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It’s June 1, and this is your BAL Immigration Report.
“We really want people to use that ‘Take Action’ to make sure the administration hears what barriers need to be reduced going forward.”
—Shev Dalal-Dheini, AILA Director of Government Relations
A federal judge held a hearing Thursday, June 1, in a case challenging the legality of the Biden administration’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA. Judge Andrew Hanen ruled in 2021 that the Obama administration did not follow proper procedures when it created DACA. The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld that ruling in October 2022, but also asked Hanen to consider the legality of the Biden administration’s regulation, which was crafted to protect DACA. Currently, the Department of Homeland Security is accepting DACA renewals but not first-time applications.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics recently released a report on the labor force characteristics of foreign-born workers. The data shows the percentage of foreign-born workers in the U.S. labor force reached a record high in 2022, according to Axios. As more native-born Americans age out of the labor market, the number of immigrants in the U.S. workforce has increased. The report said these immigrants are more likely to be employed in service, construction, transportation and related occupations than native-born workers, who are more likely to be employed in management and professional occupations.
A conversation with American Immigration Lawyers Association Director of Government Relations Shev Dalal-Dheini: more on U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services’ efforts to reduce barriers to immigration.
BAL Immigration Report: Last week, we played the first part of our interview with Shev Dalal-Dheini, AILA’s director of government relations. Dalal-Dheini discussed some of the areas where USCIS has made progress in the first two years of the Biden presidency. In particular, she mentioned the agency’s efforts to streamline adjudications. Still, Dalal-Dheini says the agency can do more to address systemic challenges. Here’s the second part of our interview, beginning with Dalal-Dheini’s discussion of how USCIS can reduce redundancies in the visa application process.
Dalal-Dheini: One of the first things USCIS did, which was great, was that they restored deference to prior adjudication. Previously, if you are applying to renew and it’s the same fact, basically, they should give deference to that prior determination. Under the Trump administration, they got rid of that process, so every case had to be re-adjudicated, brand new. When the Biden administration first came back on board, they restored that deference because there’s no need, unless there’s some material change or there’s some suspect issue in that case, they don’t need to re-adjudicate every single fact. So I think that was great. But I think part of the issue with USCIS is that their forms, they’re long, they’re complicated and they have a lot of redundancies within themselves. We have been pushing the agency to streamline them, get rid of duplicative questions, get rid of redundant questions, because it creates confusion not only for the applicant but also the adjudicator. So if you’re like, “I think they just asked me that question. Maybe they’re asking it differently now, so I should answer it differently.” But it is intended to be the same thing. I don’t think they’re necessarily trying to play a “gotcha” game, but it feels like that.
BAL: Dalal-Dheini says USCIS frequently asks visa applicants for additional information — including in some areas where it shouldn’t have to.
Dalal-Dheini: We still are seeing a lot of requests for evidence that are redundant or not even applicable to the case at hand because they’re using template RFEs. Sometimes you’ll get an RFE that is something that was already provided for. They need to look at that more closely to make sure that that process is smooth. There’s no reason that you have to stop the adjudication, send out an RFE, wait for a response, a response to “we already submitted that,” and back and forth with the agency just delays everything. So I think that’s an area where they’ve started doing things. I think they can do more. You know, AILA also has called for creation of a trusted filer process. So if you’re a big business that files a lot of petitions, for example, why do you have to reestablish every single time that you have the ability to pay someone when that is a fairly publicly known fact? That would also help streamline adjudications.
BAL: One area where AILA has seen little progress is access to counsel throughout the visa adjudication process.
Dalal-Dheini: USCIS is trying to move to online filing, and that will help eliminate some of the redundancies. It’ll make the process a little bit more efficient. It’ll allow USCIS to move cases amongst adjudicators — whoever has the time, not just in a particular service center or field office. But our biggest obstacle with that is that right now, it doesn’t allow a lawyer to file on behalf of their client because it doesn’t have a process to accept the G-28 and acknowledge the fact that your attorney is representing you in a matter. And that we find is a huge barrier to really making not only that accessible to everybody, but also in USCIS succeeding to eliminate their barriers.
BAL: Dalal-Dheini says that with next year’s presidential election approaching, AILA is watching the clock and remains vigilant in pushing USCIS to reduce barriers to immigration. AILA recently published a list showing USCIS’ progress on different priorities over the past two years.
Dalal-Dheini: We’re asking our members and the public to review that list and say, “These are the most important. This one’s the most important to us. This one would really help me because of this.” And we have a “Take Action” section available on our website. If you go to AILA’s Advocacy Action Center, you’ll find it there that you can customize and say, “Look, I find this recommendation needs to be done ASAP because it will help my client in X way,” or “It’ll help me this way.” We really want people to use that “Take Action” to make sure the administration hears what barriers need to be reduced going forward.
BAL: Please check our show notes for links to AILA’s USCIS progress report and its “Take Action” advocacy page.
In the United Kingdom, the Home Office plans to introduce new restrictions on student visa applications. Beginning in January 2024, authorities will restrict foreign national students from sponsoring family members under all immigration routes except for those for post-graduate researchers. Overseas students must also demonstrate financial solvency and will no longer be allowed to switch into work visa routes until their studies have been completed. The new restrictions aim to help reduce net migration into the U.K.
In Canada, the government introduced new immigration measures to promote family reunification and address labor shortages. Authorities will now process temporary resident visas within 30 days of their receipt. Additionally, spouses, partners and dependents are now able to apply for an open work permit as soon as they submit a complete permanent residence application under the spouse, common-law partner or other family class programs. Spouses and other work permit holders whose permits expire between Aug. 1 and the end of 2023 will be able to extend their permits for an additional 18 months.
The Japanese government announced that it is examining current visa programs and residence statuses to make them more suitable for digital nomads to live and work in the country. The announcement stemmed from a broader review of the country’s immigration framework. Digital nomad visas have gained popularity worldwide, but Japanese authorities have yet to provide an official statement on what changes they are considering.
Follow us on X, and sign up for daily immigration updates. We’ll be back next week with more news from the world of corporate immigration.
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