In this podcast, WR Immigration Director of Visa Consulting Charlie Oppenheim, Partner Charina Garcia and Senior Associate Laura Bloniarz unpack the February Visa Bulletin, provide updated predictions and analyze trends.
WR Immigration Podcast: Chatting with Charlie January 2023 Webinar
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The Life Sciences Talent Squeeze and Foreign-Born Workers
It’s no secret to MassBio members that the life sciences is on the front end of a significant boom. Fueled by innovation, collaboration, and accelerated funding, the signs of growth are clear. We’re seeing IPOs, overseas expansions, and an influx of venture capital financing into well-known Boston players. “There has…been a massive amount of investment, acquisitions, public offerings, and laboratory construction during a time when many businesses struggled to keep the lights on,” Scott Kirsner pointed out in his June 15 column. “The biotech sector seems poised to emerge from the pandemic as the city’s dominant and most visible industry.” With so much activity and opportunity, talent acquisition and development are struggling to keep pace. Karla Talanian dug into this topic in a recent MassBio post about how companies can continue to develop a workforce to meet the increasing industry demands. She noted that in Massachusetts, recruiting is more intense than the national averages: 18% of jobs require at least a Ph.D., compared with 12% nationally. The squeeze for such talent forecasts to be even tighter going forward: while the pursuit of doctorate degrees is high in this region, it is much lower nationwide. “Since recruitment for these individuals is typically conducted on […]
USCIS Issues Proposed Rule to Raise Fees and Fund Asylum Program With New $600 Employer Petition Fee
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) published a proposed rule on January 4, 2023, to raise fees. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) also proposes to fund the asylum program with a controversial new Asylum Program Fee of $600 to be paid by employers who file either a Form I-129, Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker, or Form I-140, Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker. DHS said it has determined “that the Asylum Program Fee is an effective way to shift some costs to requests that are generally submitted by petitioners who have more ability to pay, as opposed to shifting those costs to all other fee payers.” This new $600 fee would be in addition to processing fees for those petitions. USCIS said it “cannot maintain adequate service levels with the effects of the budget cuts and its current level of spending without lasting impacts on operations.” The proposed rule states that if USCIS fees are not adjusted, “USCIS processing times and backlogs will not improve.” The proposed changes include, among others, incorporating biometrics costs into the main benefit fee and removing the separate biometrics fee; requiring separate filing fees for Form I-485, Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status, […]
