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  • Special Report

The Impact of COVID-19 on Noncitizens and Across the U.S. Immigration System

Publication Date: 
September 30, 2020
This report identifies disruptions throughout the immigration system because of the COVID-19 pandemic and makes recommendations for improvements to the federal government’s response.
  • Fact Sheet

The Exchange Visitor Program and J-1 Visas

Publication Date: 
June 18, 2020
The Exchange Visitor Program (EVP) initially brought scholars to the United States to teach or conduct research. Today, there are 14 categories of programs through which EVP participants can teach,...
  • Fact Sheet

The Rules for Immigrants Wanting to Work in the United States on a Permanent Basis

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...
  • Fact Sheet

Workers with Temporary Protected Status in Key Industries and States

Publication Date: 
January 9, 2019
This fact sheet estimates the likely numbers of workers with TPS from these three countries, broken down by the states in which they reside and the industries in which they are employed.
  • Fact Sheet

How USCIS Estimates Application and Petition Processing Times

Publication Date: 
July 18, 2018
This fact sheet provides an overview of how USCIS calculates processing times and the concerns over the accuracy of these estimates.
  • Special Report

The Immigrant Success Story

Publication Date: 
June 11, 2018
Some confusion exists regarding the economic aspects of family-based immigration. To help unpack those aspects, this report focuses on one of them—namely, the earnings of family-based immigrants.
  • Fact Sheet

The H-4 Visa Classification

Publication Date: 
March 26, 2018
Temporary workers—such as those in H-1B status—typically can bring their spouses and children with them to the United States in what is called H-4 status. This fact sheet provides an overview of the...
  • Special Report

Foreign-Trained Doctors are Critical to Serving Many U.S. Communities

Publication Date: 
January 17, 2018
U.S. immigration policies significantly limit the ability of these doctors to immigrate to and practice in the United States. As policy-makers debate what immigration reforms would best serve the...
  • Special Report

Wages and High-Skilled Immigration

Publication Date: 
December 14, 2017
This wage calculation is at the heart of the employment-based immigration system Congress devised to protect U.S. workers from unfair competition, while refraining from micromanaging the hiring...
  • Fact Sheet

Capitalizing on the Economic Potential of Foreign Entrepreneurs

Publication Date: 
September 13, 2017
This fact sheet describes the legal avenues in the United States available to promising entrepreneurs, as well as some of the barriers they face securing immigration status through these paths.
  • Litigation

Challenging USCIS “Not a Specialty Occupation” H-1B Petition Denial

The denials of employment-based petitions must end. This suit challenges the policy changes that restrict employers’ lawful use of H-1B workers.
  • FOIA Litigation

Lawsuit Demands USCIS Comply with FOIA Requests regarding H-1B Adjudications

On behalf of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA), the American Immigration Council filed a lawsuit under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) challenging U.S. Citizenship and...

  • Litigation

Challenging USCIS Denial of Multinational Manager Immigrant Petition

Prioritizing the immigration of multinational executives and managers recognizes the need for the United States to remain competitive in an increasingly global economy.
  • Litigation

Lawsuit Challenges Postponement of the International Entrepreneur Rule

Entrepreneurs, start-up companies and a trade association joined together to oppose the postponement of the International Entrepreneur Rule.
  • Amicus Briefs

USCIS Should Accept Provisional Degree Certificate as Proof Degree Was Received for Advanced Degree Professionals

Publication Date: 
February 28, 2017
The Council filed an amicus brief in a case pending before the Administrative Appeals Office (AAO), an administrative body at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) that reviews denials of most employment-based visa petitions.
  • FOIA Litigation

FOIA Lawsuit on H-1B Lottery Policies and Procedures

On behalf of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA), the Council, in cooperation with Hughes Socol Piers Resnick & Dym, Ltd., filed a lawsuit against USCIS and DHS seeking the...

  • Legal Resources and Litigation

Statement for the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration and the National Interest on "The Impact of High-Skilled Immigration on U.S. Workers"

February 25, 2016
The statement highlights the critical role that high-skilled foreign employees can bring, especially with regards to science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM).
  • Legal Resources and Litigation

Statement for the Senate Committee on the Judiciary on High-Skilled Immigrant Workers

March 17, 2015
The statement discusses the powerful role that immigration has played in developing a strong and competent work force for the 21st century, especially in regards to the science, engineering, technology, and math (STEM) fields.
  • Amicus Briefs

Mantena v. Napolitano - Second Circuit

Publication Date: 
December 15, 2014
The Council, with AILA, filed an amicus brief arguing that a district court has jurisdiction to review procedures followed by USCIS to revoke an employment-based visa petition. Amici argue that INA § 242(a)(2)(B), which limits judicial review over certain discretionary decisions, does not preclude review over the question of whether USCIS was required to provide notice of the visa petition revocation proceedings to the beneficiary. This is particularly true where, as in this case, the beneficiary had utilized the “porting” provision of INA § 204(j) to change employers more than 2 ½ years earlier, but USCIS issued its notice of intent to revoke only to the former employer and revoked the petition when the former employer did not respond.
  • Litigation

Visa Programs for High-Skilled Workers

Valorem, an IT consulting company, petitioned to employ a software developer for three years in H-1B status as part of a project development team at its office. Initially, USCIS denied the petition, but later – after Valorem, represented by AILA member Susan Bond, filed suit – approved it for one year.
  • Blog

New Fortune 500 List Shows America’s Economic Success Relies on Immigrants

June 9, 2022

America’s economic success is built on the world’s best and brightest coming to our shores bringing ingenuity, creativity, and determination. From Wall Street to Main Street, businesses started by...

  • Blog

Immigrants Will Be Vital in America’s Fastest Growing Jobs Through 2030

May 5, 2022

The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted global supply chains and kept people from going back to work at a time when the demand for goods and labor is high. This has left America contending with a...

  • Blog

Congress Ends Months of Uncertainty for Immigrant Investors in Regional Centers

March 25, 2022

For more than 8 months, noncitizens with approved immigrant petitions for investments in regional centers have been in limbo. Congress has now ended that limbo, by reauthorizing the EB-5 regional...

  • Blog

Corrupt US Employers and Smugglers Are Exploiting Migrant Teens for Profit

February 9, 2022

A skyrocketing number of migrant teens from Central America are finding their way into the undocumented workforce of the United States. They are doing rigorous, grueling work often meant for...

  • Blog

The House Passes the America COMPETES Act, Including Immigration Reforms to Help the U.S. Economy

February 4, 2022

The House of Representatives passed an economic competitiveness bill on February 4 that includes several immigration provisions. The bill is called the ‘‘America Creating Opportunities for...

  • Blog

Biden Administration Actions to Attract ‘International STEM Talent’ and Increase Global Competition

January 26, 2022

The Biden administration recently announced four actions intended to improve immigration “pathways” for noncitizens in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. However,...

  • Blog

Declining Immigration Is Leaving US Jobs Unfilled

January 25, 2022

The labor shortages currently afflicting many sectors of the U.S. economy are being aggravated by the arrival of fewer and fewer workers from abroad. Although immigration has been slowing since...

  • Blog

Over 250,000 Young People Are at Risk of Deportation When They Turn 21

December 1, 2021

A lesser-known group of young people who grew up in the United States with immigration status—typically the children of noncitizens who entered the U.S. on temporary work visas—is increasingly at...

  • Blog

Changing Cut Off Dates Leave India EB-3 Applicants in an Immigration Limbo

November 5, 2021

Annual limits on immigrant visa numbers, combined with processing delays and wasted numbers, mean even longer waits for people to become U.S. permanent residents. In November, the “cut off” date...

  • Blog

Class Action Settlement Gives Second Chance to Qualifying US Employers for H-1B Petition Approval

October 27, 2021

A recent class action settlement is expected to result in U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) approving more market research analyst H-1B petitions. The lawsuit was filed by four U.S...

  • Press Release

An Expanded and More Permanent Ban on Immigration Threatens Our Values and Compromises Our Future

June 22, 2020
The Trump administration announced a more permanent order that suspends many categories of immigration to the United States and an expanded ban that halts many legal employment-based immigration categories for those outside of the United States.
  • Press Release

Trump’s Immigration Ban Does Not Keep Us Safer or Solve our Economic Challenges

April 22, 2020
President Donald Trump signed an executive order to temporarily suspend immigration to the United States. The order applies to many individuals currently outside the United States who do not yet have immigrant (permanent) visas.
  • Press Release

Class Action Lawsuit Seeks to Challenge USCIS’ Unlawful Denial of H-1B Petitions Filed by American Businesses

April 16, 2020
The American Immigration Council, the American Immigration Lawyers Association, and the law firms Van Der Hout, LLP, Joseph & Hall P.C., and Kuck Baxter Immigration LLC filed a nationwide class action lawsuit today challenging U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services’ pattern and practice of arbitrarily denying H-1B nonimmigrant employment-based petitions for market research analysts positions filed by businesses in the United States.
  • Press Release

Judge Rules USCIS Must Adjudicate Employment Authorization for Asylum Seekers Within 30-Days

August 2, 2018
A judge ordered last week that United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) must adjudicate work authorization applications for asylum seekers within the prescribed 30-day deadline.
  • Press Release

The Immigrant Success Story: How Family-Based Immigrants Thrive in America

June 12, 2018
Through analysis of data from the decennial census and administrative data from the Immigration and Naturalization Service, this special report examines the earnings gains over time of all immigrants, as well as the earnings gains experienced by family-based immigrants compared to employment-based immigrants.
  • Press Release

Motion for Preliminary Injunction Filed to Compel DHS to Implement International Entrepreneur Rule

September 29, 2017
a motion for a preliminary injunction in federal court in Washington, D.C. to compel the Department of Homeland Security to implement the International Entrepreneur Rule pending final judgment of the suit brought by NVCA and the other plaintiffs.
  • Press Release

Lawsuit Filed Challenging Delay of International Entrepreneur Rule

September 19, 2017
Entrepreneurs, startup companies, and the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA) filed a lawsuit in federal court today challenging the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) delay of the International Entrepreneur Rule (IER).
  • Press Release

Judge Certifies Nationwide Class in Employment Authorization Case

July 19, 2017
U.S. District Court Judge James Robert granted a motion to certify a nationwide class in Northwest Immigrant Rights Project v. USCIS, recognizing that USCIS must adjudicate asylum seekers’ employment authorization applications within 30 days if they are submitted in a timely manner.
  • Press Release

Lawsuit Seeks Transparency in H-1B Lottery Process

May 23, 2016

shington D.C. - The American Immigration Council (Council) and the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) have teamed up on a lawsuit against the U.S.

  • Press Release

Administrative Appeals Office Approves National Interest Waiver for Specialty Care Physician

February 17, 2016

Washington, D.C.

  • Blog

Fortune 500 Companies with Immigrant Roots Generated More Money Than the GDP of Most Western Nations

August 29, 2023

When Fortune released this year’s Fortune 500 list—the magazine’s iconic ranking of the year’s top-grossing American companies—one fact remained unchanged from previous years: the profound role...

  • Press Release

New Report Reveals Immigrant Roots of Fortune 500 Companies

August 29, 2023
In an annual review of the most successful companies in the United States, the American Immigration Council unveiled today (August 29, 2023) a report that sheds light on the contributions of immigrant entrepreneurs and their children to the U.S. economy.
A landscape of several tall buildings with a bridge in the foreground
  • Special Report

New American Fortune 500 in 2023

Publication Date: 
August 29, 2023
See our updated web report on the largest American companies and their immigrant roots.
  • Fact Sheet

The H-1B Visa Program and Its Impact on the U.S. Economy

Publication Date: 
August 18, 2023
This fact sheet provides an overview of the H-1B visa category and petition process, addresses the myths perpetuated about the H-1B visa category, and highlights the key contributions H-1B workers...
  • Blog

The Success of the CHIPS Act Depends on Skilled Immigrants

August 2, 2023

The Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), a major Apple supplier, has delayed the production schedule for its Arizona chip plant to 2025. The company said it is having trouble finding...

  • Blog

USCIS Changes Employment Eligibility Verification: One Step Back and One Step Forward

July 31, 2023

Despite concerns expressed by stakeholders, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has returned to a one-page format for Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification. What may seem...

  • Research and Analysis

Coalition Urges Department of Labor to Update Schedule A Occupation List to Meet Current Labor Market Needs

Publication Date: 
June 28, 2023
The American Immigration Council joined a coalition letter to encourage the Department of Labor (DOL) to annually update its Schedule A Group I occupation list to better reflect the conditions facing...
Cover of Refugee Report
  • Special Report

Starting Anew

Publication Date: 
June 20, 2023
A record 100 million people around the globe were forced to flee their homes in 2022, up from 65 million in 2015. Of those displaced last year, 32.5 million were refugees who had to leave their...
  • Special Report

The Growing Demand for Healthcare Workers

Publication Date: 
April 18, 2023
A new research series from the American Immigration Council, The Growing Demand for Healthcare Workers, highlights the crucial role immigrants are playing to help address critical workforce shortages...
  • Fact Sheet

The Growing Demand for Physicians in Nevada

Publication Date: 
March 9, 2023
This research brief highlights the crucial role immigrants in Nevada are playing to help address critical physician shortages.

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