Articles Discussing Employment-Related Visas.

On Friday, March 3, 2017, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that effective April 3, 2017, it will temporarily suspend premium processing for H-1B petitions. This suspension may last for up to six months. The temporary suspension will apply to all H-1B applications filed on or after April 3, 2017. Therefore, because the current cap-subject H-1B petitions will not be filed before April 3, 2017, the suspension applies to all regular-cap and master’s-advanced-degree-cap petitions.

Petitions for new H-1B visas are eligible to be filed on April 1, 2017, for federal FY 2018 beginning October 1, 2017. There are a limited number of new H-1B visas each year (65,000 and an additional 20,000 for foreign nationals with a U.S. Master’s degree or higher), which historically is used up within days of the start of the filing period. Last year, 236,000 applications were filed for the 85,000 slots. Now is the time to review your hiring needs.

On January 27, 2017, President Trump signed an executive order (among others) titled: “Protecting the Nation from Foreign Terrorist Entry into the United States” (the “Order”). The Order purports to “suspend entry” of both “immigrant and nonimmigrant” individuals from the seven countries currently subject to visa waiver restrictions: Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen.1

Executive Summary: We are releasing this Alert to remind employers of the fast-approaching April 1, 2017, opening date for filing H-1B work visa petitions on behalf of foreign employees who need sponsorship for work authorization in the U.S. Since April 1, 2017, falls on a Saturday this year, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will start accepting H-1B petitions on Monday, April 3, 2017.

Employers that wish to sponsor H-1B workers for Fiscal Year 2018 can begin filing petitions on April 1, 2017, for a start date of October 1, 2017. The H-1B visa is used by businesses that wish to employ foreign nationals to work in a specialty occupation requiring theoretical or technical expertise. For FY 2018, cases will be considered accepted on the date the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) takes possession of the petition, not on the date the petition was postmarked.

Representative Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) has introduced two pieces of legislation to watch.

Beginning on December 23, 2016, filing fees for many United States Citizen and Immigration Services (USCIS) visa petitions and applications will increase. This is the first time since 2010 that USCIS has increased its filing fees. On average, fees will increase by 21 percent. The premium processing fee of $1,225 will not increase.

On the first day of its new term, the United States Supreme Court sidestepped another opportunity to determine the constitutionality of President Obama’s executive immigration reforms. On October 3, 2016, the Court denied the government’s request for a rehearing in United States v. Texas, upholding an injunction against the administration’s ambitious program to provide work authorization to millions of individuals living in the United States without lawful immigration status.

Employers needing foreign talent to fill professional positions obtain work authorization for these individuals most frequently by applying for an H-1B visa. Individuals from across the globe may be sponsored for this type of visa if the position requires a minimum of U.S. Bachelor’s Degree or equivalent.

In an effort to further streamline the H-2B application process and make it less burdensome for employers, the Department of Labor has announced procedural changes to reduce the amount of documentation to demonstrate “temporary need.”

Employers employing foreign nationals in H-1B nonimmigrant visa status must pay their H-1B employees the wage specified on the Labor Condition Application (LCA) certified by DOL, regardless of whether the H-1B employer is enduring difficult economic or financial periods due to struggling national economy, an Administrative Law Judge for the Department of Labor has ruled in Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division v. Shriiji Krupa Inc.

Noting media reports that up to 200 foreign workers hired by a Tesla contractor were able to come to the United States in tourist visa status to perform work at a construction project at a Tesla Motors Inc. paint facility in the United States, Senator Charles Grassley (R-IA) sent a letter, dated June 7, 2016, to the heads of the State Department, Justice Department, Department of Labor, and Department of Homeland Security questioning how such individuals would be eligible to perform work in the U.S. in B visa status.

A U.S. District Court in Seattle has ruled that the U.S. Department of State’s Visa Bulletin which governs how immigrant visas subject to numerical limitations are allocated, and indicates when intending immigrants may apply for the last stage of the permanent visa process is not a final agency action or decision and, therefore, cannot be challenged in court. While it is estimated that 20,000 or more individuals relied upon the published dates to initiate filings prior to the roll-back, Chief Judge Ricardo S. Martinez determined that the court lacked jurisdiction because the bulletin does not constitute a final action under the Administrative Procedure Act (APA), but instead merely sets out “informative” data.

As we head into the final month before petitions for H-1B visas must be filed for Fiscal Year 2017,1 employers should keep the following information in mind:

The United States has begun implementing changes to its visa policies that will make it harder for some travelers to enter the country under the Visa Waiver Program (VWP). One result of the changes means certain countries’ nationals are no longer eligible to enter the U.S. under the VWP.