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Immigration Matters

October 1, 2020

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.
  • 09/30/2020    A federal district court has stayed the implementation and effective date of U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS) fee increases which had been scheduled to go into effect October 2, 2020.  It is unclear how long the preliminary injunction will remain in place, but it is likely the government will appeal and attempt to obtain a stay of the injunction.  Additional information is available here.
  • 09/30/2020    The U.S. Department of State (DOS) has issued instructions for the 2022 Diversity Immigrant Visa Lottery which will run from October 7 to November 10, 2020.
  • 09/28/2020    DOS has published the Monthly Immigrant and Nonimmigrant Visa Issuance Statistics. Issuances were down 84% and 88% respectively compared to last year.
  • 09/25/2020    Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE) has published a proposed rule which would eliminate F, J, and I nonimmigrant admission periods from “duration of status” to a fixed date.  Comments are due 10/26/2020.
  • 09/25/2020    DOL has permanently adopted electronic (as opposed to paper) issuance of PERM labor certifications.
  • 09/24/2020    DOS published the October 2020 Visa Bulletin.  USCIS’s decision to accept employment-based I-485 Application to Adjust Status filings based on dates for filing may result in the largest number of filings since Summer 2007.  Contributing factors include the pandemic, suspension of routine consular visa services, and travel bans which caused thousands of unused family-based immigrant visa numbers to be added to the employment-based immigrant visa allocation.  Potential strategies for taking advantage of advancing employment-based priority dates include cross-chargeability, “downgrades” from EB-2 to EB-3, and acknowledging a potentially limited filing window.  
  • 09/23/2020    U.S. Customs & Border Protection (CBP) issued notification that temporary travel restrictions at Canada and Mexico land ports-of-entry are extended through 10/21/2020.
  • 09/17/2020    USCIS’s Policy Manual now includes updated and consolidated O-1 Extraordinary Ability visa classification guidance concerning evidentiary standards for approval. 
  • 09/15/2020    DOS issued FAQs about J-1 visa issuance and program continuation as well as when a National Interest Exception may be available.
  • 09/15/2020    CBP no longer requires those subject to COVID-19 related country travel bans to arrive through 15 designated airports. However, the travel bans have not been lifted. 
  • 09/14/2020    Due to the ongoing national emergency, ICE has extended the March 2020 guidance concerning certain flexibility in Form I-9 completion until November 19, 2020.
  • 09/03/2020    The USCIS and U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) are one step closer to publication of Interim Final Rules that would revise the H-1B regulatory definitions of specialty occupation, employment and employer-employee relationships, and include additional requirements designed to ensure employers pay appropriate wages to H-1B visa holders.
 

Jennifer Cory

Partner

+1 704.350.6337

jennifer.cory@wbd-us.com

Susan Ramos

Senior Counsel

+1 704.350.6312

susan.ramos@wbd-us.com

 

How Can We Help

For further information on these or other topics, please contact us at immigrationteam@wbd-us.com.

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