Klasko News – 02/06/23 – Work Visas

Headlines

Summary

1. 
   

   Initial
   Registration for FY 2024 H-1B Cap Opens March 1

   
   
   The initial registration period will run through noon ET on March
   17, 2023.




2. 
   

   
   Certain Asylum Applicants Can Now Apply for Work Authorization
   Online

   
   
   Applicants for employment authorization under category (c)(8),
   Pending Asylum and Withholding of Removal Applicants and Applicants
   for Pending Asylum under the ABC Settlement Agreement, can now file
   Form I-765, Application for Work Authorization, online.




3. 
   

   
   Green Card Validity Extended for Conditional Permanent Residents
   with a Pending I-751 or I-829

   
   
   U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services is extending the validity
   of green cards for petitioners who properly file Form I-751,
   Petition to Remove Conditions on Residence, or Form I-829, Petition
   by Investor to Remove Conditions on Permanent Resident Status, for
   48 months beyond the card’s expiration date.




4. 
   

   
   USCIS Extends COVID-19-Related Flexibilities Through March
   23

   
   
   U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services is extending certain
   COVID-19-related flexibilities through March 23, 2023.




5. 
   

   
   New Settlement Agreement Helps H-4 and L-2 Dependent
   Spouses

   
   
   U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has returned to a
   pre-Trump administration policy of adjudicating Form I-539,
   Application to Extend/Change Nonimmigrant Status and Form I-765,
   Application for Employment Authorization for H-4 and L-2
   derivatives, along with the underlying Form I-129, Petition for
   Nonimmigrant Worker, when these forms are filed concurrently.




6. 
   

   
   Visa Bulletin for February 2023 Includes Retrogressions in the
   Employment Third Preference ‘Other Workers’ Category, and
   ‘Certain Religious Workers’ Availability

   
   
   The Department of State’s Visa Bulletin for February 2023 has
   been released.




7. 
   

   HHS Issues
   Poverty Guidelines for 2023

   
   
   The Department of Health and Human Services issued updated poverty
   income guidelines for 2023 to account for 2022’s increase in
   prices as measured by the Consumer Price Index. The poverty
   guidelines are used as an eligibility criterion by several federal
   programs.




8. 
   

   
   DOS Launches ‘Welcome Corps’ for Private Sponsorship of
   Refugees

   
   
   The Department of State, in collaboration with the Department of
   Health and Human Services, announced the launch of “Welcome
   Corps,” a new private sponsorship program to welcome refugees
   and support their resettlement and integration into the United
   States.




9. 
   

   
   USCIS Provides Follow-Up Q&A on International Student
   Issues

   
   
   U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services provided questions and
   answers following a webinar presented by the Office of the
   Citizenship and Immigration Services Ombudsman on international
   student issues.




10. 
    

    
    DHS Streamlines Deferred Action Process for Immigrant Workers
    Participating in Labor Enforcement Investigations

    
    
    The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced on January 13,
    2023, that noncitizen workers who are victims of or witnesses to a
    violation of labor rights can now access a streamlined and
    expedited deferred action request process.




11. 
    

    
    Premium Processing To Expand for EB-1 and EB-2 Form I-140 Petitions
    and Certain Students and Exchange Visitors

    
    
    U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services is implementing the final
    phase of the premium processing expansion for Form I-140, Immigrant
    Petition for Alien Workers, under the EB-1 and EB-2
    classifications. Also, in March and April, USCIS plans to expand
    premium processing to certain F-1 students and exchange
    visitors.




12. 
    

    KLASKO NEWS

    
    
    The latest news at the firm including recent and upcoming events
    and publications.

1.
Initial Registration for FY 2024 H-1B Cap Opens March 1

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that
the initial registration period for the fiscal year (FY) 2024 H-1B
cap will open at noon ET on March 1, 2023, and run
through noon ET on March 17, 2023.

Prospective H-1B cap-subject petitioners or their
representatives must use a my USCIS online account to register each
beneficiary electronically for the selection process and pay the
associated $10 H-1B registration fee for each registration.
Prospective petitioners submitting their own registrations (U.S.
employers and U.S. agents, collectively known as
“registrants”) will use a “registrant” account.
Registrants can create new accounts beginning at noon ET on
February 21, 2023. Representatives may add clients
to their accounts at any time, but both representatives and
registrants must wait until March 1 to enter
beneficiary information and submit the registration with the $10
fee, USCIS said. Prospective petitioners or their representatives
can submit registrations for multiple beneficiaries in a single
online session.

USCIS noted that the U.S. Department of the Treasury has
approved a temporary increase in the daily credit card transaction
limit from $24,999.99 to $39,999.99 per day for the FY 2024 H-1B
cap season. “This temporary increase is in response to the
volume of previous H-1B registrations that exceeded the daily
credit card limit,” USCIS explained.

USCIS said it plans to notify account holders by March 31.

For FY 2023, USCIS received 483,927 H-1B registrations and
initially selected 127,600 registrations projected as needed to
reach the FY 2023 numerical allocations. For FY 2022, USCIS
received 308,613 H-1B registrations and initially selected 87,500
registrations. USCIS conducted a second selection in July 2021 of
an additional 27,717 registrations due to low filing volume from
the initial selection. USCIS also conducted a third selection in
November 2021 of an additional 16,753 registrations. This resulted
in a total of?131,970?selected?registrations for FY 2022. Many
people think the number of initial registrants will be higher this
year.

Details:

2. Certain Asylum Applicants Can Now Apply for Work Authorization
Online

Applicants for employment authorization under category (c)(8),
Pending Asylum and Withholding of Removal Applicants and Applicants
for Pending Asylum under the ABC Settlement Agreement, can now file
Form I-765, Application for Work Authorization, online.

To apply for an Employment Authorization Document (EAD) based on
a pending asylum application under the (c)(8) eligibility category,
the applicant may file Form I-765 150 days after filing the asylum
application. The filing date is the date U.S. Citizenship and
Immigration Services (USCIS) receives a properly filed Form I-589,
Application for Asylum and Withholding of Removal. The date can be
found on the receipt notice.

To file Form I-765 online, an applicant must first create a
USCIS online account. There is no cost to create an account.

Details:

3. Green Card Validity Extended for Conditional Permanent Residents
with a Pending I-751 or I-829

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is extending
the validity of Permanent Resident Cards (green cards) for
petitioners who properly file Form I-751, Petition to Remove
Conditions on Residence, or Form I-829, Petition by Investor to
Remove Conditions on Permanent Resident Status, for four years
beyond the card’s expiration date. This change started on
January 11, 2023, for Form I-829 and on January 25, 2023, for Form
I-751. Previously, these forms were valid for two years.

USCIS said it is making this change “to accommodate current
processing times for Form I-751 and Form I-829, which have
increased over the past year.” USCIS has updated the language
on Form I-751 and Form I-829 receipt notices to extend the validity
of a green card for 48 months for individuals with a newly filed
Form I-751 or Form I-829. The agency said it will issue new receipt
notices to eligible conditional permanent residents who previously
received notices with an extension shorter than 48 months and whose
cases are still pending. These receipt notices can be presented
with an expired green card as evidence of continued status while
the case remains pending with USCIS, the agency said: “By
presenting your updated receipt notice with your expired Green
Card, you remain authorized to work and travel for 48 months from
the expiration date on the front of your expired Green
Card.”

Details:

4. USCIS Extends COVID-19-Related Flexibilities Through March
23

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is extending
certain COVID-19-related flexibilities through March 23, 2023.
Under these flexibilities, USCIS considers a response received
within 60 calendar days after the due date for the following
requests or notices before taking any action, if the request or
notice was issued between March 1, 2020, and March 23, 2023:

• Requests for Evidence




• Continuations to Request Evidence (N-14)




• Notices of Intent to Deny




• Notices of Intent to Revoke




• Notices of Intent to Rescind




• Notices of Intent to Terminate regional centers




• Notices of Intent to Withdraw Temporary Protected Status




• Motions to Reopen an N-400 Pursuant to 8 CFR 335.5, Receipt of
  Derogatory Information After Grant

In addition, USCIS said it will consider Form I-290B, Notice of
Appeal or Motion, or Form N-336, Request for a Hearing on a
Decision in Naturalization Proceedings (Under Section 336 of the
INA), if:

• The form was filed up to 90 calendar days from the issuance of
  a decision USCIS made; and




• USCIS made that decision between November 1, 2021, and March
  23, 2023, inclusive.

USCIS said it “anticipates that, barring changes presented
by the pandemic, this will be the final extension of these
accommodations, and requesters must comply with the response
requirements set forth in any request or notice dated after March
23, 2023.”

The reproduced signature flexibility announced in March 2020
became permanent policy on July 25, 2022.

Details:

5. New Settlement Agreement Helps H-4 and L-2 Dependent
Spouses

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) reached a settlement
agreement in Edakunni v. Mayorkas which is good news for
H-4 and L-2 dependent spouses. Effective January 25, 2023, U.S.
Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has returned to a
pre-Trump administration policy of adjudicating Form I-539,
Application to Extend/Change Nonimmigrant Status and Form I-765,
Application for Employment Authorization for H-4 and L-2
derivatives, along with the underlying Form I-129, Petition for
Nonimmigrant Worker, when these forms are filed concurrently.

This applies in cases filed using standard or premium
processing. If these forms are filed separately, USCIS will not
bundle the adjudication of the forms.

Details:

6. Visa Bulletin for February 2023 Includes Retrogressions in the
Employment Third Preference ‘Other Workers’ Category, and
‘Certain Religious Workers’ Availability

The Department of State’s Visa Bulletin for February 2023
includes the following information about retrogressions in the
worldwide final action and application filing dates in the
employment third preference “Other Workers” category:

The bulletin also notes the availability of the Certain
Religious Workers category:

Details:

7. HHS Issues
Poverty Guidelines for 2023

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued updated
poverty income guidelines for 2023 to account for 2022’s
increase in prices as measured by the Consumer Price Index. Several
federal programs use the poverty guidelines as an eligibility
criterion.

As in prior years, the 2023 guidelines “are roughly equal
to the poverty thresholds for the calendar year 2022 which the
Census Bureau expects to publish in final form in September
2023,” HHS said. As an example, the 2023 poverty guidelines
for the 48 contiguous states and the District of Columbia (DC) are
$14,580 annually for a household of one person and $19,720 for a
household of two. For families/households with more than eight
persons, the guidelines add $5,140 for each additional person. The
Alaska and Hawaii guidelines differ from those for the 48
contiguous states and DC.

Details:

The Department of State (DOS), in collaboration with the
Department of Health and Human Services, announced the launch of
“Welcome Corps,” a new private sponsorship program to
welcome refugees arriving through the U.S. Refugee Admissions
Program (USRAP) and support their resettlement and integration into
the United States. The initiative is pursuant to President
Biden’s Executive Order 14301, “Rebuilding and Enhancing
Programs to Resettle Refugees.”

The Welcome Corps “creates new opportunities for everyday
Americans to engage directly in refugee resettlement through
private sponsorship, independent of and complementary to existing
avenues for volunteering with resettlement agencies,” DOS
said. Groups of at least five U.S. citizens or permanent resident
adults will be able to apply to the Welcome Corps to privately
sponsor the resettlement of refugees in the United States. Private
sponsors will be responsible for independently raising funds and
directly providing essential assistance to refugees for their first
90 days in their new community, DOS said. Such assistance includes
helping refugees find housing and employment, enrolling children in
school, and connecting refugees to essential services in the
community.

In the first year of Welcome Corps, DOS will seek to mobilize
10,000 Americans as private sponsors for at least 5,000 refugees.
If more than 10,000 individual Americans join the Welcome Corps in
2023, DOS will seek to pair additional private sponsors with
refugees. DOS said it is funding a consortium of nonprofit
organizations with expertise in welcoming, resettling, and
integrating refugees into U.S. communities to support the Welcome
Corps.

Details:

9.
USCIS Provides Follow-Up Q&A on International Student
Issues

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) provided
questions and answers following a webinar presented by the Office
of the Citizenship and Immigration Services Ombudsman in August
2022 on international student issues.

Topics include maintaining F-1 status and Optional Practical
Training (OPT), applications for employment authorization,
Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements, the Student and
Exchange Visitor Information System, changes of address, and
COVID-19-related issues.

Details:

10. DHS Streamlines Deferred Action Process for Immigrant Workers
Participating in Labor Enforcement Investigations

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced on January
13, 2023, that noncitizen workers who are victims of or witnesses
to the violation of labor rights can now access a streamlined and
expedited deferred action request process. DHS explained that
deferred action “protects noncitizen workers from threats of
immigration-related retaliation from the exploitive
employers.” Effective immediately, DHS said, the process
“will improve DHS’s longstanding practice of using its
discretionary authority to consider labor and employment
agency-related requests for deferred action on a case-by-case
basis.”

A centralized intake process “will allow DHS to efficiently
review these time-sensitive requests, provide additional security
to eligible workers on a case-by-case basis, and more robustly
support the mission of labor agencies,” DHS said. Noncitizens
can submit such requests to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration
Services (USCIS) through a central intake point established to
support labor agency investigative and enforcement efforts. In
addition to satisfying individual criteria to facilitate
case-by-case determinations, requests for deferred action submitted
through this centralized process must include a letter from a
federal, state, or local labor agency asking DHS to consider
exercising its discretion on behalf of workers employed by
companies identified by the agency as having labor disputes related
to laws that fall under its jurisdiction.

DHS said that for a deferred action request from a noncitizen
who is in removal proceedings or has a final order of removal, upon
reviewing the submission for completeness, USCIS will forward it to
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to make a final
determination on a case-by-case basis. USCIS will consider all
other deferred action requests on a case-by-case basis and will
consider all related employment authorization applications,
including those related to deferred action requests decided by
ICE.

Discretionary grants of deferred action under this process
“will typically last for a period of two years, subject to
termination at any time,” DHS said. Individuals granted
deferred action may be eligible for employment authorization, which
requires that they demonstrate an economic necessity for
employment. They may also be eligible for subsequent grants of
deferred action if a labor agency has a continuing investigative or
enforcement interest in the matter identified in their original
letter supporting DHS’s use of prosecutorial discretion, the
agency said.

Workers can visit DHS.gov for additional information in English
and Spanish and submit requests.

Details:

11. Premium Processing To Expand for EB-1 and EB-2 Form I-140
Petitions and Certain Students and Exchange Visitors

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced on
January 12, 2023, that it is implementing the final phase of the
premium processing expansion for Form I-140, Immigrant Petition for
Alien Workers, under the EB-1 and EB-2 classifications.

Also, in March, USCIS will expand premium processing to certain
F-1 students seeking Optional Practical Training (OPT) and F-1
students seeking STEM OPT extensions who have a pending Form I-765,
Application for Employment Authorization. In April, USCIS will
expand premium processing to F-1 students seeking OPT and F-1
students seeking STEM OPT extensions who are filing an initial Form
I-765.

Petitioners who wish to request premium processing must file
Form I-907, Request for Premium Processing Service. Beginning
January 30, 2023, USCIS will accept Form I-907 requests for:

• All pending E13 multinational executive and manager petitions
  and E21 National Interest Waiver (NIW) petitions; and




• All initial E13 multinational executive and manager petitions
  and E21 NIW petitions.

USCIS said it will announce specific dates for each F-1 student
group in February. USCIS anticipates expanding premium processing
in May for certain student and exchange visitors with pending Form
I-539 applications to extend or change nonimmigrant status, and in
June for certain student and exchange visitors who are filing
initial Form I-539 applications.

Details:

12. KLASKO NEWS

FIRM NEWS

Klasko Immigration Law Partners recently hosted two webinars the
2023 H-1B Cap Season and on H-1B and Alternatives for Startups. Recordings
of the webinars are now available!

IN THE NEWS

William A. Stock

Bill Stock was quoted in this Law360 article on the new USCIS visa fees.

RECENT SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS

William A. Stock | Maria M. Mihaylova | Carolina
Regales

Bill, Maria, and Carolina looked back at the 2022 Cap
Season for lessons learned to help companies plan for the upcoming
2023 H-1B lottery, as well as provided updates on regulations and
litigation outcomes. View recording here!

Elise A. Fialkowski|Andrew J. Zeltner | Nigel D.
James

Elise, Andrew, and Nigel covered how startup companies can
utilize the H-1B visa program, how to prepare for the upcoming
lottery, and H-1B alternatives. View recording here!

H. Ronald Klasko

Ron Klasko spoke at the 2023 AILA Midwinter Conference in San Juan,
Puerto Rico on a panel entitled Common NIV Myths.

William A. Stock

Bill Stock spoke at the 2023 AILA Midwinter Conference in San Juan,
Puerto Rico on a panel entitled Tackling Post-Pandemic
Challenges.

Nigel D. James | Grace W. Waweru

Nigel James and Grace Waweru presented to Arcadia
University on visa options beyond OPT for students.

UPCOMING SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS

H. Ronald Klasko

Ron Klasko will be speaking at the 44^th Annual AILA South Florida
event in Miami, Florida on a panel entitled Employment-based
Adjustment: Entering the Maze.

ICYMI: RECENT BLOG POSTS AND ALERTS

U.S. Immigration Law Limits International Digital
Nomads

In this article, Sarah Holler addresses which
countries allow foreign nationals to work fully remotely while
traveling internationally.

Client Alert: New Settlement Agreement Favorably Impacts
H-4 and L-2 Dependent Spouses

In this client alert, Nigel James delivers
welcoming news as the Department of Homeland Security reaches a
settlement agreement of USCIS returning to pre-Trump administration
policies.

FIRM FEATURE

Klasko Cares! Last month, Klasko employees volunteered with City
Year on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. Klasko employees helped paint
art along the walls of a Philadelphia school.

This newsletter was prepared with the assistance of ABIL,
the Alliance of Business Immigration Lawyers, of which Klasko
Immigration Law Partners is an active member.

The content of this article is intended to provide a general
guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought
about your specific circumstances.