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.

12/27/2023    U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) announced an inflation adjustment to premium processing fees, increasing certain premium processing fees from $1,500 to $1,685, $1,750 to $1,965, and $2,500 to $2,805. The fee changes will go into effect on Feb. 26, 2024. 

12/21/2023    U.S. Department of State (“DOS”) announced that beginning on January 1, 2024, consular officers have the authority and discretion to waive the in-person interview for first-time H-2 visa applicants and certain other nonimmigrant visa applicants applying for any nonimmigrant visa classification. 

12/21/2023    DOS published a notice announcing a pilot program to resume stateside visa renewal for qualified H-1B nonimmigrant visa applicants who meet certain criteria. This stateside visa renewal process is an alternative to applying for visa renewal at a U.S. consular office abroad. Notably, the program is limited to only principal H-1B visa applicants, not dependent H-4 visa applicants.  Also, the applicant must be renewing an H-1B visa that was previously issued by Mission Canada with issuance date from 1/1/2020 through 4/1/2023, or issued by Mission India with an issuance date from 2/1/2021 through 9/30/2021. The pilot program will accept online applications from 1/29/24 to 4/1/24. 

12/18/2023    Texas Governor Greg Abbot signed an immigration bill that makes unauthorized border crossings a state crime. The new law will take effect in March 2024, at which time Texas law enforcement officers will have the authority to arrest people suspected of illegally crossing the Mexican border into Texas, with a first-time conviction carrying a sentence of up to six months in jail and a second-time conviction carrying a sentence of up to 20 years in prison. 
 
12/14/2023    President Biden issued a proclamation suspending the entry of immigrants and nonimmigrants who have enabled corruption. 

12/14/2023    U.S. Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”) published a Notice of Extension of Temporary Protected Status (“TPS”) re-registration periods for El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras, Nepal, Nicaragua, and Sudan to the full 18-month designation extension period. 

12/13/2023    USCIS announced it has received a sufficient number of petitions to reach the 65,000 H-1B visa regular cap and the master’s cap for fiscal year 2024. 

12/12/2023    USCIS issued a Policy Alert on family-based conditional permanent residence, explaining what applicants must do to change their basis of filing, and that those who failed to timely file Form I-751 may be able to adjust status on a new basis even if their status has been terminated. 

12/4/2023    DOS published the January 2024 Visa Bulletin 

12/4/2023    USCIS published Adjustment of Status filing charts for January 2024.