Jp Marchan LLc, Immigration

01/14/2026

News Alert!! US freezes all visa processing for 75 countries.

The full list of affected countries includes, Albania, Algeria, Antigua and Barbuda, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahamas, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belarus, Belize, Bhutan, Bosnia, Brazil, Burma, Cambodia, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Colombia, Cote d’Ivoire, Cuba, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Dominica, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Fiji, Gambia, Georgia, Ghana, Grenada, Guatemala, Guinea, Haiti, Iran, Iraq, Jamaica, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Lebanon, Liberia, Libya, Macedonia, Moldova, Mongolia, Montenegro, Morocco, Nepal, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Pakistan, Republic of the Congo, Russia, Rwanda, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria, Tanzania, Thailand, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda, Uruguay, Uzbekistan and Yemen.

State Department halts visa processing for 75 countries including Somalia, Russia and Iran to crack down on applicants likely to become public charges.

12/17/2025

President Trump has expanded the U.S. travel ban on national security grounds, with the new restrictions taking effect on January 1. The policy imposes a full entry ban on nationals of Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, South Sudan, Syria, and individuals traveling on Palestinian Authority–issued passports. Laos and Sierra Leone have been elevated from partial to full restrictions. In addition, partial travel restrictions will apply to 15 other countries, including Nigeria, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe.

The US will restrict entry of people from Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, South Sudan and Syria as well as holders of Palestinian Authority passports.

12/13/2025

California and 19 other U.S. states filed a lawsuit on Friday seeking to block President Donald Trump's $100,000 fee on new H-1B visas for highly skilled foreign workers.

12/08/2025

Transportation Security Administration - TSA recently announced that starting February 1, 2026, air travelers without a REAL ID or other acceptable form of ID will be charged a $45 fee to use an alternative identity verification system (TSA Confirm.ID) to establish identity at security checkpoints. If you don’t have a REAL ID, remember that a passport card or passport book are both accepted REAL ID alternatives for domestic travel and can help you avoid this fee. Just remember that the $30 passport card is not sufficient for international air travel- you'll need a passport book for that. Learn more at travel.state.gov/passportcard.

12/06/2025

Advisory on Current Proposal Affecting Dual Citizenship

This remains only a proposal, but please be aware that there are ongoing efforts to limit or end dual citizenship in the United States. We are monitoring developments closely and will provide updates as more reliable information becomes available.

[ADVISORY] PROPOSED SENATE BILL ENDING DUAL CITIZENSHIP IN THE UNITED STATES

The Embassy notes the introduction of a new bill in the U.S. Senate to end dual citizenship in the United States.

The bill is currently a legislative proposal and has not yet been enacted into law. It will go through several stages of lengthy deliberation and may or may not proceed depending on the decisions of the U.S. Congress. U.S. lawmakers will have to carefully consider the provisions of the bill, given its possible significant impact on major immigrant groups in the country.

The Embassy further notes that previous challenges to dual and multiple citizenship had not materialized. As early as 1952, the U.S. Supreme Court stated that dual citizenship is a “status long recognized by law” and that “a person may have and exercise rights of nationality in two countries and be subject to the responsibilities of both. The mere fact he asserts the rights of one citizenship does not mean that he renounces the other” (Kawakita v. US, 343 US 717).

Our Philippine Foreign Service Posts in the United States are closely monitoring the bill and advise the Filipino-American community to do the same and exercise caution in renouncing their citizenship. Renunciation of Philippine citizenship is an irreversible legal action.

For questions, please contact the Philippine Embassy or your nearest Philippine consulate.

12/03/2025

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced in a memorandum that it will pause the review of all pending green card, citizenship, and asylum applications filed by nationals of 19 countries covered by a prior travel ban. The pause also applies to the review of certain cases that were previously approved.

The affected countries include Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, the Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen, as well as Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan, and Venezuela. Nationals of all 19 countries are subject to these application processing suspensions.

The Trump administration is pausing all immigration applications such as requests for green cards for people from 19 countries banned from travel earlier this year.

12/03/2025

President Donald Trump says he wants to “permanently pause migration” from poorer nations and is promising to seek to expel millions of immigrants from the United States by revoking their legal status.

11/28/2025

In the wake of the shooting of two National Guard service members in Washington, D.C., Wednesday by an Afghan national, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services issued new guidance allowing for negative, country-specific factors to be considered when vetting aliens from 19 high-risk countries.

11/28/2025

Following the National Guard shooting on Nov. 26, the Trump administration began ordering widespread reviews of immigration policies.

11/25/2025

Immigrants make up a significant proportion of all the country's doctors. New policies are making it harder and less appealing for foreign-born physicians to come to the U.S.

09/23/2025

FAQ on H-1B New Fee Requirement

On Friday, Sept. 19, 2025, President Donald J. Trump signed a Proclamation, "Restriction on Entry of Certain Nonimmigrant Workers," that took an important, initial, and incremental step to reform the H-1B visa program to curb abuses and protect American workers.

08/19/2025

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services is updating guidance in the USCIS Policy Manual regarding the factors that officers consider in certain benefit requests where an exercise of discretion is required, including factors relating to aliens’ past requests for parole and any involvement in anti...