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Update on applications received for requested date of need from Oct. 1, 2024, through March 31, 2025 (fiscal year (FY) 2025 first half of the visa cap):
The Department of Labor (DOL) reported that as of April 15, a total of 5,909 cases were issued Final Decisions. Certified positions for this period were allocated for 110,620 workers.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services received enough petitions to reach the additional 20,716 H-2B visas made available for returning workers for the first half of FY 2025 with start dates on or before March 31, 2025.
Update on applications received for requested date of need from April 1, 2025 (FY 2025 second half of the visa cap):
As of April 15, a total of 6,860 cases were issued Final Decisions. Certified positions for this period were allocated for 99,061 workers.
DOL completed processing of the following groups who filed between Jan. 1-3:
DOL is still assigning additional groups and processing cases submitted weekly from January through April 5.
*Indicates a change in the numbers previously reported by DOL for this group.
Background on Assignment Groups: The initial H-2B Assignment Group (i.e., Group A) will always include the number of H-2B applications containing a sufficient amount of worker positions to reach the applicable numerical visa cap, even if the numerical limits of the Immigration and Nationality Act are subsequently changed. Additional Assignment Groups are assigned in ascending sequential order for all remaining H-2B applications that were filed during the initial three-day filing window that requested the earliest start date of work permitted. Each H-2B Assignment Group after Group A (e.g., Group B, Group C, etc.) will total no more than 20,000 worker positions, or roughly 1,000 applications per group. More background on H-2B Temporary Labor Certification Program and the origin of Assignment Groups can be found here.
Learn more about H-2B visas here.
This alert has been provided by the BAL U.S. Practice Group.
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U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) announced that El Salvador is now an official Global Entry partner country.
Key Points:
Additional Information: Other Global Entry partner countries include Argentina, Australia, Bahrain, Brazil, Colombia, Croatia, the Dominican Republic, Germany, India, Japan, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Panama, the Republic of Korea, Singapore, Switzerland, Taiwan, the United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom.
The 2025 May Visa Bulletin shows a six-month retrogression in the EB-5 unreserved visa category preference for India. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced all employment-based preference categories must use the Final Action Dates chart in the bulletin.
Additional Information: The State Department also noted that it may become necessary to establish a Final Action Date for Rest of World countries if demand and number use continues to increase.
Final Action Dates for the other employment-based visa preference categories in the 2025 May Visa Bulletin remained the same except for modest advancement in the EB-3 visa category for India.
The U.S. State Department released the May Visa Bulletin. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced filings for employment-based visa preference categories must use the Final Action Dates chart, which remain the same as April except for India’s modest EB-3 advancement by 14 days.
Final Action Dates:
EB-1 visa
EB-2 visa
EB-3 visa
Final Action Dates Chart for Employment-Based Visa Applications
Category
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced that, effective immediately, it will “begin considering aliens’ antisemitic activity on social media and the physical harassment of Jewish individuals as grounds for denying immigration benefit requests.”
Additional Information: A USCIS proposal to collect social media identifiers on certain immigration forms is currently in a 60-day public comment period.
The U.S. Embassy and consulates in Canada posted general guidance for Canadian citizens on the updated alien registration requirement that falls under Section 262 of the Immigration and Nationality Act.
Additional Information: The IFR is open for public comment until April 11, 2025, when it is scheduled to take effect. Public comments can be submitted here. The IFR is currently subject to litigation. BAL continues to monitor this litigation and issues surrounding the government’s implementation of the IFR.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services made minor changes to Form I-9 to align with statutory language and updated the Department of Homeland Security Privacy Notice. E-Verify/E-Verify+ citizenship status selection updates took effect April 3. Multiple previous editions remain valid until their respective expiration dates.
I-9 Form updates
E-Verify/E-Verify+ updates
Additional Information: More details on the updates can be found here.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services posted notice of new procedures for individuals covered by Deferred Enforced Departure (DED) for Hong Kong to apply for employment authorization documents (EADs) valid through Feb. 5, 2027, and automatically extends EADs issued under the program through Feb. 5, 2027.
Additional Information: The Federal Register notice outlines the process for Hong Kong residents under DED to obtain EADs and automatically extends DED-based EADs as described above. Additional information can be found on the USCIS website. The DED follows a memorandum issued by the Biden administration on Jan. 15, 2025, determining it was in the foreign policy interest of the U.S. to expand and extend the deferral of removal of certain Hong Kong residents.
Before today, DHS had not issued a Federal Register notice implementing an extension of DED-based EADs. The agency had provided guidance on Feb. 18, 2025, that although DED was automatically extended, DED-based EADs for Hong Kong residents were not being extended.
Pending further litigation, the 2023 Temporary Protected Status (TPS) designation for Venezuela will remain in effect in compliance with a U.S. District Court order, and the validity of employment authorization documents (EADs) with certain “Card Expires” dates have been extended through April 2, 2026.
Additional Information: Government updates regarding the program will be posted on the TPS page for Venezuela. USCIS guidance for completing the Form I-9 can be found here. BAL continues to monitor this litigation and related cases.
Last week, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced that the H-2B visa cap was reached for the remainder of fiscal year (FY) 2025. The Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Labor jointly published a temporary final rule on Dec. 2, 2024, increasing the numerical limit (or cap) on H-2B nonimmigrant visas by up to 64,716 additional visas for all of FY 2025. Of the 64,716 supplemental visas, 44,716 are available only for certain returning workers.
The breakdown of the H-2B supplemental visas for spring and summer is as follows:
For the early second half of FY 2025 (April 1 through May 14)
For the late second half of FY 2025 (May 15 through Sept. 30)
For the entirety of FY 2025
More information on the allocation of supplemental visas can be found here.