Immigration law is at the forefront of public dialogue these days. Womble Bond Dickinson’s Immigration Solutions team helps employers navigate high-stakes, constantly shifting immigration challenges to avoid potential problems and secure the talent they need to make their companies thrive. The following newsletter, drafted by Womble Bond Dickinson Immigration Solutions attorneys, covers some of the recent and most important developments in immigration law.

07/30/2024    U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that it will conduct a second random selection for previously submitted FY2025 H-1B cap registrations under the regular cap.  The second selection will occur “soon” with USCIS announcing when it is completed and notifications made.

07/29/2024    U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) announced that the technical issue with new ETA9089 Application for Permanent Employment Certifications has been resolved and corrected certifications issued.  On July 26, 2024, DOL posted a banner on its Foreign Labor Application Gateway (FLAG) website notifying users that the job title field on Final Determinations was erroneously reflecting the SOC Occupation Title and not the employer’s job title. USCIS has confirmed that I-140 Immigrant Petitions filed with uncorrected Final Determinations will not be negatively impacted.

07/26/2024    Receipt notice issuance and filing fee processing delays persist at USCIS. The agency has yet to address the delays and what it is doing to solve them. Specific delays include:

07/24/2024    The U.S. Department of Homeland Security issued a fact sheet reporting that President Biden’s Presidential Proclamation and joint DHS-DOJ interim final rule have cut encounters at the Southwest border by 55%.

07/17/2024    USCIS has issued limited guidance following the June 18, 2024 announcement that DHS will establish a discretionary path for permanent residence for certain noncitizen spouses of U.S. citizens who:  have been continuously physically present without admission or parole in the U.S. for 10 years or longer; have no disqualifying criminal convictions; do not pose a threat to national security and public safety; and pass certain vetting measures.

07/17/2024    To help address common questions raised by H-1B beneficiaries, USCIS has published FAQs available here.

07/15/2024    The U.S. Department of State (DOS) has issued guidance in response to the White House’s announcement to allow certain individuals to receive nonimmigrant work visas more quickly when a waiver of ineligibility is needed. Consular officers are instructed to consider cases where the applicant has graduated with a degree from an institution of higher education in the United States, or has earned credentials to engage in skilled labor in the United States, and is seeking to travel to the United States to commence or continue employment with a U.S. employer in a field related to the education that the applicant attained in the United States, to have a positive effect on U.S. public interests.

07/10/2024    Despite previous announcements to the contrary, DOS has clarified that it currently lacks the technology to list Third Country National (TCN) visa appointment wait times. Visa appointment wait times posted here will not show separate wait times for TCNs. For many posts, but not all, TCN wait times are the same as general wait times. 

07/03/2024    The DOS has released the August 2024 Visa Bulletin.  Looking ahead, immigrant visa applicants should expect a tightening or unavailability in cutoff dates throughout the remainder of the fiscal year which ends September 30, 2024.

07/01/2024    The latest prevailing wage data from the Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics is valid until June 30, 2025 and available here. Technical release notes are located here.  They address topics concerning ACWIA prevailing wages and job zone data limitations.