DHS has recently provided a notice of proposed rulemaking that would require H-1B petitioning employers to pay a $10 fee for each electronic registration they wish to submit to USCIS prior to submitting an H-1B cap-subject petition. This proposed fee is related to the DHS’s final rule of January 31, 2019 requiring H-1B cap-subject petitions’ electronic registration with USCIS during a designated registration period. The registration requirement was suspended by the government for the most recent H-1B cap season (for fiscal year 2020) as the electronic registration system was not yet ready for use. Discuss the new electronic registration and related procedures and timelines with your immigration counsel prior to the start of the new H-1B filing season on April 1, 2020.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that current beneficiaries of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Syria must complete re-registration between September 23, 2019 and November 23, 2019 in order to maintain their TPS in the U.S. through March 31, 2021. Re-registration would also provide opportunities for employment authorization renewal. In order to re-register, all Syrian national TPS holders must submit Form I-821, Application for Temporary Protected Status. Those looking for employment authorization should also submit Form I-765, Application for Employment Authorization together with or subsequent to filing Form I-821. USCIS would be issuing new Employment Authorization Documents (EADs) valid through March 31, 2021. Due to the EAD applications processing timelines, majority of re-registrants would not receive new EADs prior to their current EADs expiration on September 30, 2019. Consequently, USCIS is automatically extending the validity of these EADs for 180 days (i.e., through March 28, 2020). This automatic extension also covers TPS individuals with EADs that expired on March 31, 2018 with timely filed and still pending applications since the prior re-registration period.