Headlines:
E-Confirm Resumes Operations; Employers Hiring When E-Confirm Was Unavailable Should Create a Case by October 14 – E-Confirm has resumed operations throughout the federal authorities shutdown. The announcement consists of directions for employers who employed overseas workers whereas E-Confirm was briefly not out there. Employers who take part in E‑Confirm should create an E‑Confirm case by Tuesday, October 14, 2025, for every worker employed whereas E‑Confirm was not out there.
DOS Broadcasts New Coverage for Interviewing Immigrant Visa Candidates – Efficient November 1, 2025, immigrant visa candidates have to be interviewed within the consular district designated for his or her place of residence, or of their nation of nationality if requested, with restricted exceptions.
College Warns H-1B College and Employees: Don’t Journey Now – The College of Southern California has urged college and workers in H-1B standing to keep away from worldwide journey.
DACA Information: USCIS Points Memo Calling for Termination for Makes an attempt to Buy a Firearm; Immigration Lawyer Launches Nationwide Inexperienced Card Initiative – In a number of developments affecting Deferred Motion for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Providers has issued steerage on terminating DACA standing when a DACA recipient makes an attempt to buy a firearm, and an immigration lawyer has launched a nationwide inexperienced card initiative for DACA recipients.
EOIR Broadcasts New Director: Daren Okay. Margolin – On October 7, 2025, the Division of Justice’s Government Workplace for Immigration Evaluate introduced the appointment of a brand new director.
Particulars:
E-Confirm Resumes Operations; Employers Hiring When E-Confirm Was Unavailable Should Create a Case by October 14
On October 9, 2025, E-Confirm introduced that it has resumed operations throughout the federal authorities shutdown. The announcement consists of directions for employers who employed overseas workers whereas E-Confirm was briefly not out there, recommendations on how you can deal with tentative nonconfirmations (mismatches), and federal contractor deadlines and how you can rely days when E-Confirm was unavailable. It additionally consists of directions for workers with conventional E-Confirm circumstances or E-Confirm+ circumstances.
The announcement notes that employers who take part in E‑Confirm should create an E‑Confirm case by Tuesday, October 14, 2025, for every worker employed whereas E‑Confirm was not out there. E-Confirm went down on October 1, 2025, together with the shutdown, and was again on-line with out discover late on October 7, 2025.
DOS Broadcasts New Coverage for Interviewing Immigrant Visa Candidates
Efficient November 1, 2025, immigrant visa candidates have to be interviewed within the consular district designated for his or her place of residence, or of their nation of nationality if requested, with restricted exceptions, the Division of State (DOS) introduced.
Residents of nations the place routine visa operations are suspended or paused ought to apply at their designated immigrant visa processing publish, DOS stated, until the applicant is a nationwide of one other nation with ongoing operations. The DOS discover supplies an inventory of immigrant visa designated processing posts for such nations.
Highlights of DOS’s directions embrace:
- Present Appointments: Present immigrant visa appointments will typically not be rescheduled or cancelled.
- Submit-to-Submit Transfers: Starting instantly, if an applicant want to switch an immigrant visa case to a brand new consular district after the Nationwide Visa Middle (NVC) has scheduled the appointment, the applicant ought to contact NVC utilizing its Public Inquiry Type and mustn’t contact the consular part immediately.
- Residence Requirement: If an applicant requests to interview in a location apart from the applicant’s assigned consular district or nation of nationality, NVC might request extra data to verify that the placement is an applicant’s place of residence, or to verify whether or not an exception could also be acceptable.
- Exceptions: Uncommon exceptions could also be made for humanitarian or medical emergencies or overseas coverage causes.
- Variety Visas: These modifications can be utilized to Variety Visa candidates within the DV-2026 program 12 months.
College Warns H-1B College and Employees: Don’t Journey Now
The College of Southern California (USC) has urged college and workers in H-1B standing to keep away from worldwide journey. “Out of an abundance of warning, all college and workers in H-1B standing at present within the U.S. ought to put worldwide journey plans on maintain till they obtain additional steerage,” the assertion says.
Aisling Kelliher, affiliate professor of cinematic arts at USC, stated she was involved about widespread confusion and anxiousness ensuing from new H-1B insurance policies beneath the Trump administration, together with a $100,000 price for brand new H-1B functions. “If you happen to’re going to take a position the time in uprooting your self and shifting to a different nation, maybe it’ll be extra engaging to [move] to … different nations that’re going to make it just a little bit extra engaging for folks to contemplate that, long-term, they can put down roots,” she famous.
DACA Information: USCIS Points Memo Calling for Termination for Makes an attempt to Buy a Firearm; Immigration Lawyer Launches Nationwide Inexperienced Card Initiative
In a number of developments affecting Deferred Motion for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Providers (USCIS) has issued steerage on terminating DACA standing when a DACA recipient makes an attempt to buy a firearm, and an immigration lawyer has launched a nationwide inexperienced card initiative for DACA recipients.
USCIS Releases Steering on DACA Termination for Tried Firearm Buy
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Providers (USCIS) is instructing USCIS officers “to provoke sure post-adjudicative actions to make sure that [Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA)] is correctly terminated when DACA recipients have interaction in sure illegal acts.” In a brand new memorandum, USCIS calls makes an attempt to buy a firearm by DACA recipients “illegal” the place they’ve, “with out regard to intent, tried to buy a firearm and [do] not meet one of many exceptions offered in 18 U.S.C. 922(y)(2).” These exceptions embrace an individual who’s:
(A) admitted to the US for lawful looking or sporting functions or is in possession of a looking license or allow lawfully issued in the US;
(B) an official consultant of a overseas authorities who’s—
(i) accredited to the US Authorities or the Authorities’s mission to a world group having its headquarters in the US; or
(ii) en path to or from one other nation to which that alien is accredited;
(C) an official of a overseas authorities or a distinguished overseas customer who has been so designated by the Division of State; or
(D) a overseas legislation enforcement officer of a pleasant overseas authorities coming into the US on official legislation enforcement enterprise.
The memo states that most often, a Discover of Intent to Terminate (NOIT) DACA must be issued when a DACA recipient makes an attempt to buy a firearm and that issuance of the NOIT should adjust to the legislation and laws requiring discover and a possibility to reply earlier than the DACA grant is terminated. If the DACA recipient has had a possibility to reply and has failed to supply “adequate and persuasive proof to beat the grounds for termination outlined within the NOIT, USCIS might problem a Discover of Termination.” The one exception to the NOIT requirement is that “USCIS might terminate a grant of DACA and not using a NOIT and a possibility to reply if the DACA recipient is convicted” of sure nationwide security-related offenses or egregious public security offenses.
Nationwide Inexperienced Card Initiative for DACA Recipients Launched
Hillary Walsh, an immigration lawyer, has launched a nationwide inexperienced card initiative focusing on high-skilled DACA recipients and their employers. Particularly, this system educates employers about their choices, and encourages eligible DACA recipients to discover whether or not they might qualify for employer sponsorship or nationwide curiosity waivers (NIWs) if they’re in sure fields (e.g., registered nurses, physicians, bodily therapists, these in science or know-how fields like robotics engineering, revolutionary entrepreneurs). In some circumstances, they can self-petition for an NIW, or their employers might want to file a everlasting labor certification utility.
“I graduated legislation college the identical 12 months DACA grew to become a program, and for over a decade I’ve watched these professionals construct careers whereas remaining locked out of everlasting residency,” Ms. Walsh stated. “It’s time to spotlight employment-based and self-petition paths that match the contributions they’re already making.”
EOIR Broadcasts New Director: Daren Okay. Margolin
On October 7, 2025, the Division of Justice’s Government Workplace for Immigration Evaluate introduced the appointment of a brand new director, Daren Okay. Margolin.
Mr. Margolin earned his Juris Physician diploma in 1990 from New York Regulation College, and a Grasp of Political Science/Nationwide Safety Research diploma in 2010 from the Israeli Nationwide Protection School and Haifa College. His expertise consists of serving as an Assistant Chief Immigration Choose at a number of immigration courts in California; Assistant Chief Counsel, Workplace of the Principal Authorized Advisor, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Division of Homeland Safety, in Adelanto, California; a army decide, prosecutor, appellate prosecutor, and protection counsel for the U.S. Marines; and workers decide advocate (basic counsel) for numerous Marine instructions.
Mr. Margolin is a member of the State Bars of California, Hawaii, New Jersey, and New York.

