Immigration News

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has received enough petitions to meet the H-2B cap for the second half of fiscal year (FY) 2023 and is announcing the filing dates for supplemental H-2B visas for the reminder of FY 2023 made available under the FY 2023 H-2B supplemental visa temporary final rule.

H-2B Cap for Second Half of FY 2023

USCIS has received enough petitions to meet the congressionally mandated H-2B cap for the second half of FY 2023. February 27, 2023 was the final receipt date for new cap-subject H-2B worker petitions requesting an employment start date on or after April 1, 2023, and before October 1, 2023. USCIS will now reject new cap-subject H-2B petitions received after February 27, 2023, that request an employment start date on or after April 1, 2023, and before October 1, 2023.

On February 27, 2023, the number of beneficiaries for whom USCIS received petitions surpassed the total number of remaining H-2B visas available for the H-2B cap for the second half of FY 2023.  In accordance with regulations, USCIS determined it was necessary to use a computer-generated selection process intended to ensure the fair and orderly allocation of H-2B visa cap numbers available, without exceeding the FY 2023 cap. On March 1, 2023, USCIS conducted the selection process to randomly select petitions from those received on February 27, 2023. Upon completion of this random selection process, we assigned all selected petitions a receipt date and began premium processing services.

We continue to accept H-2B petitions that are exempt from the congressionally mandated cap. This includes petitions for current H-2B workers in the United States who wish to extend their stay and, if applicable, change the terms of their employment or change their employers; fish roe processors, fish roe technicians and/or supervisors of fish roe processing; and workers performing labor or services in the Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands and/or Guam (until Dec. 31, 2029).

Filing Dates for Second Half of FY 2023 Supplemental Visas

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Department of Labor (DOL) jointly published a temporary final rule on December 15, 2022, increasing the numerical limit (or cap) on H-2B nonimmigrant visas by up to 64,716 additional visas for all of FY 2023. These supplemental visas are available only to U.S. businesses that are suffering irreparable harm or will suffer impending irreparable harm without the ability to employ all the H-2B workers requested in their petition, as attested by the employer on the DOL Form ETA 9142-B-CAA-7. These supplemental H-2B visas are for U.S. employers seeking to petition for additional workers at certain periods of the fiscal year before September 15, 2023.

Below are the filing start dates for each of the remaining supplemental visa allocations under the temporary final rule:

For employers seeking nationals of El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Haiti: USCIS will begin accepting petitions for employers requesting an employment start date from April 1, 2023, to September 30, 2023, on March 14, 2023. USCIS began accepting petitions from employers with employment start dates from October 1, 2022, to March 31, 2023, in December 2022. A cap count for this Northern Central American/Haiti allocation is available on the Temporary Increase in H-2B Nonimmigrant Visas for FY 2023 page.
For employers seeking workers for the early second half of FY 2023 (Apr. 1 to May 14): USCIS will begin accepting petitions for the additional 16,500 visas made available to returning workers regardless of country of nationality on March 14, 2023.
For employers seeking workers for the late second half of FY 2023 (May 15 to Sept. 30): USCIS will begin accepting petitions for the additional 10,000 visas made available to returning workers regardless of country of nationality on April 13, 2023.
USCIS has already announced that it has  received enough petitions to reach the cap for the additional 18,216 H-2B visas made available for returning workers for the first half of FY 2023 with employment start dates on or before March 31, 2023.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services is issuing policy guidance in the USCIS Policy Manual to clarify the validity period of employment authorization for F-1 nonimmigrant students experiencing severe economic hardship due to emergent circumstances (also known as special student relief (SSR)) who are work authorized under the SSR provisions of 8 CFR. 

The update clarifies that in cases of severe economic hardship due to emergent circumstances, we may grant off-campus SSR employment authorization to an F-1 nonimmigrant student for the duration of the Federal Register notice validity period. This employment authorization may not extend past the student’s academic program end date. This update notes that we may issue employment authorization documents for the duration of the Federal Register notice, which is typically an 18-month validity period, as permitted by the relevant SSR Federal Register notice.

Emergent circumstances are events that affect F-1 nonimmigrant students from a particular region and create severe economic hardship. These events may include, but are not limited to, natural disasters, financial crises, and military conflicts.

This policy update will be effective when published and will apply to all pending and future applications for SSR employment authorization.  

The Washington Post reports that as the future of the DACA program hangs in limbo, Senate Majority Whip Richard J. Durbin (D-IL) and Senator Lindsey O. Graham (R-SC) introduced the Dream Act on Friday. The legislation would allow people who were brought to the United States as children and who have a high school education and college enrollment, employment, or military service to earn residency and eventually citizenship

Based on an exclusive interview with Julie Stufft, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Visa Services in the Bureau of Consular Affairs, Bloomberg Law reported yesterday that DOS will launch a pilot program later this year offering stateside visa renewals for H-1B and other temporary visa holders.

Reuters reports that the Biden Administration is developing a sweeping bill that would revamp the U.S. asylum system to speed up the resolution of claims in large-scale processing centers at the border with Mexico. The effort emerged as border crossings have reached record highs and immigration courts face steep backlogs

We are automatically extending through Feb. 5, 2025, current Hong Kong DED-related Employment Authorization Documents (EADs) with a Card Expires date of Feb. 5, 2023, and a Category of A-11. You may present this EAD as evidence of identity and employment authorization for your Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification.

Effective immediately, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has updated guidance in the USCIS Policy Manual to clarify that both asylees and refugees must have been physically present in the United States for one year when USCIS adjudicates their Form I-485, Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status, rather than at the time they file their adjustment of status application. This applies to all Form I-485 and Form N-400, Application for Naturalization, applications pending on February 2, 2023, and those filed on or after that date.
This update will promote consistency across asylee and refugee adjustment of status applications. If USCIS cannot determine whether an applicant satisfies the one-year physical presence requirement by reviewing their file or USCIS’ records when the agency adjudicates their Form I-485, USCIS may request additional evidence.
This policy manual update also:
• Clarifies that asylee and refugee adjustment of status applicants previously admitted in J-1 or J-2 nonimmigrant status and otherwise subject to the two-year foreign residence requirement under Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) 212(e) do not need to meet that two-year requirement (or obtain a waiver) to adjust their status under INA 209; and
• Makes minor technical updates, including clarifying processing steps for refugees seeking waivers of inadmissibility, removing references to the obsolete Form I-291, Decision on Application for Status as Permanent Resident, and adding regulatory citations related to asylum termination procedures.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced new designs to improve security of Permanent Resident Cards (also known as Green Cards) and Employment Authorization Documents (EADs). USCIS will begin issuing the redesigned cards on Jan. 30, 2023.

The new Green Card and EAD designs include:
• State-of-the-art technology that continues to safeguard national security and improve service for our customers;
• Improved detailed artwork;
• New tactile printing that is better integrated with the artwork;
• Enhanced optically variable ink;
• Highly secure holographic images on the front and back of the cards;
• A layer-reveal feature with a partial window on the back photo box; and
• Data fields displayed in different places than on previous versions.

To mitigate the risk of fraud and counterfeiting, USCIS redesigns the cards every three to five years.
The introduction of the new designs does not mean that currently issued cards are invalid. Current cards generally remain valid until their expiration date (unless otherwise noted, such as through an automatic extension of a Green Card or EAD as indicated on a Form I-797, Notice of Action, or in a Federal Register notice). Some older Green Cards also do not have an expiration date. These older Green Cards without an expiration date generally remain valid.

A lawsuit was recently filed against U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) on behalf of 248 people, and a class of tens of thousands more, to end the delays, which have increased exponentially to about three years.
The plaintiffs seek to certify a class of noncitizens who have filed or will file this type of waiver application and whose application has been pending for at least 12 months. For applications filed in the future, the lawsuit asks USCIS to decide the waiver application within six months from the date the application is filed.