U.S. Immigration Alerts

FGI FIVE: U.S. Immigration News Summary – Week of March 06, 2025

Department of Labor updates PERM and PWD processing times for March 2025

The Department of Labor (DOL) has updated its processing times for prevailing wage determinations (PWD) and PERM applications for March 2025. 

• As of March 1, 2025:
  •  DOL has been processing H-1B prevailing wage determinations (PWDs) filed in September 2024 (OES and Non-OES) or earlier.
  • DOL has been processing PWDs for PERMs filed in September 2024 (OES and Non-OES) or earlier.
  • DOL has been processing H-1B redeterminations filed in November 2024 or earlier. 
  • DOL has been processing PERM redeterminations filed in November 2024 or earlier. 
  • DOL has been processing H-1B Center Director reviews requested in August 2024 or earlier.
  • DOL has been processing PERM Center Director reviews requested in April 2024 or earlier.
• Below is PERM processing information for both priority dates and average number of days to process applications as of March 1, 2025:

PERM Processing Times

Average Number of Days to Process PERM Applications

SOURCE: Department of Labor: Processing Times | Flag.dol.gov

Trump Administration issues guidance on Alien Registration Requirement

• On February 25, 2025, the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) posted new guidance on the Alien Registration Requirement.
• This guidance aligns with President Trump’s Executive Order 14159, issued on January 20, 2025, that requires that foreign nationals comply with the duty to register with the U.S. government or face civil and/or criminal penalties. 
• Neither the EO nor subsequent USCIS posting specified when the program would begin or provided many specifics on how it would be implemented. 
• USCIS has indicated that the forms and procedures for the registration program are still being developed and could be rolled out in the near future. 
• Some of the provisions that were detailed are as follows.
  • There are many foreign nationals who will not be subject to the Alien Registration Requirement. The memo said that foreign nationals who are not required to register include Green Card holders and those foreign nationals who have been admitted into the U.S. as a nonimmigrant and who were issued a Form I-94 (paper or electronic), even if their period of admission has expired. In addition, foreign nationals who have been issued an Employment Authorization Document (EAD), Border Crossing Card, or who have applied for lawful permanent resident alien status using Form I-485, Form I-687, Form I-691, Form I-698, Form I-700, are not required to register either. 
  • Of the groups of foreign nationals subject to the Alien Registration Requirement there are two categories in particular that we would like to bring to your attention, which are the following: 
    • Any alien 14 years of age or older who were not registered and fingerprinted (if required) when applying for a visa to enter the United States and who remain in the United States for 30 days or longer. They must apply before the expiration of those 30 days. Parent and legal guardians of aliens less than 14 years of age who have not been registered and remain in the United States for 30 days or longer, prior to the expiration of those 30 days. Also, any alien, whether previously registered or not, who turns 14 years old in the United States, within 30 days after their 14th birthday; and
    • Canadian visitors who enter the U.S. without inspection and admission or inspection and parole. (Note:  At U.S. land ports of entry, Canadian citizens who are inspected by CBP officers are often admitted by the CBP officer without any admission record created. As such, it appears that Canadian citizens who do not have an I-94 record created for them (paper or electronic) would be subject to the Alien Registration Requirement.)
• Note: There are a number of other categories of foreign nationals who will be required to register, which we have not described above. Please see the above link to the USCIS web page for a more exhaustive description of those foreign nationals who would be required to register.

SOURCE: USCIS Website: https://www.uscis.gov/alienregistration.

President Trump proposes to end EB-5 program, replacing it with a ‘Gold Card’ program

• On February 25, 2025, President Trump announced that he will seek to end the U.S. EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program, which provides foreign investors with permanent residency in the United States. 
• Trump’s announcement proposes to replace the EB-5 visa with a “Gold Card” program, which the president stated would require an investment of $5 million and that would grant “green card plus benefits,” including a path to citizenship, which the EB-5 program already provides. 
• President Trump argued it would boost the economy by attracting wealthy individuals who would contribute to job creation and tax revenue. businesses and help reduce the country’s deficit.
• President Trump stated that a detailed plan would be published in the next two weeks.
• In 2022, Congress reauthorized the EB-5 program through Sept. 30, 2027, with the passage of the EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act. The president does not have authority to strike down an act of Congress, including the existing EB-5 program. 

SOURCE: CBS News/Microsoft Network, February 26, 2025: Here’s what to know about Trump’s $5 million immigration “gold card”

DOS: Annual limit reached in the EB-4 category

• The U.S. Department of State (DOS), working in close collaboration with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, has issued all available immigrant visas in the Employment-Based Fourth Preference (EB-4) category for fiscal year (FY) 2025. 
• The Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) limits the number of employment-based preference immigrant visas that may be issued within a fiscal year. Specifically, INA 203(b)(4) provides that the annual limit for EB-4 visas is 7.1 percent of the worldwide employment limit.
• Since all available EB-4 visas for FY 2025 have been used, embassies and consulates may not issue visas in these categories for the remainder of the fiscal year. 
• The annual limits will reset with the start of the new fiscal year (FY 2026) on October 1, 2025. At that point, embassies and consulates may resume issuing immigrant visas in this category to qualified applicants.

SOURCE: Department of State, February 28, 2025: Annual Limit Reached in the EB-4 Category 

Reminder: H-1B Cap lottery begins on Friday, March 7

• This is a reminder that U the initial registration period for the fiscal year 2026 H-1B cap will open at noon Eastern time on Friday, March 7 and run through noon Eastern time on March 24, 2025. 
• Prospective H-1B cap-subject petitioners or their representatives are required to use a USCIS online account to register each beneficiary electronically for the selection process and pay the associated $215 H-1B registration fee for the registration submitted on behalf of each beneficiary.
• H-1B petitioning employers who do not have a USCIS online account will need to create an organizational account. H-1B petitioning employers who had an H-1B registrant account for the FY 2021 – FY 2024 H-1B registration seasons, but did not use it for FY 2025, will have their existing account converted to an organizational account after their next log in. 
• First-time registrants can create an account at any time. Additional information and resources on the organizational accounts, including a link to step-by-step videos, can be found on the Organizational Accounts Frequently Asked Questions page. These FAQs will be updated with FY 2026 information before the start of the initial registration period.
• For additional information, please consult the USCIS’s website at: FY 2026 H-1B Cap Initial Registration Period Opens on March 7 | USCIS

SOURCE: USCIS Newsroom, February 5, 2025: FY 2026 H-1B Cap Initial Registration Period Opens on March 7 | USCIS

Beginning March 15, U.S. federal government may shutdown: Impact on immigration

A partial government shutdown is possible, beginning on March 15, 2025, if agreement on an appropriations bill or another stopgap measure cannot be reached by March 14. Here are some of the potential impacts on immigration processing:

• U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS): Processing delays may occur if case adjudication depends on support from government functions that are suspended during the breakdown. 
• As a fee-funded agency, USCIS is expected to process applications during the shutdown. USCIS confirms that “in the event of a lapse in appropriations, USCIS will continue to support the H-1B application process via all collection methods, including pay.gov.” (AILA Doc. No. 25022800). However, employers should consider the following:  
  • Because the Department of Labor’s (DOL) Labor Condition Application (LCA) operations would be suspended, employers planning E-3, or H-1B, H-1B1 extensions or changes of employer, for which a DOL-certified LCA is required, may be unable to file if they do not already have an LCA in hand.
  • In addition, if federal systems that support the H-1B cap registration are affected, there could be an impact on the registration period. If a shutdown were to beyond the scheduled close of the cap registration period on March 24, USCIS may need to delay the start of the H-1B cap filing period, which normally begins on April 1. By regulation, the H-1B cap filing period must be at least 90 days, so the filing period would not be truncated, but the later start and end dates could be disruptive to some employers and foreign nationals. 
• Department of Labor (DOL): The impact of a federal shutdown would be no processing of PERM or temporary labor certification applications, labor condition applications (LCAs), or prevailing wage requests. Online application systems would not accept PERM applications or audit responses, LCAs, or prevailing wage requests. DOL would not be able to accept submissions by mail. Because DOL suspends operations during a shutdown, LCAs required for H-1B petitions could not be drafted, accessed, or processed during the shutdown.
• Department of State (DOS): Visa processing and U.S. citizenship document functions would remain in effect as long as consular operations can be funded with filing fees. In the event of a long shutdown, DOS may suspend visa processing or limit it to emergencies. 

SOURCES: AILA Doc. No. 25022800; and AILA Handout, “Government Shutdown.” 

The content of this article is intended only to provide a general guide to the subject matter. It should not be construed as legal advice. Please contact FGI at info@employmentimmigration.com or (+1) 248.643.4900 for guidance if you have specific questions.