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A federal judge in Texas has set a hearing for June 1 in a case challenging the legality of the Biden administration’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals regulation.
Key Points:
BAL Analysis: Judge Hanen ruled in 2021 that the Obama administration did not follow proper procedures when it created DACA and is now weighing the Biden administration’s attempt to protect the program through federal regulation. Given the uncertainty around the litigation, individuals who are eligible to renew their DACA and related employment authorization are urged to do so as soon as they are eligible. BAL will continue to monitor the ongoing litigation and will provide updates on important developments related to DACA. For more information, visit BAL’s DACA Resource Center here.
This alert has been provided by the BAL U.S. Practice Group. For additional information, please contact berryapplemanleiden@bal.com.
Copyright © 2023 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.
The national COVID-19 public health emergency expired at the end of the day Thursday, a change that affects some immigration policies.
BAL Analysis: BAL will continue to monitor the impact of COVID-19 on immigration policy and will provide updates as information becomes available.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced that in June it will follow the State Department’s Final Action Dates chart, as published in the June Visa Bulletin, to determine whether applicants are eligible to file for adjustment of status.
Final Action Dates
EB-1
EB-2
EB-3
Final Action Dates for Employment-Based Preference Cases:
Additional Information: Family-based applicants may use the Dates for Filing chart next month, according to the USCIS announcement. More information is available here.
IMPACT — MEDIUM
The U.K. Home Office published guidance and reporting requirements for employers who sponsor remote workers.
Additional Information: Reports must be made within 10 business days after the change in location. More information regarding the reporting requirements for remote workers is available here.
BAL Analysis: Employers should review the hybrid working pattern guidance to ensure that they adhere to the new reporting requirements.
This alert has been provided by the BAL Global Practice Group. For additional information, please contact berryapplemanleiden@bal.com.
Get this news and more in the new episode of BAL’s podcast, the BAL Immigration Report, available on Apple, Spotify and Google Podcasts or on the BAL news site.
This alert has been provided by the BAL U.S. Practice Group.
Copyright ©2023 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.
The State Department released the June Visa Bulletin, showing no movement for key employment-based categories.
Dates for Filing
Dates for Filing for Employment-Based Preference Cases:
Additional Information: U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has not yet announced whether it will use the Final Action Dates or Dates for Filing chart in June. BAL will update clients once USCIS announces which chart will be used.
The Labor Department has posted updated processing times for permanent labor certification (PERM) applications and prevailing wage determination (PWD) requests.
PERM Processing: As of April 30, the department was adjudicating applications filed in July and earlier, conducting audit reviews on applications filed in April and earlier, and reviewing appeals for reconsideration filed in August and earlier.
PWD Processing: As of April 30, the National Prevailing Wage Center was processing PWD requests filed in January 2022 and earlier for H-1B OES and PERM OES cases, February 2022 and earlier for H-1B non-OES cases, and January 2022 and earlier for PERM non-OES cases. Redeterminations were being considered on appeals filed November and earlier for H-1B cases, and October and earlier for PERM cases.
BAL Analysis: BAL’s internal case tracking is mostly consistent with the Labor Department’s published processing times. BAL is seeing faster PWD issuances for PERM OES and non-OES cases. BAL is seeing approvals for PERM applications filed in July and earlier, and is starting to see PWDs for requests filed in January and earlier for H-1B OES cases, February and earlier for H-1B non-OES cases, and November and earlier for PERM OES and non-OES cases.
The U.S. State Department has announced the winners of the 2024 Diversity Visa lottery.
Additional Information: The Diversity Visa program provides for 55,000 immigrant visas to be issued to individuals from countries with low levels of immigration to the United States. Individuals register during an annual registration period and are selected through a random lottery. The registration period for fiscal year 2024 Diversity Visas opened Oct. 5, 2022, and closed Nov. 8, 2022.
Individuals who entered the Diversity Visa 2023 program have until Sept. 30, 2023, to check the status of their entry. The DV2023 registration period was from Oct. 6, 2021, through Nov. 9, 2021.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement announced Thursday that it would give employers 30 days to reach compliance with Form I-9 document inspection requirements once COVID-related I-9 flexibilities come to an end on July 31, 2023.
Additional Information: The Department of Homeland Security continues to work on a rule that would give ICE authority to allow remote inspection of documents in some cases. The agency published a proposed rule in August 2022 and received more than 500 public comments, including one from BAL. DHS is currently reviewing the public comments and plans to issue a final rule later this year.
BAL Analysis: The 30-day grace period will give employers some additional time to review documents in person once the temporary flexibilities end; however, this is still a tight time frame, particularly given that some employers have been relying on the temporary policy for more than three years. BAL continues to encourage companies that have not yet started in-person reviews to start planning as soon as possible. BAL will continue to monitor the development of DHS’ new I-9 rule and will provide updates as information becomes available.