Headlines:
Chief Justice Roberts Issues Temporary Stay of ‘Title 42’; Hundreds Wait in Mexico – Chief Justice Roberts of the U.S. Supreme Court ordered a brief stay of Title 42 to permit the Supreme Court time to contemplate the problem.
DHS Public Charge Ground of Inadmissibility Final Rule Effective December 23 – For public charge inadmissibility determinations, the Department of Homeland Security won’t consider receipt of noncash advantages (for instance, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, public housing, school lunch programs) aside from long-term institutionalization at government expense.
E-Confirm Restores Employers’ Ability to Upload Multiple Hiring Sites Concurrently – E‑Confirm has restored the power of employers, employer agents, and company administrators to upload multiple hiring sites concurrently.
USCIS Provides List of Options for Nonimmigrant Staff Following Termination of Employment – U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services provided a compilation of options which may be available to nonimmigrant employees in search of to stay in the USA in a period of authorized stay following termination of employment.
USCIS Seeks Comments on EB-5 Regional Center Forms for Investors – U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services seeks comments until January 23, 2023, on two forms related to the EB-5 Regional Center (RC) program.
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Chief Justice Roberts Issues Temporary Stay of ‘Title 42’; Hundreds Wait in Mexico
Chief Justice Roberts of the U.S. Supreme Court ordered a brief stay of Title 42 on December 19, 2022, to permit the Supreme Court time to contemplate the problem. Justice Roberts’ order got here after the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued an update on December 13, 2022, on southwest border security and preparedness in anticipation of a court-ordered lifting of Title 42 by December 21, 2022, which was upheld by the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals in a ruling on December 16, 2022.
Title 42 prevents many migrants from in search of asylum in the USA due to COVID-19 concerns and requires them to attend in Mexico. In line with reports, hundreds of migrants, many from Haiti, who want to enter the USA are in camps in Mexico. Two Title 42 amendments failed that had slowed down passage of the $1.7 trillion funding bill that Congress passed and President Biden signed on December 23, 2022. Reportedly, the Biden administration also could also be considering humanitarian parole for some Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Cubans, as was provided for Venezuelans recently.
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- “Chief Justice Roberts Briefly Halts Decision Banning Border Expulsions,” Latest York Times, Dec. 19, 2022. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/19/us/politics/title-42-scotus-immigration-asylum.html (subscription required)
- Application for a stay, submitted to Chief Justice Roberts Dec. 19, 2022. https://www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/22/22A544/250328/20221219140309326_Title%2042%20-%20Emergency%20Application%20for%20Stay%20File%20Version.pdf
- Federal respondents’ opposition to application for a stay pending certiorari, Dec. 20, 2022. https://www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/22/22A544/250530/20221220190658873_22A544%20Govt%20opp%20to%20Ariz%20stay%20final%20corrected.pdf
- Reply of applicant Arizona, et al. filed, Dec. 21, 2022. https://www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/22/22A544/250553/20221221084240400_Title%2042%20-%20Emergency%20Stay%20Reply%20File%20Version%20Final%202.pdf
- “Senate Passes $1.7 Trillion Omnibus Spending Bill Without Title 42 Protections,” National Review, Dec. 22, 2022. https://www.nationalreview.com/news/senate-passes-1-7-trillion-omnibus-spending-bill-without-title-42-protections/
- “Hundreds Wait in Tent Camps in Mexico for a Probability to Cross the Border,” NBC News, Dec. 22, 2022. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/thousands-wait-tent-camps-mexico-chance-cross-border-rcna63026
- “U.S. Court Rejects Maintaining COVID-19 Asylum Restrictions,” Associated Press, Dec. 17, 2022. https://apnews.com/article/texas-donald-trump-immigration-missouri-amarillo-e6f9ce07b955bdc962118a798129f319
DHS Public Charge Ground of Inadmissibility Final Rule Effective December 23
On December 23, 2022, the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Public Charge Ground of Inadmissibility final rule went into effect. The previously announced final rule “provides clarity and consistency for noncitizens on how DHS will administer the general public charge ground of inadmissibility. This final rule restores the historical understanding of a ‘public charge’ that had been in place for a long time before the previous administration began to contemplate supplemental public health advantages corresponding to Medicaid and dietary assistance as a part of the general public charge inadmissibility determination,” DHS said.
When making a public charge inadmissibility determination under the ultimate rule, DHS said it’ll consider an applicant’s “age; health; family status; assets, resources, and financial status; education and skills”; a sufficient “Affidavit of Support Under Section 213A of the INA (when one is required)”; and prior or current receipt of “Supplemental Security Income (SSI); money assistance for income maintenance under Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF); State, Tribal, territorial, or local money profit programs for income maintenance (often called ‘General Assistance’); or long-term institutionalization at government expense.”
For public charge inadmissibility determinations, DHS won’t consider receipt of noncash advantages (for instance, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, public housing, school lunch programs) aside from long-term institutionalization at government expense.
Applicants must file the updated 12/23/22 edition of I-485, Application to Register Everlasting Residence or Adjust Status. Earlier versions shall be rejected, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) said.
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E-Confirm Restores Employers’ Ability to Upload Multiple Hiring Sites Concurrently
E‑Confirm has restored the power of employers, employer agents, and company administrators to upload multiple hiring sites concurrently. E-Confirm said this feature increases efficiency for firms with multiple hiring sites by providing an alternative choice to manual entry and is out there for all access methods when adding hiring sites.
An account could have an infinite variety of hiring sites, but not more than 1,000 hiring sites could also be uploaded at a time. Users can add multiple hiring sites by uploading a CSV file during initial enrollment or throughout the company profile post-enrollment. Firms must upload a sound CSV file that follows the necessities listed on the “View CSV Guidelines” page. E‑Confirm provides a CSV template and a link to the “View CSV Guidelines” page throughout the bulk upload process.
Questions could also be emailed to [email protected].
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USCIS Provides List of Options for Nonimmigrant Staff Following Termination of Employment
On December 19, 2022, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) provided a compilation of options which may be available to nonimmigrant employees in search of to stay in the USA in a period of authorized stay following termination of employment.
The compilation includes details on:
- A discretionary 60-day grace period that enables employees in E-1, E-2, E-3, H-1B, H-1B1, L-1, O-1, or TN classifications (and their dependents) to be regarded as having maintained status following the cessation of employment for as much as 60 consecutive calendar days or until the tip of the authorized validity period, whichever is shorter.
- Portability to a latest employer, allowing employees currently in H-1B status to start working for a latest employer as soon because the employer properly files a latest H-1B petition with USCIS, without waiting for the petition to be approved. Also, a employee with an adjustment of status application (Form I-485) that has been pending for no less than 180 days with an underlying valid immigrant visa petition (Form I-140) has the power to transfer the underlying immigrant visa petition to a latest offer of employment in the identical or similar occupational classification with the identical or a latest employer (commonly generally known as “porting”).
Other options include change of status, change of status and employer, adjustment of status, period of authorized stick with a “compelling circumstances” employment authorization document, expedited adjudication criteria, and departure from the USA and in search of readmission in the identical or one other classification.
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USCIS Seeks Comments on EB-5 Regional Center Forms for Investors
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) seeks comments until January 23, 2023, on two forms related to the EB-5 Regional Center (RC) program.
USCIS explained that on March 15, 2022, President Biden signed the EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act of 2022, which immediately repealed the previous RC program statute. The law also reauthorized a “substantially reformed” RC program, effective May 14, 2022. USCIS said that although it’ll proceed to supply similar services for the newly reformed RC program because it did under the previous RC program, the newly authorized program “has a special legal framework and requirements from the previously authorized program.” Consequently, USCIS concluded that Form I-526, Immigrant Petition by Alien Entrepreneur, related to the EB-5 program, wouldn’t gather sufficient information to adjudicate investor petitions under the brand new program.
Accordingly, USCIS split the previous Form I-526, Immigrant Petition by Alien Entrepreneur, into two versions: Form I-526, Immigrant Petition by Standalone Investor, and Form I-526E, Immigrant Petition by Regional Center Investor. USCIS said the 2 separate forms were intended “to higher streamline the adjudication process for Standalone Investors and Regional Center Investors; specifically, Form I-526 shall be utilized by a Standalone Investor and Form I-526E shall be utilized by an investor pooling their investment with a number of qualified immigrants” under the brand new RC program to petition for status as an immigrant to the USA. USCIS began accepting the brand new Forms I-526 and I-526E on July 12, 2022. USCIS said it’ll proceed to adjudicate all Forms I-526 filed before March 15, 2022 (the date of enactment of the EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act of 2022), in line with the applicable eligibility requirements on the time the petition was filed.
On June 24, 2022, in Behring v. Mayorkas, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California preliminarily enjoined USCIS from “treating as deauthorized the previously designated regional centers” including “processing latest I-526 petitions from immigrants investing through previously authorized regional centers…just because the agency would do for a newly approved regional center.” On September 1, 2022, the U.S. District Court in Behring approved a settlement between the parties. Under the terms of the settlement, previously designated RCs didn’t lose their designations consequently of the EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act of 2022. USCIS said that because it is working to implement the settlement, if it determines changes to the Forms I-526 and I-526E are crucial, it’ll “pursue such changes through either this manner revision process or other appropriate mechanism.”
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