said. A self-described content creator, she frequently shares inspirational stories and tips about navigating college as an immigrant to her sizable social media audience. At around 7:00 am on Thursday morning, Aghayeva posted a message to her more than 100,000 followers on Instagram. "DHS illegally arrested me. Please help," she wrote, referring to the Department of Homeland Security. A photo accompanying the post appeared to show the backseat of a vehicle. In an emergency petition filed Thursday, attorneys for Aghayeva said Immigrations and Customs Enforcement entered her university-owned apartment in Manhattan early Thursday, .

A federal judge said Thursday that the IRS broke the law by disclosing confidential taxpayer information "approximately 42,695 times" to Immigration and Customs Enforcement. US District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly found that the IRS had erroneously shared the taxpayer information of thousands of people with the Department of Homeland Security as part of the agencies' controversial agreement to share information on immigrants for the purpose of identifying and deporting people illegally in the US. Her finding was based off a declaration filed earlier this month by Dottie Romo, IRS' chief risk and control officer, which revealed that the IRS had provided DHS with information on 47,000 of the 1.28 million people that ICE requested - and, in most of those cases, gave ICE additional address information in violation of privacy rules created to protect taxpayer data. Kollar-Kotelly said in her Thursday decision that the agency violated IRS Code 6103, one of the strictest confidentiality .

A car chase involving federal immigration enforcement officers led to a muti-vehicle crash in Newark, New Jersey, city officials said. Mayor Ras Baraka said on social media on Wednesday that US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents attempted to pull over a van in the state's largest city when the driver fled. He said the ICE agents gave chase, resulting in an accident involving several vehicles, including one carrying three children. Baraka said the driver of the van was injured and taken to the hospital. It was not immediately clear the extent of the driver's injuries or why the person was being pursued by ICE. Baraka said Newark police were not involved with ICE's investigation and only responded to the crash. Spokespersons for Baraka, Newark police, the US Department of Homeland Security and ICE didn't immediately respond to emails seeking comment. But the Democratic mayor, in his statement on X, criticized ICE's actions as reckless and dangerous. He noted that New Jersey

A Washington, DC, federal court on Tuesday rejected a request from an immigrant rights group to temporarily block the IRS from sharing certain taxpayer data that could make it easier to identify and deport people who are in the US illegally. A three-judge panel for the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit declined to issue a preliminary injunction for the immigrants' rights group, Centro de Trabajadores Unidos, and other nonprofits that are suing the federal government over the data-sharing agreement signed last April by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. The agreement allows US Immigration and Customs Enforcement to submit names and addresses of immigrants inside the US illegally to the IRS for cross-verification against tax records. In declining the preliminary injunction request, Judge Harry T Edwards wrote that the nonprofit groups "are unlikely to succeed on the merits of their claim," since the information the agencies are sharing .

Deportation of an infant with bronchitis to Mexico has sparked a fierce debate over the medical safety and ethics of US immigration enforcement.