Recent Developments in Business Immigration Law | Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel LLP
USCIS Expands Quality Processing Eligibility to All EB-1 and EB-2 I-140 Petitions
Commencing Jan. 30, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Solutions (USCIS) will take I-907 Top quality Processing requests for all new and pending EB-1 Multinational Government and Manager I-140 petitions and EB-2 Countrywide Curiosity Waiver (NIW) I-140 petitions. Contrary to high quality processing for other petitions, where USCIS ensures an adjudication in 15 days, on these newly involved I-140 petitions, USCIS will have 45 times to take an action. USCIS also introduced plans to increase top quality processing in phases in excess of spring 2023 to particular F-1 college students with pending and first Sort I-765 Choose and STEM Opt programs, and particular pupils and trade site visitors seeking a alter or extension of standing.
FY2024 H-1B Cap Registration Time period Approaching
USCIS is expected to announce the H-1B Cap Registration time period for FY2024 in the coming weeks. We hope that this H-1B Cap Registration period will arise throughout the initially two weeks of March 2023. We urge companies to commence evaluating their wants now to identify no matter whether you would like to sponsor any of your latest or possible personnel for H-1B status. This includes people pros now employed by you in F-1 Optional Realistic Teaching or E-3, TN, J-1/J-2 or L-1A/L-1B status, and any men and women you may possibly wish to convey on board as of Oct. 1, 2023, together with F-1 students who will be graduating prior to June 30, 2023, whom you may well employ right after graduation. As soon as USCIS announces the precise registration dates, we’ll ship you a further customer alert with the aspects on how to set up your on-line registration account.
By way of track record, the H-1B visa is limited to 85,000 visa petition submissions per H-1B Cap time, and the begin date for H-1B employment takes place on Oct. 1, the initial working day of every authorities fiscal 12 months. H-1B Cap Registration is an annual electronic procedure by which USCIS gets registrations from companies for the H-1B lottery, and those people who are selected may perhaps submit an H-1B Cap petition with USCIS. H-1B petitions might be filed with USCIS up to 180 times in advance of the commencement of employment. Ordinarily, April 1 is the to start with working day that H-1B filings are accepted by USCIS, and June 30 is the past.
CDC Problems New COVID-19 Test Need for Travelers From China
Beginning on Jan. 5, air passengers who are at minimum 2 several years old boarding flights to the United States originating from China, Hong Kong, and Macau will be expected to provide a destructive COVID-19 take a look at taken two times in advance of departure (or documentation of COVID-19 restoration inside of the very last 90 days). The COVID-19 check need will implement to all tourists irrespective of nationality and vaccination standing, or if the individuals are touring from China by using third-region transit. Specially, passengers transiting Incheon Worldwide Airport, Toronto Pearson Intercontinental Airport, and Vancouver Intercontinental Airport, on their way to the United States, will be required to deliver a negative COVID-19 test no a lot more than two times ahead of their departure to the United States if they have been in China in the prior 10 times. CDC will proceed to keep an eye on COVID-19 developments and vacation designs and will change its strategy as essential.
USCIS Proposed Fee Enhance for Nonimmigrant and Immigrant Petitions
On Jan. 4, USCIS introduced its proposal to significantly enhance submitting service fees for numerous work-centered immigration petitions and programs. This fee maximize may possibly choose outcome in May perhaps or June 2023, after a 60-day community remark time period and a final rule is enacted. Underneath the proposed rule, governing administration expenses for work-based petitions these types of as H-1B, L-1, O-1, TN, H-2A and H-2B visas and adjustment of status purposes may incur considerable raises. On top of that, this proposed rule may well alter the high quality processing time frame from 15 calendar days to 15 organization times for certain petitions and integrate biometrics expenditures into the main benefit rate. USCIS has indicated that the projected revenues from the proposed fee raise would permit it to boost the selection of adjudicators processing programs, employ technological know-how advancements, and increase guidance supplied to persons looking for information and aid from USCIS. We will keep on to maintain you posted on long term developments.
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