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It’s March 2, and this is your BAL Immigration Report.
“Some digital nomad visas might consider things beyond immigration, but it doesn’t necessarily mean that you can rely on that.”
—Jonathan Nagel, BAL Senior Associate
The H-1B registration window opened this week. The number of H-1B registrations has grown in each of the past three years, hitting a record of nearly 484,000 last year. That translated to a selection rate of about 26%. Steve Plastrik, a senior associate on BAL’s Government Strategies team, said employers should not expect this trend to reverse itself this year.
“For this year, all signs are pointing toward another year of high demand. In December, we looked at whether companies were expecting to submit more registrations compared to last year. And ultimately, we found that 84% of companies were expecting to submit more or about the same number of H-1B cap registrations as last year, and there were only 11% of companies that expected to submit fewer than last year. Looking internally, our own numbers are consistent with that high demand and higher demand than last year even. So overall, what employers can expect for this coming cap registration season is another season with a lot of H-1B cap registrations and, as a result, another year of low selection rates.”
In other H-1B news, denial rates for new H-1B visas reached an all-time low of 2% last fiscal year. That’s according to a National Foundation for American Policy analysis of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services data. This figure continues a four-year downward trend in H-1B denial rates after they peaked under former President Trump in fiscal year 2018. The lower denial rates in recent years are due at least in part to legal challenges during the Trump administration that forced USCIS to issue new guidance on adjudication of H-1B visas.
A conversation with BAL Senior Associate Jonathan Nagel and BAL Senior Knowledge Manager Diem Ngo: the global rise of digital nomad visas — and the implications for employers.
BAL Immigration Report: Digital nomad visas allow individuals to work remotely in a foreign country, usually for up to six months, a year or two years. They have become increasingly common during the COVID-19 pandemic but present employers with many considerations. Jonathan Nagel, a senior associate in BAL’s Boston office, and Diem Ngo, a senior knowledge manager in the firm’s Houston office, joined us. Nagel discussed the origins of the trend.
Nagel: Pre-COVID, digital nomad visas were very rare compared to where we are now. Generally speaking, there may have been a handful that existed — and from that handful, only a few locations that the average person might want to go spend a year working remotely from. They were normally focused on places in the Caribbean, and it was more of a draw to try to get folks to just simply live in another country, to spend money locally but not actually impact the local labor force.
BAL: Digital nomad visas exploded in popularity during the pandemic as countries hit by a downturn in tourism moved to take advantage of a newly mobile global workforce. BAL’s Knowledge Management team has tracked the development of digital nomad visas in more than 30 countries, mostly in Latin America and Europe, but also in Asia, Africa and the Middle East. Among the more frequent destinations are Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Greece, Malaysia, Portugal, Thailand and the United Arab Emirates. Ngo stressed the difference between working on a digital nomad visa and telecommuting or working from home more generally.
Ngo: The digital nomad visa is an official document that gives someone the right to work remotely in another country — temporarily, of course — outside of their normal country of residence. You do have to go through an application process, and you may have to go through local registration procedures upon arrival. A common feature is that you must already have a job either with a company or be self-employed in another country. Meeting minimum salary requirements is also a big criteria in order qualify. You may have to go through medical and police background checks, just like any other long-term work visa process.
BAL: Some countries allow digital nomads to bring family members without having to submit a separate visa application. While there are benefits, Ngo warned that some information online can be misleading.
Ngo: They’re really good for the economy and attracting talent. I just wouldn’t be fooled by some of the information out there on blogs in social media where a country has announced or introduced a digital nomad visa, but it hasn’t officially become law or fully implemented.
BAL: As digital nomad visas become more popular, companies are beginning to consider whether the visas should be part of their remote work policies.
Nagel: Clients are starting to come around to this being not an issue necessarily, but definitely a consideration and something they have to take into account, especially for those that have larger mobility and immigration programs and really have a global presence, with employees traveling around the world and looking to really flex their ability to utilize remote work, given the day and age that we’re in. That all said, the first place that a client or company needs to start is developing their policy and how they want to interact with and even engage with this whole digital nomad visa world. Hopefully, most companies have already put in place some type of work-from-home or work-from-anywhere program or policy that they can simply tweak and expand upon. But if they haven’t, that’s probably a good place to start. And then you’ll want to start to consider the countries that are available and really start exploring whether you even want to let this be an option because if you do, you’re going to open up a fairly large can of worms saying an employee can get their own visa and work in one of 10, 20, 30, 40, maybe 50, 60, 70 countries one day.
BAL: Nagel said a limited scale approach is probably best — and that companies need to think about more than just immigration.
Nagel: Main considerations once you start developing that policy are going to be around things like tax — things that aren’t necessarily immigration-related. Although you might have an employee who can get their own visa and get work authorized and live somewhere — be it six months, 12 months or I think in the case of Spain, up to five years — if they’re working for you, as an employer, you need to start considering what else comes into play. Some digital nomad visas might consider things beyond immigration, but it doesn’t necessarily mean that you can rely on that. Having your tax vendor or payroll or benefits really dig into this country by country is going to be necessary to ensure that you as an employer are not only protecting you and your corporate interests, but you’re able to protect your employee interests as well.
BAL: Those interested in more information about digital nomad visas can contact GCIteam@bal.com.
The European Union has again delayed the implementation of the European Travel Information and Authorization System, or ETIAS. Previously targeted to debut in November 2023, the launch is now expected in 2024. An exact date has yet to be announced. Once implemented, non-EU nationals who do not need a visa to enter Schengen area countries will need to apply for authorization through ETIAS before traveling. The authorization will cost 7 euros and will be valid for three years or until the applicant’s travel document expires, whichever comes first.
The United Kingdom’s Migration Advisory Committee announced a call for evidence as part of its review of the U.K.’s Shortage Occupation List. The call for evidence gathers employer input on salary requirements well as which occupations should remain on, be added to or removed from the list. Employers should submit evidence before May 26. The committee will then compile submissions and provide recommendations to the Home Office, which will make the final decision on which occupations are selected.
Canadian officials are again requiring applicants for temporary residence to submit biometrics data as part of their application. The policy was suspended because of pandemic-related closures and disruptions in services. Foreign nationals must provide their biometrics as a student, worker or visitor when applying for a visa, extending their stay or restoring their status. Individuals who submitted biometrics before the pandemic can use an online status tool to check if their data is still valid.
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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