Department of Homeland SecurityDepartment of Labor

USCIS Policy Updates & Department of Labor News: January 6, 2023

USCIS Policy Updates for Certain Permanent Residency Card Renewal Applicants In response to lengthy processing times for naturalization applicants, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) has updated its Policy Manual to allow for the automatic extension of Permanent Resident Cards (i.e., “Green Cards”) for individuals with properly filed and pending Form N-400, Application for

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Department of Homeland SecurityImmigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) News

USCIS, DHS and ICE Updates

Automatic Extension Period Increased for Green Card Validity As of September 26, 2022, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) began automatically extending the validity of expired Permanent Resident Cards (i.e., green cards) from 12 to 24 months for lawful permanent residents who have timely and properly filed an application to renew an expiring or

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Department of Homeland Security

Department of Homeland Security Updates

Form I-9 COVID Flexibilities Extended Through October 21, 2022 The Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”) has extended I-9 flexibilities enacted in response to stay-at-home orders and document renewal difficulties faced during the COVID-19 pandemic. The flexibilities, which were set to expire on April 30, 2022, have been extended through October 31, 2022. In addition to

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Immigration

USCIS Updates

USCIS Announces Completion of H-1B Cap Lottery The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) has announced the completion of its H-1B initial electronic registration selection process for fiscal year 2023 (“FY 2023”) after receiving enough electronic registrations to reach the H-1B numerical allocations (“H-1B Cap”), including the advanced degree exemption (“Master’s Cap”). Selected H-1B Cap

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Department of Homeland Security

Immigration Insights – DHS Update

While the pandemic wreaked havoc on many immigration processes and has resulted in some breaks in employers’ I-9 compliance, E-Verify program obligations for employment eligibility verification have not been relaxed. E-Verify requires all subscribed employers to take action on cases designated as “tentative nonconfirmation case” (TNC) for their employees within 10 federal government working days.

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Immigration

Updates from the DOS and USCIS + Updated Guidance for Form I-9

DOS Update The Department of State (DOS) has extended the validity of National Interest Exceptions (NIEs) for travelers subject to restrictions under Presidential Proclamations banning entry into the U.S. due to presence in China, Iran, Brazil, South Africa, the United Kingdom, Ireland, India and the Schengen area. Existing NIEs and newly-issued NIEs will be valid

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COVID-19Emergency Immigration Alert

How To Navigate Employment Verification Requirements During COVID-19

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has relaxed the employment verification requirements with COVID-19 and social distancing requirements for employers who are operating solely remotely. Specifically, DHS will exercise discretion with the physical inspection requirement of the employee’s identity and employment authorization documents by allowing the employer to inspect the Section 2 documents remotely (via

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Department of Homeland Security

DHS Update

I-9 Update: USCIS has recently announced a new version of Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification.  While Forms I-9 in employers’ files remain valid if they were completed during the validity period of the prior form edition, employers should be now using the new edition of the form with the 10/21/2019 version date.  Employers that require

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Immigration Enforcement News

Immigration Enforcement News

The US government has significantly ramped up its enforcement efforts in the recent years. In Fiscal Year (FY) 2018, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) initiated 6,848 worksite investigations which reflects a more than 300% increase from FY 2017. The number of I-9 employment eligibility verification compliance audits has also increased: nearly 6,000 audits were conducted in

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Department of Homeland Security

DHS Update

2019 H-1B Cap-subject Petitions. On April 6, 2018, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) reached the congressionally mandated 65,000 H-1B visa cap for the government’s Fiscal Year (FY) 2019 and received in excess of 190,000 cap-subject petitions. USCIS also confirmed that it had reached the cap under the 20,000 H-1B petitions allocation for U.S. advanced

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