U.S. Immigration Alerts

New Regulatory Plans Announced by US Immigration Agencies

• U.S. immigration agencies have recently announced their employment-based immigration regulatory plans for the remainder of 2024. The key items include:
• The Department of Labor (DOL) intends to complete its review of proposed expansion to list of Schedule A occupations by August 2024. DOL is considering expanding the list of qualified occupations in Schedule A to include STEM-related and other occupations for which there is a short supply of U.S. workers.
• The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) intends to publish a final rule in December 2024 for the remaining part of the H-1B modernization rule. This part is expected to:
  • Enhance cap-gap protections for students in F-1 status awaiting their H-1B visa.
  • Revise the definition of H-1B specialty occupation.
  • Codify USCIS’s practice of giving deference to prior agency adjudications.
• DHS intends to publish a final rule in December 2024 on whether the automatic extension of work authorization for certain EAD renewal applicants to 540 days (instead of the previous 180 days) should be made permanent.
• DHS intends to publish a final rule in December 2024 to extend its authority to collect biometric data from noncitizens upon departure from the United States.
• DHS intends to publish a rule in April 2025 to expand the U.S. Customs and Border Protection 9-11 Response and Biometric Entry Fee which employers with more than 50 employees in the US in H-1B/L-1 status is required to pay. Currently, employers only have to pay the fee for petitions for an initial grant of H-1B/L-1 status. The proposed rule would require employers to pay the fee for extensions of stay.
• DHS intends to publish a rule in August 2024 that would make improvements to the adjustment of status process. This may include clarifying when a visa becomes available for purposes of age-out protections under the Child Status Protection Act.
• The Department of State (DOS) intends to publish a final rule in October 2024 that would permit a waiver of the requirement to appear before a consular officer for immigrant visa applicants.
• DOS intends to issue a rule on public charge inadmissibility in August 2024. The rule would also confirm that consular affair should use a ‘totality of the circumstances’ approach to public charge determinations.

SOURCE: Current Unified Agenda of Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions (reginfo.gov)