March Madness is around the corner, and we are not talking about basketball! For the immigration aficionado, the much-anticipated annual H-1B cap season for Fiscal Year (FY) 2024 is gearing up to start. While many will make bold predictions for
Immigration Insights and Issues (III)
Immigration Insights and Issues (III), published by Dickinson-Wright, focuses on developments and challenges in U.S. immigration law affecting employers, employees, and applicants. The blog covers topics such as visa policy changes, employment-based visa scrutiny, social media screening requirements for visa applicants, asylum application holds, and government enforcement priorities. It addresses practical compliance issues for employers sponsoring foreign professionals, updates on immigration benefit adjudications, and implications of presidential proclamations and agency memos. The content is aimed at helping legal professionals and businesses navigate evolving immigration regulations and procedural changes impacting workforce mobility and visa processing.
Latest from Immigration Insights and Issues (III) - Page 6
The No Brainer Immigration Prediction for 2023: Homeric Backlogs and Delays – 10 Notes to Self for Surviving
U.S. immigration law has always been challenging with ever-changing rules and policies and their far-reaching effects. However, the constant complication post-pandemic has been the unpredictability of processing times and their amazing lengths. Delays in consular appointments and adjudications within the…
New Public Charge Questions Add More Challenges for Adjustment of Status Applicants
On December 9, 2022, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced the release of a new version (12/23/22) of Form I-485, Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status, in connection with a new regulation addressing the public charge ground…
H-2B Visa Program gets “Peak Load” Visa Numbers Boost for FY 2023
As U.S. companies struggle to find workers to fill their rosters, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), in consultation with the Department of Labor (DOL), offered a reprieve through the authorization of supplemental visa numbers for the H-2B temporary non-agricultural…
DHS PUBLISHES NEW FINAL RULE ENDING TRUMP-ERA PUBLIC CHARGE RESTRICTIONS
On September 9, 2022, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) published a lengthy Final Rule concerning the implementation of the public charge ground of inadmissibility[1] after several years of federal court litigation. This Final Rule will…
USCIS Makes COVID-19 Signature Policy Permanent
At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, USCIS announced several “flexibilities” to facilitate immigration filings in the face of significant logistical challenges. One of those flexibilities was a much-needed suspension of the “wet ink” signature requirement for certain immigration forms.…
Top Three Employment-Based USCIS Adjustment of Status FAQs at the End of Fiscal Year 2022
There is no denying that the COVID-19 pandemic continues to impact employment-based adjustment of status (AOS) applicants for legal permanent residence. For example, consular closures and limited immigrant visa processing operations during the pandemic have contributed to almost doubling the…
Attracting and Retaining Foreign Talent in STEM Fields – Overview of STEM Initiatives
On July 28, 2022, USCIS published online resources to provide an overview of some temporary and permanent pathways for foreign nationals to remain in the United States (U.S.) and work in the sciences, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). These online…
OFLC Clarifies Telecommuting in the PERM Context for Both Prevailing Wage Requests and PERM Applications
Even before remote working considerations emerged during the COVID-19 pandemic, employers filing applications for Program Electronic Review Management (“PERM”) were grappling with how to prepare Forms 9141 Application for Prevailing Wage Determination (“PWDS”) and Form ETA-9089 Applications for Alien Labor…
USCIS EXTENDS LIMITED AUTOMATIC EXTENSION OF WORK AUTHORIZATION FROM 180 TO 540 DAYS
On May 3, 2022, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced a Temporary Final Rule (TFR) that would increase the automatic extension period for Employment Authorization Documents (EADs) for certain designated categories of EAD renewal applicants who timely filed Form…