Securities:
State Department Announces Pilot Program to Resume Renewal of H-1B Nonimmigrant Domestic Visas – The pilot program will accept applications from January 29 to April 1, 2024.
OFLC Reminds Employers of Peak H-2A Filing Season Deadlines – The federal Department of Labor announced that it will accept the H-2B from January 2 to 4, 2024. applications for non-professional temporary workers requesting a start date on or after April 1, 2024.
USCIS Updates Policy Guidance for International Students – U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has issued policy guidance regarding F and M nonimmigrant student classifications, including the agency’s role in reviewing related applications for work authorization , change of status, extension of stay and restoration of status.
State Department Expands Consular Authority for Nonimmigrant Visa Interview Waivers – The Department of State has determined that several categories of maintenance waivers are in the national interest. Effective January 1, 2024, consular officers will have the discretion to waive the in-person interview for these categories.
State Department provides guidance on passport processing – Passport processing times have returned to the agency’s pre-pandemic standard, the State Department said. Passport applications will be processed within 6-8 weeks for routine service and 2-3 weeks for expedited service. Processing times do not include mailing.
Detained workers are employees who must pay minimum wage at a private facility contracted by ICE, according to the Washington Supreme Court – Workers detained in the private detention center were “employees” and therefore should be paid at least minimum wage, the Washington Supreme Court ruled.
Details:
State Department Announces Pilot Program to Resume Renewal of H-1B Nonimmigrant Domestic Visas
On December 21, 2023, the Department of State (DOS) announced a pilot program to resume domestic visa renewals for qualified H-1B nonimmigrant visa applicants who meet certain requirements. The pilot program will accept applications from January 29 to April 1, 2024.
Participation in the pilot is limited to individuals who have already submitted their fingerprints as part of a pre-application for an H-1B non-diplomatic nonimmigrant visa, who are eligible for a waiver of the in-person interview requirement, and that meet other applicable requirements. The DOS said the purpose of the pilot project is to “test the department’s technical and operational capacity to resume domestic visa renewals for specific nonimmigrant classifications and to evaluate the effectiveness of this program in reducing visa wait times worldwide by moving some workloads from overseas posts to the United States. States.”
Applicants who meet the requirements may participate during the application period by applying online. Written comments and related materials must be received by midnight on April 15, 2024.
Details:
- BACK notice, 88 Fed. Reg. 88467 (December 21, 2023).
OFLC Reminds Employers of Peak H-2A Filing Season Deadlines
On December 22, 2023, the Department of Labor’s Office of Foreign Labor Certification (OFLC) reminded employers that the filing window for submitting an H-2B Application for temporary employment certificate (Form ETA-9142B and annexes) requesting work start dates on or after April 1, 2024 will open on January 2, 2024.
OFLC said it will randomly order processing of all H-2B petitions requesting a work start date of April 1, 2024, that are filed during the first three calendar days (January 2-4, 2024 ). The OFLC warned:
If OFLC identifies multiple applications that appear to have been submitted for the same employment opportunity, OFLC will issue a notice of deficiency. If multiple filings are submitted during the three-day filing window, all applications will receive a Notice of Deficiency requiring the employer to demonstrate that the employment opportunities are not the same. Employers who fail to establish a genuine need for each application will receive a denial of non-acceptance for each application.
Details:
USCIS Updates Policy Guidance for International Students
On December 20, 2023, United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) issued policy guidance regarding F and M nonimmigrant students, including the agency’s role in reviewing applications for work authorization, change of status, extension of stay and restoration of the status of these students. and their dependents in the United States. USCIS said it “expects this to provide welcome clarity to international students and U.S. educational institutions on a host of topics, including eligibility requirements, educational transfers, training practice and employment on and off campus.
For example, USCIS said, the guidance specifies that F and M students must have a foreign residence that they do not intend to abandon, but such a student may be the beneficiary of an application for a permanent employment certificate or an immigrant visa application and may still be able to do so. to demonstrate their intention to leave after a period of temporary stay.
Additionally, the guidelines clarify how an F student seeking to extend their degree-based elective practical training in a scientific, technological, engineering or mathematical field may be employed by a start-up company, provided the employer adheres to the plan training. requirements, remains in good standing with E-Verify, and provides compensation commensurate with that provided to similarly situated U.S. workers, among other requirements.
Details:
State Department Expands Consular Authority for Nonimmigrant Visa Interview Waivers
On December 21, 2023, the Department of State (DOS) announced that it had consulted with the Department of Homeland Security and determined that several categories of interview waivers were in the national interest. Effective January 1, 2024, consular officers will have the discretion to waive the in-person interview for:
- New H-2 visa applicants (temporary agricultural and non-agricultural workers) and
- Other nonimmigrant visa applicants requesting a nonimmigrant visa classification who:
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- Have previously obtained a nonimmigrant visa in any classification, unless the only visa previously issued was a B visa; And
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- Apply within 48 months of the expiration date of their most recent nonimmigrant visa.
Consular officers may still require in-person interviews on a case-by-case basis or due to local conditions. The DOS encourages applicants to consult embassy and consulate websites.
Details:
State Department provides guidance on passport processing
On December 18, 2023, the Department of State (DOS) announced that the passport processing time returned to the agency’s pre-pandemic norm. Beginning Dec. 18, 2023, the DOS said, passport applications will be processed within 6 to 8 weeks for routine service and 2 to 3 weeks for expedited service, which costs an additional $60. Processing times begin when the DOS receives an application at an agency or passport center and do not include mailing times.
The DOS said this year’s demand for passports was “unprecedented.” Between October 2022 and September 2023, the agency issued more than 24 million passport books and cards, the highest number in U.S. history.
Details:
Detained workers are employees who must pay minimum wage at a private facility contracted by ICE, according to the Washington Supreme Court
The main issue in this case before the Washington State Supreme Court involved a challenge to the detainee worker pay practices of GEO Group Inc., which owns and operates the Northwest ICE Processing Center (NWIPC), a private detention center for immigrants. in Tacoma, Washington, under contract with the federal government. The plaintiffs objected to GEO’s practice of paying civil immigrant detainees less than the Washington state minimum wage. The plaintiffs asked the court to determine whether Washington’s Minimum Wage Act (MWA) applied to workers detained in a privately owned and operated detention center. The court concluded yes.
GEO contracts with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to confine up to 1,575 non-citizen, non-criminal adults in administrative civil detention while awaiting review and determination of their immigration status. As part of the ICE contract, GEO developed and operates a voluntary work program whose purpose is to provide detainees with the opportunity to work and earn money while in detention. NWIPC detainees “were not to be used to fulfill” the “fundamental obligations” that, under the ICE contract, constituted GEO’s responsibilities and duties. However, GEO relied on inmate workers to perform “substantially all of the core work required by GEO under the contract.” GEO paid its inmate workers $1 per day to perform these essential tasks.
Washington State and a class of NWIPC detainees sued GEO in September 2017. They alleged that GEO’s practice of paying inmates less than the Washington minimum wage to work in the detention center violated the MWA of Washington.
The Washington Supreme Court held that the workers detained in the private detention center were “employees” within the meaning of the MWA. The plaintiffs argued that an exemption indicates that the Washington legislature contemplated applying the MWA to people in detention or custody who are authorized to work. They argued that the exemption unambiguously applies only to people detained in government-run public facilities. Therefore, they said, the exemption does not apply to workers detained in this privately owned and operated facility. The Washington Supreme Court agreed.
Details:
- Nwauzor v. The GEO Group, Inc.No. 101786-3 (December 21, 2023).
- “CEO Group Must Pay Minimum Wage to Immigrant Detainees, Court Rules,” Reuters (December 22, 2023).