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It’s Jan. 19, and this is your BAL Immigration Report.
“One of the cool things about H-2B is that it is not limited to a certain industry.”
—Ashley Foret Dees, BAL Partner
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced a new phase of its premium processing expansion last week. Beginning Jan. 30, USCIS will accept premium processing requests for Form I-140 petitions under the EB-1 and EB-2 classifications, including all pending and initial E13 and E21 petitions. The agency will further expand premium processing in March to certain F-1 students with pending applications for Optional Practical Training, or OPT, or STEM OPT extensions. The service will be extended in April to F-1 student submitting initial OPT or STEM OPT requests.
This phased approach is part of USCIS’ broader effort to reduce backlogs and provide relief to foreign nationals affected by processing delays. USCIS said it would offer more detailed information soon regarding the OPT and STEM OPT expansions. BAL will provide updates as information becomes available.
The Department of Homeland Security announced a streamlined deferred action process for noncitizen workers who witness or are victims of labor violations. The new policy is intended to protect these workers from immigration-related retaliation from employers. It is part of DHS’ ongoing effort to promote labor rights and support worksite safety and enforcement, stemming from a 2021 memorandum from Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas. Grants of deferred action typically last two years and allow recipients to apply for employment authorization if they fulfill eligibility requirements.
A conversation with BAL Partner Ashley Foret Dees: new opportunities in the H-2B visa program.
BAL Immigration Report: We spoke with Ashley Foret Dees, a partner in BAL’s office in Lake Charles, Louisiana, about the program and the employers who utilize it.
Foret Dees: The H-2B program is nonagricultural but still a temporary visa program. It is very popular and has gained popularity in the last few years because it’s really not limited to one type of industry. In terms of H-2, we have the agricultural side of our H-2A visas — very specific group of employers only that can utilize that visa — and then the H-2B program, which is set up for an employer specifically to show that they fit into one of four categories.
BAL: Those four categories are for employers with a seasonal, peak load, intermittent or one-time need for temporary foreign workers. In most cases, H-2B visas are valid for up to 10 months but can be valid for up to three years for employers with a one-time need. Traditionally, cap-subject H-2B visas are released two times per year — on Oct. 1 and April 1.
The visas are in high demand. In a three-day filing period earlier this month, the Labor Department received applications covering nearly 143,000 worker positions for 33,000 visas that will become available April 1. The good news is that in recent years the government has provided additional visas in supplemental allotments. This year, authorities made nearly 65,000 additional visas available. Of these visas, 44,700 are reserved for returning H-2B workers, and 20,000 are reserved specifically for workers from Haiti and the “Northern Triangle” countries of El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras.
The visas for returning workers tend to benefit employers who have been in the H-2B program for some time. The nationality-specific visas, meanwhile, could benefit employers who are new to the program.
Foret Dees: One of the benefits to really looking at these additional supplemental visas dedicated to Northern Triangle and Haiti is that they can benefit new H-2B employees. So maybe an employer out there has utilized other visa programs, wants to look at bringing in some employees for a seasonal job, a peak job, an intermittent need that they have to supplement their staff. It would make sense to look at and recruit from El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Haiti because there are additional visas out there for that employer, and as a new H-2 employer, they don’t have staff that’s not from those countries that they’re hoping to bring back. So they can create a good team of employees from one of these countries and increase the chance that they would make the cap in future years because of these allocated numbers that are dedicated to those countries that we do foresee to continue for several years to come.
BAL: Foret Dees encouraged employers to consider the H-2B program, noting that it can benefit many different types of companies.
Foret Dees: I think we see a lot and hear a lot about landscaping industry and about some seafood industries really utilizing those visas, but there are a variety of industries that utilize H-2B, and so it comes down to the documentation that the employer has to show that they do have a peak or they do have that need to supplement their staff. Each employer is so unique, so it’s worth it to consult with us, see if you maybe have that need for workers. What documentation do you have personally as an employer, since it’s not a visa that’s really industry specific.
BAL: Find more information on H-2B opportunities here.
European Union countries are extending temporary protections for Ukrainians. Following the Russian invasion of Ukraine last year, the EU adopted a directive that allows Ukrainians who cannot return home to live and work in the EU. The directive also provides for access to housing, medical care, education and social services.
Last fall, the EU authorities moved to extend the directive until at least March 2024. Some member states — including Belgium, the Czech Republic, Finland and Germany — have confirmed extensions. Others are expected to do so soon. Up-to-date information is available on the European Union Agency for Asylum website.
The Vietnamese government reintroduced stricter labor rules for individuals submitting work permit applications in Ho Chi Minh City. Applicants can no longer use previously issued work permits to verify their employment history and must submit a letter from a former overseas employer certifying their experience in a relevant role, among other requirements. Vietnam relaxed many immigration regulations during the first several years of the COVID-19 pandemic, but authorities are now beginning to reinstitute more stringent rules. Similar policies are expected in other Vietnamese cities and provinces in the coming months.
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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