Headlines: Biden Administration Publishes Final Rule on Asylum Ineligibility, Seeks Comments – The Departments of Homeland Security and Justice published a final rule, “Circumvention of Lawful Pathways,” effective May 11, 2023. USCIS Updates Review Process for Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans – U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced an updated process for granting advance […]
Headlines: As Title 42 Expires, Biden Administration Releases Final Rule on Asylum Ineligibility, Fact Sheet on ‘Additional Sweeping Measures’; Challenges Ensue – The Departments of Homeland Security (DHS) and Justice released a final rule, “Circumvention of Lawful Pathways,” effective May 11, 2023. DHS and the Department of State also released a related fact sheet. June […]
Headlines: Uncertainty Reigns as Title 42 Ends; Mayorkas Announces New Rule, Other Measures – Responding to reports of a potential surge of migrants at the southern U.S. border spurred by reports of the imminent end of Title 42 restrictions, Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas says the United States is ready. ICE Extends Form I-9 […]
Headlines: USCIS Announces Results of FY 2024 H-1B Initial Registration Period Amid Fraud Concerns – USCIS said that the large number of eligible registrations for beneficiaries with multiple eligible registrations, which was much larger than in previous years, “has raised serious concerns that some may have tried to gain an unfair advantage by working […]
Headlines: Form ETA-9089 Case Creation, Submission Available Soon in FLAG, OFLC Says – The Department of Labor’s Office of Foreign Labor Certification will begin accepting the revised Form ETA-9089, Application for Permanent Employment Certification, in the Foreign Labor Application Gateway (FLAG) system on May 16, 2023. Filers may begin creating and staging applications on April […]
Headlines: Employers May File H-2B Petitions for Late Second Half of FY 2023 – U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has begun accepting petitions for workers for the late second half of fiscal year 2023—those requesting employment start dates from May 15, 2023, to September 30, 2023—under the H-2B supplemental cap temporary final rule. OFLC Reconsiders […]
Headlines: DOS Publishes Notice on Ukrainian J-1 Student Relief – The Department of State is extending Special Student Relief to eligible Ukrainian students in the United States on J-1 visas “to help mitigate the adverse impact on them resulting from the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine that began on February 24, 2022.” USCIS Allows Additional […]
Headlines: H-1B Electronic Registration Selection Process Completed – U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has received enough electronic registrations during the initial registration period to reach the fiscal year 2024 H-1B numerical allocations (H-1B cap), including the advanced degree exemption (master’s cap). USCIS Removes 60-Day Rule for Civil Surgeon Signatures on Form I-693 – U.S. Citizenship […]
Headlines: April Visa Bulletin Shows Worldwide EB-4 Backlog of 5+ Years, EB-2 Retrogression – The EB-4 category, which includes special immigrant religious workers, now has a worldwide backlog of 5+ years. Also, the EB-2 final action dates for Rest of World, India, Mexico, and the Philippines have retrogressed several months to keep number use within […]
Headlines: USCIS Issues Policy Alert on Evidence for Employers’ Ability to Pay Proffered Wage – U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has updated its guidance to discuss in more detail various types of evidence and explain how it reviews all evidence relevant to the employer’s financial strength and the significance of its business activities. LPRs May […]
