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In this week’s episode, BAL’s David Wagner and Nathan McKinlay-Roy discuss when employers should consider treaty visas as viable options for their immigration programs. Plus, the latest immigration news.
Explore more episodes of the BAL Immigration Report podcast, available on Apple, Spotify and the BAL immigration news page.
This podcast has been provided by the BAL U.S. Practice Group.
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The State Department issued a correction of the Diversity Visa (DV) 2026 Federal Register notice.
Key Points:
Additional Information: The Diversity Visa Program offers up to 55,000 immigrant visas each year to individuals from countries with low rates of immigration to the United States. Further information is available here.
This alert has been provided by the BAL U.S. Practice Group.
The State Department has resumed full immigrant visa processing at the U.S. Embassy in Beirut for Lebanese family members of U.S. citizens.
Additional Information: Further details about immigrant visa processing at U.S. Embassy Beirut is available here.
A bipartisan group of U.S. senators urged the Department of Homeland Security and Department of Labor to release the maximum allowable number of additional H-2B visas for fiscal year 2025.
Additional Information: The H-2B visa program allows employers to hire temporary nonagricultural workers to meet seasonal employment needs. The congressionally mandated cap on H-2B visas currently stands at 66,000 per fiscal year, split into 33,000 for the first and second halves of each fiscal year.
BAL Analysis: Because DHS has released additional H-2B visas in the past, a release within the next month is anticipated. BAL is monitoring the situation and will post updates accordingly.
President Biden released an extensive memorandum on the United States and artificial intelligence, providing further guidance on the Executive Order on the Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy Development and Use of Artificial Intelligence issued on Oct. 30, 2023.
Additional Information: Read the complete memorandum with itemized directives here. A classified annex to the memorandum was also created to address additional sensitive national security issues, including countering adversary use of AI.
BAL Analysis: No immediate change in visa processing or procedures is expected at this time. BAL will continue to monitor for updates related to how the government might prioritize and streamline visa and administrative processing for high-skilled applicants working in AI and other critical and emerging technologies.
In this week’s episode, BAL’s Tiffany Derentz and Brendan Kinne discuss an updated travel program from the U.S. State Department and travel tips for foreign nationals planning to go abroad during the winter holiday season. Plus, the latest immigration news.
The Labor Department has posted updated processing times for permanent labor certification (PERM) applications and prevailing wage determination (PWD) requests.
PERM Processing Times: As of Oct. 15, the department was adjudicating PERM applications filed in August 2023 and earlier, conducting audit reviews on applications filed in December 2022 and earlier, and reviewing appeals for reconsideration filed in April 2023 and earlier.
PWD Processing Times: As of Oct. 15, the National Prevailing Wage Center was processing PWD requests filed in April 2024 and earlier for H-1B OEWS and non-OEWS cases, and April 2024 and earlier for PERM OEWS cases. For PERM non-OEWS cases, the department was processing requests filed in May 2024 and earlier.
Redeterminations were being considered on appeals filed in June 2024 and earlier for H-1B and PERM cases.
Center Director Reviews were being conducted for H-1B cases filed in January 2024 and earlier, and PERM cases filed in October 2023 and earlier.
BAL Analysis: For PERM, our data indicates that July 2023 issuance is almost complete with a few August 2023 issuances in progress. For PWDs, we are now seeing a large number of validity start dates for April 2024.
The U.S. Embassy in Rwanda announced that it will reopen Oct. 21, 2024, for all in-person services, including visa services and interviews.
Additional Information: MVD is like Ebola virus, causing severe hemorrhagic fever. According to Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Rwanda confirmed 62 MVD cases and 15 deaths as of Oct. 15. Eighty percent of the cases were among healthcare workers. The outbreak has so far been contained to Rwanda. While there is no approved vaccine for MVD, an experimental vaccine has been sent to Rwanda.
BAL will continue to monitor the situation and report on relevant updates.
The Department of Homeland Security announced that certain Lebanese nationals currently residing in the United States will be eligible for Temporary Protected Status (TPS) and Deferred Enforced Departure (DED) protections.
Additional Information: Approximately 11,000 Lebanese nationals are expected to be eligible for TPS and DED, and approximately 1,740 F-1 nonimmigrant students from Lebanon may be eligible for Special Student Relief.
BAL Analysis: BAL will continue following this matter and will provide updates as they become available.
In this week’s episode of the BAL Immigration Report, Gabriel Castro discusses O-1 visas and why more employers are considering them as an alternative to the H-1B lottery. Plus, the latest immigration news.