Current State of H-1B Regulations:

As President Trump’s administration is coming to an end, there have been very aggressive moves to change the H-1B program. However, advocates have continued to challenge those changes.

On January 12, 2021, the Department of Labor (“DOL”) announced that they would be publishing a new final rule after three federal judges struck down the DOL’s first attempt to raise the prevailing wages rate by amending the regulations governing permanent labor certifications and Labor Condition Applications to incorporate changes to the computation of prevailing wage levels. The raise is set to start increasing in July 2021 and take full effect for some employees a year later. For workers who are on track to receive lawful permanent resident status or are eligible to extend their H-1B status beyond the six-year limit, it will take place in July 2024. 

This comes after the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California had vacated the H-1B Program Interim Final Rule that was set to strengthen the H-1B Program by granting the plaintiff’s motion for partial summary judgment on December 1, 2020. This judgment blocked both the Department of Labor (“DOL”) and Department of Homeland Security’s (“DHS”) interim final rules because they failed to provide just cause to promulgate the rules without notice and comment.

On January 8, 2021, DHS also published a final rule in the Federal Register that will prioritize allocation of H-1B visas based on wage level effective March 9, 2021. This rule requires that the highest paid workers are selected first and then H-1B petitions would be chosen in descending order through the remaining levels until the cap has been reached. However, President-elect Joe Biden’s administration could freeze and rescind the regulation before it takes effect.

We will keep you updated with the changes that take place. 

For more information, please contact the experienced immigration attorneys at Monty & Ramirez LLP at 281-493-5529 or via email at info@montyramirezlaw.com

President Trump Extends Presidential Proclamation Banning Entry of H/L/J Nonimmigrants

President Trump’s proclamation suspending the issuance of immigrant visas at U.S. Consulates and Embassies for certain preference categories and the issuance of visas for those seeking entry pursuant to an H-1B visa, an H-2B visa, a J visa, and a L visa and their dependents has been extended through March 31, 2021. Exemptions may apply in the national interest for each nonimmigrant category. Each Embassy or Consulate provides guidance on requesting consideration for a national interest exception.

For more information, please contact the experienced immigration attorneys at Monty & Ramirez LLP at 281-493-5529 or via email at info@montyramirezlaw.com
 

TPS Automatically Extended until October 4, 2021.

On December 9, 2021, DHS announce a Federal Register Notice automatically extending the validity of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) documentation for beneficiaries under the TPS designations for El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras, Nepal, Nicaragua, and Sudan through October 4, 2021.

For more information, please contact the experienced immigration attorneys at Monty & Ramirez LLP at 281-493-5529 or via email at info@montyramirezlaw.com

Due to COVID-19 and Other Factors, USCIS Continues to Experience Delays in Issuing Receipt Notices

The issuance of receipt notices for some applications and petitions filed with a U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) lockbox facility. USCIS provided a statement on January 8, 2021 indicating that as a result of COVID-19 restrictions, an increase in filings, current postal service volume and other external factors, applicants may experience a delay of four to six weeks in receiving receipt notices after properly filing an application or petition. However, this delay will not affect the receipt date. USCIS states that they are working extra hours and redistributing its workload in order to minimize delays.

For more information, please contact the experienced immigration attorneys at Monty & Ramirez LLP at 281-493-5529 or via email at info@montyramirezlaw.com



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