On October 6, 2020, the U.S. Department of Labor published an advance copy of an interim final rule that will be published in the Federal Register on October 8, 2020 and go into effect upon publication. The rule increases the prevailing wage at each wage level across the board for all occupations for both non-immigrant visa petitions that require a prevailing wage and PERM labor certification applications.
Updates on NIV Entry Ban
On October 9, 2020, the U.S. Department of State provided further guidance on the federal district court injunction, stating that any J-1, H-1B, H-2B, or L-1 applicant who is either sponsored (J-1 visa holders) by, petitioned by, or whose petitioner is a member of, one of the plaintiffs in the case is no longer subject to Presidential Proclamation 10052. The plaintiffs in the case are the National Association of Manufacturers, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the National Retail Federation, TechNet, and Intrax, Inc.
On October 5, 2020, the U.S. Department of State (USDOS) announced that it would no longer enforce Presidential Proclamation 10052 which bars certain non-immigrant visa (NIV) holders (certain H, L, J visa holders) from entering the U.S. until the beginning of next year when scheduling emergency appointments. The USDOS stated that emergency/expedited appointments at the U.S. Consular Offices can proceed without a National Interest Exemption (NIE) for foreign nationals subject to this entry ban. Please note that foreign nationals may still be subject to other entry bans that will still require an NIE approval prior to entering the United States. Stay tuned for further updates on this important federal court decision.
Non-immigrant Visa Entry Ban Enjoined, For Some!
On October 1, 2020, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California issued a preliminary injunction against the Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. Department of State’s implementation of Presidential Proclamation 10052. The injunction stops the agencies from barring certain non-immigrant visa holders (H-1B, H-2B, certain J-1 visa holders, L-1 visa holders) from entering the U.S. and orders these agencies to stop delaying the processing of these non-immigrant visas applications at the U.S. Consular Offices abroad. Unfortunately, the court limited the scope of the injunctive relief to the plaintiffs in the case (the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and a coalition of technology giants such as Apple and Google), thus the injunction does not cover everyone. We are awaiting guidance from the Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. Department of State on how they will proceed given the order.
USCIS Premium Processing Changes?
On September 30, 2020, the Continuing Appropriations Act of 2021, was signed into law. This law funds the federal government through December 11, 2020. The bill includes provisions to help USCIS’ budget shortfall by increasing existing premium processing fees and expanding premium processing to cover additional types of cases. Even though the bill has been passed, USCIS will need to implement the new law before any changes to premium processing go into effect. Thus, at this time, there have not yet been any changes to USCIS’ premium processing service. Stay tuned…..there will be more to come!