The Biden Administration’s Early Days: Is Immigration Reform Taking Shape?

May 17, 2021 | Immigration Updates

With the first 100 Days of the Biden Administration behind us, we can confidently say that there is a clear effort underway to improve opportunities for foreign born workers in the U.S.

While we may not see comprehensive immigration reform — a highly sought-after goal among immigration lawyers and our clients for quite some time — the path so far has yielded significant progress towards a more efficient, predictable environment for HR leaders and their employees.

First and foremost, reversals of some regulations instituted by the previous Administration have re-opened borders and opportunities. Biden quickly put a halt to the widespread ban on immigrant workers, which was originally introduced to prevent entry by those who it was thought presented a risk to the U.S. labor market. He also put a hold on changes to the H-1B lottery, including the controversial wage-based allocation system.

Just as important, the new Administration chose not to restrict some visa types that were on the proverbial chopping block. These include H-4 EADs (for spouses of foreign workers) and STEM OPTs (for those studying in STEM fields), which were both threatened by proposed bans under the previous Administration.

As for the bigger picture, the major reform initiatives under the U.S. Citizenship Act of 2021 would bring a sea change to the way in which we view the visa system. “Dreamers” would benefit from expedited green card eligibility, the backlog of employment-based visas would be cleared, and spouses of H-1B holders would be granted work authorization.

This more efficient, predictable system is far from reality. As the Biden Administration pursues its immigration agenda, however, we anticipate more progress that will ease some of the challenges faced by our global mobility partners.

Get in touch with our WR Boston office with additional questions: https://wolfsdorf.com/location/boston/.

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December 2022 Visa Bulletin – Update

On Thursday, November 17th, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) confirmed that it will honor the State Department’s Date for Filing chart from the State Department’s December 2022 Visa Bulletin. The December 2022 Visa Bulletin was released late in the monthly cycle which may be a sign that USCIS and State Department were wrestling with challenges internally before issuing this month’s Visa Bulletin. Most notably, the December Visa Bulletin introduces a final action priority date of November 1, 2022 for EB-2 “All Other Countries.” This restriction, also in place for dates for filing, for the EB-2 classification for “All Other Countries” this early in the government’s fiscal year may linger and may further challenge green card timelines for applicants previously planning to concurrently submit their I-140 Immigrant Petitions with their I-485 Adjustment of Status Applications. Lastly, the further retrogression for India EB-2 final action date (now October 8, 2011) will result in continued lengthy adjudication timelines for this category. Dates for Filing: Notes Family Based Information: USCIS to honor Dates for Filing chart for family-based applicants in December 2022. Please refer to the State Department’s full Visa Bulletin for further details available here.

WR Immigration News Digest

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