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The Department of Homeland Security will extend the bans on nonessential land travel across the U.S. borders with Canada and Mexico, according to Federal Register notices set to be published on Thursday, July 22.
Key Points:
Additional Information: The U.S.’s bans on nonessential travel across land borders from Canada and Mexico have been in place since March 2020 and subsequently extended for 30-day periods since then.
The Canadian government announced Monday that beginning Aug. 9 it would allow fully vaccinated U.S citizens and permanent residents to enter the country for non-essential travel. The U.S. will restrict land travel from Canada until at least Aug. 21, however.
This alert has been provided by the BAL U.S. Practice Group. For additional information, please contact berryapplemanleiden@balglobal.com.
Copyright © 2021 Berry Appleman & Leiden LLP. All rights reserved. Reprinting or digital redistribution to the public is permitted only with the express written permission of Berry Appleman & Leiden LLP. For inquiries, please contact copyright@balglobal.com.
The Canadian government announced Monday that it would soon allow fully vaccinated U.S citizens and permanent residents currently living in the U.S. to enter the country.
Additional Information: Beginning Sept. 7, the Canadian government will open its borders for non-essential travel for fully vaccinated travelers from any country as long as the COVID-19 situation continues to improve. Such individuals must have received a Canadian-approved vaccine at least 14 days before entering the country.
BAL Analysis: The change will ease procedures for fully vaccinated U.S. nationals planning travel to Canada; however, border measures remain subject to change as the epidemiological situation evolves. The U.S. continues to restrict nonessential travel across the U.S.-Canada border. The current restrictions are in place through the end of the day on July 21; officials have not yet said whether they will be extended. The response to the COVID-19 pandemic continues to develop, and BAL will provide additional updates as information becomes available.
This alert has been provided by Berry Appleman & Leiden LLP. For additional information, please contact berryapplemanleiden@bal.com.
Copyright © 2021 Berry Appleman & Leiden LLP. All rights reserved. Reprinting or digital redistribution to the public is permitted only with the express written permission of Berry Appleman & Leiden LLP. For inquiries, please contact copyright@bal.com.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced new policy guidance Tuesday aimed at easing application procedures for some nonimmigrants applying for a change of status to F-1 classification.
Additional Information: USCIS said the change would “reduce workloads and costs for both the applicants and USCIS.” The agency said it is in the process of updating the Form I-539 instructions to reflect the change in guidance. More information is available in USCIS’s policy alert and on its Changing to a Nonimmigrant F or M Student Status website.
This alert has been provided by BAL U.S. Practice group. For additional information, please contact berryapplemanleiden@bal.com.
Copyright © 2021 Berry Appleman & Leiden LLP. All rights reserved. Reprinting or digital redistribution to the public is permitted only with the express written permission of Berry Appleman & Leiden LLP. For inquiries please contact copyright@bal.com.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has confirmed that it will continue to accept requests for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) renewal following a judge’s ruling last week.
Additional Information: President Joe Biden issued a statement Saturday calling the ruling “deeply disappointing” and reiterating his pledge to “preserve and fortify” DACA. DHS is planning to publish a proposed DACA regulation in the coming months, and Biden said the U.S. Justice Department intends to appeal the ruling. He called on Congress to find “a permanent solution by granting a path to citizenship for Dreamers.”
The Coalition for the American Dream, a group of more than 100 employers and trade associations, also called on Congress to protect DACA. “DACA recipients have been critical members of our workforce, industries, and communities for years now,” the coalition said in a statement. “Their work and commitment to our companies, their families and communities are critical to our nation’s strength, especially since there are tens of thousands of DACA recipients working as frontline doctors and nurses and in other critical industries fighting COVID-19.”
BAL Analysis: While the ruling was a setback for DACA and its supporters, at this time it does not affect current recipients or their ability to file renewal requests or for employment authorization advance parole. BAL continues to follow developments related to DACA. For more information, please visit BAL’s DACA Resource Center here.
A federal judge in Texas ruled Friday that the Obama administration did not follow proper procedures when it created the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program in 2012. The ruling does not affect current DACA beneficiaries or their employment authorization.
Background: DACA recipients and their supporters won a major victory last year when the Supreme Court ruled that the Trump administration’s termination of DACA in 2017 was unlawful. The lawsuit in Texas challenged the Obama administration’s authority to create DACA in the first place, however, and Judge Hanen ruled that the administration did not follow proper procedures in doing so. Since taking office, President Joe Biden has pledged to “preserve and fortify” DACA. DHS is planning to publish a proposed regulation in the coming months.
BAL Analysis: The ruling does not affect current DACA beneficiaries or their employment authorization, and the Biden administration continues to work toward proposing a regulation to preserve DACA. BAL continues to review the ruling and is monitoring DHS for its response. BAL will provide more information as it becomes available.
This alert has been provided by the BAL U.S. Practice group. For additional information, please contact berryapplemanleiden@bal.com.
The House Judiciary Immigration Subcommittee held a hearing this week called “Oh, Canada! How Outdated U.S. Immigration Policies Push Top Talent to Other Countries.”
Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., the subcommittee chair, opened the hearing by saying current U.S. immigration policies make it difficult to compete in the global economy.
“We’re stuck in a time warp,” she said. “It’s like driving around with a 30-year old paper map while others easily navigate the road with turn-by-turn directions from their smart phones, and we’re falling behind as a result.”
The witnesses who testified at the hearing were:
A video of the full hearing is available here on the House Judiciary Committee website.
This alert has been provided by the BAL U.S. Practice group. For additional information, please contact berryapplemanleiden@balglobal.com.
Copyright © 2021 Berry Appleman & Leiden LLP. All rights reserved. Reprinting or digital redistribution to the public is permitted only with the express written permission of Berry Appleman & Leiden LLP. For inquiries please contact copyright@balglobal.com.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has announced that in August it will accept employment-based applications for adjustment of status based on the State Department’s Final Action Dates chart.
The Dates for Filing chart published in the August Visa Bulletin will not apply. Employment-based immigrants must follow the Final Action Dates chart (below) to determine whether they are eligible to file their petitions for adjustment of status with USCIS.
Final Action Dates for Employment-Based Preference Cases:
Additional Information: August will mark the eighth time this fiscal year that USCIS will use Final Action Dates for employment-based adjustment-of-status applications. Family-based applicants may use the applicable Dates for Filing chart, except for F2A category applicants, who may use Final Action Dates.
Priority-date cutoffs will advance in most key employment-based categories next month, according to the State Department’s August Visa Bulletin.
Key movements in August:
EB-1
EB-2
EB-3
Additional Information: The State Department also released its Dates for Filing chart for August. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will announce in the coming days which chart will control filing eligibility next month.
The Labor Department has posted updated processing times for permanent labor certification (PERM) applications and prevailing wage determination (PWD) requests.
PERM Processing: As of June 30, the department was adjudicating applications filed in January and earlier, conducting audit reviews on applications filed in August and earlier, and reviewing appeals for reconsideration filed in March and earlier.
Average PERM processing times:
PWD Processing: As of June 30, the National Prevailing Wage Center was processing PWD requests filed in January and earlier for H-1B and December and earlier for PERM cases, according to the Labor Department. Redeterminations were being considered on appeals filed in May and earlier for H-1B and PERM cases. Center director reviews were being conducted for PERM cases filed in July and earlier.
Average times for issuance of PWDs:
BAL Analysis: BAL’s internal case tracking is mostly consistent with Labor Department’s published processing times. BAL is seeing approvals for PERM applications filed in January and earlier and is starting to see PWDs for requests filed in December and earlier. Some PWD requests are taking notably longer than the Labor Department’s posted average times, however, particularly for non-OES requests.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced updated Form I-9 guidance this week on the steps employers should follow when employees provide a “receipt” showing they have applied to replace a document that was lost, stolen or damaged.
The new guidance addresses situations where an employee (1) presents a receipt showing he or she applied to replace a lost, stolen or damaged List A, B or C document, but (2) is unable to provide the replacement document for which the receipt was given within 90 days because of document delays, change in status or other factors.
In these situations, according to the new guidance:
Additional Information: For the full guidance on acceptable document receipts, please visit this USCIS website.