Employment Law Information Network
All Things Labor and Employment Law
Undocumented students are waiting for University of California (UC) leadership to issue a plan that would remove hiring restrictions for all UC students, regardless of immigration status.
The proposed plan, titled Opportunity For All (O4All), is supported by language in the 1986 Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA) that the
By: Failure to Disclose Arbitration Agreement In Visa Petition May Nullify Agreement
In early 2020, Alco Harvesting, LLC hired Jesus Guzman, a citizen of Mexico, to perform agricultural work in Santa Maria under the H-2A visa program. The H-2A visa program allows employers to hire foreign nationals to engage in temporary
Congress has approved an additional 64,716 H-2B visas for fiscal year 2024, supplementing the 66,000 available annually. As in prior years, restrictions will apply. A temporary final rule has been published in the Federal Register setting out the procedures involved.
H-2B visas for temporary, seasonal nonagricultural workers are used
More of the Same: December 2023 Visa Bulletin Brings Few Changes From November
On October 23, 2023, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) released a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM), which the agency indicates will modernize and improve the H-1B specialty occupation worker program. DHS states that these changes will improve the program by “streamlining eligibility requirements, improving program efficiency, providing greater
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) have announced that they plan to make an additional 64,716 H-2B visas available for fiscal year (FY) 2024. The announcement should bring relief to industries experiencing an unmet need for seasonal, intermittent, peak load, or one-time
USCIS has issued new policy guidance on L-1 intracompany transfer petitions addressing sole proprietorships and Blanket L petitions.
There are two highlights:
USCIS has clarified that sole proprietorships cannot file L petitions on behalf of the owner, i.e., the sole proprietor. USCIS distinguishes sole proprietorships from self-incorporated entities
On October 18, 2023, additional details regarding the U.S. Department of State’s highly anticipated stateside visa renewal pilot program were released by the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA).
The U.S. Department of State (DOS) sent a Federal Register notice titled, “Pilot Program to Resume Renewal of H-1B Nonimmigrant Visas in the United States for Certain Qualified Noncitizens” to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs on October 17, 2023. The program would allow the DOS to issue
On October 23, 2023, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) released a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) to amend its current regulations to modernize the H-1B visa program. DHS will accept public comments until December 22, 2023.
On October 17, 2023, the Department of State (DOS) took the first steps to implement stateside processing of nonimmigrant visas. The DOS notified the federal Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs that it will introduce a pilot stateside processing program on a limited basis in the first quarter of 2024.
USCIS has published a proposed rule that, once implemented, would significantly reform and modernize the H-1B Program. The Modernizing H-1B Requirements, Providing Flexibility in the F-1 Program, and Program Improvements Affecting Other Nonimmigrant Workers Rule has been released for Notice and Comment by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
A change in calculating the availability of immigrant numbers means some foreign national ministers who are in the United States on temporary R-1 religious worker visas and waiting in lines for green cards will have to wait even longer, it seems. Some may even have to leave their congregations.
Ministers
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services recently announced that as of October 11, 2023, the H-2B cap for nonagricultural workers had been reached for the first half of fiscal year 2024.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) will soon be issuing a new proposed rule: Modernizing H-1B Requirements and Oversight and Providing Flexibility in the F-1 Program.
The abstract of the proposed rule indicates:
DHS will be revising the regulations regarding the “employer-employee” relationship; Provide flexibility for start-up entrepreneurs who
