Immigration Update – August 14, 2023

Headlines:

September Visa Bulletin Includes DV-2024 Results, Availability of Employment-Based Visas, Determination of Numerical Limit on Immigrants – The Department of State’s Visa Bulletin for September includes Diversity Visa 2024 lottery results, availability of employment-based visas during September, and determination of the numerical limit on immigrants for fiscal year 2023.

USCIS Reminds Employers About New I-9 Alternative Procedure – U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services reminded employers that the new version of Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification, is now available for use. Among other changes, the new version incorporates an alternative procedure for E-Verify employers to remotely examine employee documents.

CBP Mobile App Facilitates More Than 170,000 Appointments in Six Months – The CBP One app is free and available to migrants in Central and Northern Mexico to schedule appointments to present themselves at a port of entry along the southwest border with the United States.

State Dept. Releases Fact Sheet on Reunification Parole With Work Authorization – The Department of State released a fact sheet on new family reunification parole processes for individuals from El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Colombia, and updated processes for individuals from Cuba and Haiti. Eligible individuals paroled into the United States under these processes can apply for work authorization.

Details:

September Visa Bulletin Includes DV-2024 Results, Availability of Employment-Based Visas, Determination of Numerical Limit on Immigrants

The Department of State’s (DOS) Visa Bulletin for September includes Diversity Visa 2024 (DV-2024) lottery results, availability of employment-based visas during September, and determination of the numerical limit on immigrants for fiscal year (FY) 2023.

Diversity Visa Lottery Results

The bulletin notes that the Kentucky Consular Center in Williamsburg, Kentucky, has registered and notified the selectees who are eligible to participate in the DV-2024 program. Entrants registered for the DV-2024 program were selected at random from 22,185,619 qualified entries. The selectee numbers for each country are listed in the bulletin.

During the visa interview, principal applicants must provide proof of a high school education or its equivalent, or two years of work experience in an occupation that requires at least two years of training or experience within the past five years. “Those selected will need to act on their immigrant visa applications quickly,” the bulletin advises. Approximately 143,000 prospective applicants (selectees and their spouses and children) have been registered. Once the total 55,000 visa numbers have been used, the program for fiscal year 2024 will end. Selectees who do not receive visas or status by September 30, 2024, will derive no further benefit from their DV-2024 registration, the bulletin says.

DOS said that the dates for the DV-2025 program registration period will be widely publicized in the coming months.

Availability of Employment-Based Visas

The bulletin explains that employment-based number use by both U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) and DOS has been steady during this fiscal year. As a result, most employment-based preference category limits and/or the overall employment-based preference limit for FY 2023 are expected to be reached during September. If the annual limit is reached, the preference category will immediately become unavailable.

Determination of Numerical Limit on Immigrants

DOS has determined that the employment preference numerical limit for FY 2023 is 197,091. For FY 2023, the per-country limit is 29,616. The dependent area annual limit is 2%, or 8,462.

Details:

• Visa Bulletin for September 2023, Dept. of State.

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USCIS Reminds Employers About New I-9 Alternative Procedure

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) reminded employers that the new version of Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification, is now available for use. The new version incorporates an alternative procedure for E-Verify employers to remotely examine employee documents. Other changes include shortening the form to one page and reducing the instructions to eight pages.

Employers can use the form immediately, USCIS said. The Form I-9 dated “10/19/2019” may continue to be used through October 31, 2023. The version date can be found at the lower left corner of the form. Beginning November 1, 2023, only the new Form I-9 dated “08/01/23” may be used.

Details:

• USCIS alert (Aug. 1, 2023).

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CBP Mobile App Facilitates More Than 170,000 Appointments in Six Months

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced on August 3, 2023, that the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) mobile app, CBP One, has facilitated more than 170,000 appointments in six months.

The CBP One app is free and available to migrants in Central and Northern Mexico to schedule appointments to present themselves at a port of entry (POE) along the southwest border with the United States. Individuals who present at one of eight POEs (Nogales, Brownsville, Eagle Pass, Hidalgo, El Paso, Calexico, and San Ysidro) with CBP One appointments along the southwest border are vetted and processed. The process includes biographic and biometric security vetting and background screening, DHS said.

DHS said the number of available appointments has increased to 1,450 per day, up nearly 50 percent from the 1,000 appointments per day on May 12, 2023, when the process started.

Details:

• DHS Fact Sheet (Aug. 3, 2023).

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State Dept. Releases Fact Sheet on Reunification Parole With Work Authorization

The Department of State (DOS) released a fact sheet on August 7, 2023, on new family reunification parole processes for individuals from El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Colombia, and updated processes for individuals from Cuba and Haiti. Nationals of these countries may be considered for parole on a case-by-case basis for a period of up to three years while they apply to become a lawful permanent resident pursuant to their approved I-130 petition.

DOS said these processes “will allow vetted individuals with approved family-based petitions to be paroled into the United States, on a case-by-case basis.” Eligible individuals paroled into the United States under these processes can apply for work authorization.

Details:

• DOS fact sheet (Aug. 7, 2023).

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