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DALLAS (Feb. 28, 2022) – Jeremy Fudge, Managing Partner of the award-winning immigration law firm BAL, has been named a 2022 Outstanding Director by the Dallas Business Journal. Jeremy is recognized for his excellence in governance and his role in the success, growth and development of BAL.
“I’m honored by this recognition from our leading local business publication,” Jeremy said. “I’m proud to help lead the amazing people at BAL as we continue to attract the top professionals in the industry, pave new ways of serving clients through our proprietary tech tools, and provide platinum-level service to our clients.”
Jeremy has overseen tremendous expansion of the firm, nationally and in the Dallas area. In just the past two years, the firm has hired over 600 employees, including 60% diversity hires. The firm’s Center of Excellence and national headquarters in Richardson grew by 18.5 percent in 2021, and is set to add another 100,000 square feet of space this summer. BAL has opened a new office every year for the past five years, including two during the pandemic (Denver and Austin), and the firm continues to expand into new markets.
As Managing Partner, Jeremy embodies the firm’s people-centric approach, not only in his unique management style, but also in his relentless support of industry-leading technology innovations and investment in people. These twin priorities enable BAL to offer exceptional client services to some of the largest multinational companies around the world, while attracting and retaining top legal talent at BAL, even in these challenging times.
Under Jeremy’s management and leadership, BAL has weathered the pandemic as well as the ensuing Great Resignation. Jeremy personally recruited several of the top immigration professionals in the country to BAL in 2021. The firm also added unlimited vacation as a benefit, developed a proprietary tool to measure and balance workloads, and automated document processing that liberates employees from mundane tasks—initiatives that make BAL the destination for the industry’s top talent.
“Jeremy embodies the firm’s mission to make a positive difference in people’s lives, whether he’s serving our corporate clients, their employees, or his own colleagues and every BAL employee,” said Partner Kortney Gibson, who oversees the Center of Excellence in Richardson.
Jeremy takes his coaching and pursuit of the exceptional beyond his professional role. A competitive runner and marathoner, he most recently coached 14 BAL attorneys and staff from couch to completion of the 2021 BMW Dallas Marathon.
A member of the Texas bar, Jeremy earned his Juris Doctor, cum laude, from The University of Texas School of Law and his Bachelor of Science, magna cum laude, in Journalism and Political Science from Baylor University.
About Berry Appleman & Leiden LLP (BAL) BAL, one of the world’s leading corporate immigration law firms, is the Most Diverse Law Firm in America (2020 and 2021) and the Best Law Firm for Women (2019 and 2020). BAL’s Cobalt® digital immigration services platform won the 2020 CODiE Award for Best Legal Tech Product and the prestigious CIO100 award for Innovative Use of Intelligent Automation in Immigration Services. The firm won Legalweek’s Most Innovative Law Firm Operations Team of the Year in 2021. BAL is singularly focused on meeting the immigration challenges of corporate clients around the world in ways that make immigration more strategic and enable clients to be more successful. Established in 1980, BAL has consistently provided immigration expertise, top-notch information security and leading technology innovation. The firm entered into a strategic alliance with Deloitte UK to create the world’s first global immigration service delivery model. BAL and its leaders are highly ranked in every major legal publication, including Best Lawyers, Chambers and Partners, The Legal 500, and Who’s Who Legal.
Media Contact: Emily Albrecht Senior Director — Marketing & Communications ealbrecht@bal.com 469-559-0174
DALLAS (Feb. 21, 2022) – Immigration powerhouse Berry Appleman & Leiden LLP (BAL) is once again a top-ranked firm in Chambers and Partners’ new 2022 Global: Multi-Jurisdictional Guide. This is the eighth year in a row that Chambers has awarded BAL a place in its prestigious annual global ranking.
BAL is ranked a Band 1 firm in the U.S. business immigration category, and is highly-ranked for its global work. Denver Partner Jeff Joseph and Washington, D.C. Partner and head of the firm’s Government Strategies Team Lynden Melmed are Ranked Lawyers. Founding Partner David Berry and Managing Partner Jeremy Fudge are both cited as Notable Practitioners.
Chambers notes the firm’s “expertise across a broad spectrum of services, from application support and immigration program management to strategic advice on compliance and government relations.”
Chambers quotes BAL clients as well. One impressed client notes: “They partner with us like an extension of our team, making the immigration process seamless for our business.”
Another client said: “They proactively inform us of new developments that could impact our immigration program, and strategies to navigate any changes or challenges.”
BAL and its leaders have a sustained presence in the Chambers Guides.
“We appreciate that Chambers recognizes the firm’s elite expertise in global mobility and immigration strategy,” said Partner Rob Caballero. “Our focus is always on exceptional service to our clients and their employees, and our people-centered approach to navigating clients through the immigration journey while creating a vibrant workplace that attracts high-caliber legal talent. These are the secrets to our success.”
About Chambers Global Since 1990, Chambers and Partners has published an annual guide ranking the world’s best lawyers on the basis of technical expertise, business acumen, prompt delivery and value for money. A team of over 200 researchers conducts thousands of interviews worldwide to produce the rankings. Lawyers cannot buy their way into Chambers rankings; as a result, its annual directories are considered among the most accurate and reliable.
About Berry Appleman & Leiden LLP (BAL) BAL, one of the world’s leading corporate immigration law firms, is the Best Lawyers® “Law Firm of the Year” in U.S. Immigration Law for 2019, the Most Diverse Law Firm in America (2020 and 2021) and the Best Law Firm for Women (2019 and 2020). BAL’s Cobalt® digital immigration services platform won the 2020 CODiE Award for Best Legal Tech Product and the prestigious CIO100 award for Innovative Use of Intelligent Automation in Immigration Services. The firm won Legalweek’s Most Innovative Law Firm Operations Team of the Year in 2021. BAL is singularly focused on meeting the immigration challenges of corporate clients around the world in ways that make immigration more strategic and enable clients to be more successful. Established in 1980, BAL has consistently provided immigration expertise, top-notch information security and leading technology innovation. The firm entered into a strategic alliance with Deloitte U.K. to create the world’s first global immigration service delivery model. BAL and its leaders are highly ranked in every major legal publication, including Best Lawyers, Chambers and Partners, The Legal 500, and Who’s Who Legal. See website for details: https://www.bal.com.
When President Biden took office, I assumed there would be fewer lawsuits against the government’s immigration policies and that, even as a seasoned immigration attorney with a healthy litigation practice, I would spend less time in court. I prepared to shift the bulk of my time to helping my corporate clients with more routine immigration case work.
I was wrong. While the Biden administration has reversed some Trump immigration policies and regulations, in court it continues to defend its authority to restrict certain foreign nationals from the U.S. (i.e., travel bans), it continues to defend the lengthy delays in processing times for work authorization and interviews at U.S. Consulates, and to defend its narrow interpretations of visa eligibility that impede high-skilled immigration.
In the past year, I’ve won several high-profile and important cases against the government, including successfully challenging the State Department’s visa suspension policies and overturning agency interpretation of “specialty occupation” jobs, the primary visa category for high-skilled foreign workers. By challenging the government on issues that are critical to U.S. companies and their economic competitiveness, we achieved significant progress for the U.S. immigration system and for U.S. businesses and thousands of their foreign national employees. For instance, our victory against the visa suspension policy paved the way for the State Department to announce in November that the new rules requiring foreign travelers to be vaccinated to enter the U.S. would not prevent them from applying for or obtaining a visa at a U.S. consulate. In another case, we won a decades-long argument over how the government interpreted the job role of “market research analyst” for purposes of visa eligibility. The win will hopefully broaden eligibility for many “analyst” roles, including computer analysts that most U.S. employers depend on to fill tech jobs.
The Biden administration has appealed many of these recent cases, so employers should not expect the system to become easier to navigate anytime soon. As global mobility resumes and pandemic-related pressure on the immigration system intensifies, litigation can be an important tool in an employer’s arsenal to overcome restrictive policies.
And in this extremely tight labor market with rapid wage inflation, reflecting the continuing workforce crisis and immigration bottlenecks, employers should consider every available legal strategy to challenge immigration policies that are restricting them from filling critical vacancies. Fighting for employees can also give companies a hiring and retention advantage—the Great Resignation is less likely to sweep through workforces with a strong culture of loyalty, and being willing to go to bat for your employees sends a powerful message of support to your workforce.
Understandably, many companies instinctively shy away from litigating against the government, in part because of concerns about reputational risk—after all what business wants to make headlines for suing the United States? However, there are tools to protect a company’s need for discretion while advocating for its employees. Not all cases need to make headlines. In fact, most are resolved with no public attention. And the desire to stay out of the immigration spotlight must be balanced with the need to show employees that the company is fighting for them and their colleagues. Executives want to and need to stand up for their workforce, and asking the government to treat their employees fairly is one way a company can show that they value all employees and will look out for their rights.
While I routinely rely on creative tactics to keep clients out of court—from tapping the insight of my firm’s Government Strategies team in Washington to carefully crafting National Interest Exceptions to facilitate mobility in individual cases—sometimes litigation is necessary. It may become an even more important tool in reforming a broken immigration system as we grapple with the fallout of staffing shortages, pandemic backlogs and Congressional inaction. Employers represented by experienced litigators should not hesitate to challenge unfairly restrictive policies to protect the rights of employees and the financial interests of their businesses.
Jeff Joseph is a Partner in the Denver office of BAL. With more than two decades of experience advising companies on immigration law and policy, he is a well-known immigration advocate and currently serves as Treasurer on the Executive Committee of the American Immigration Lawyers Association and is nationally ranked in Chambers and Partners. He is bilingual in English and Spanish, and has given more than 200 lectures on immigration law.
This article was originally published in the California Business Journal on Feb. 7, 2022.
The information contained here is meant to be informational, and while BAL has made every effort to ensure the accuracy of the information, it is not promised or guaranteed to be complete. Readers of this information should not act upon any information contained on this alert/blog without seeking professional counsel. This alert does not constitute legal advice or create an attorney-client relationship. Any reference to prior results, does not imply or guarantee similar future outcomes.
DALLAS, Feb. 4, 2022 – Award-winning immigration firm BAL has opened a new office in Denver, Colorado, led by Denver native and Partner Jeff Joseph, a prominent immigration attorney and AILA luminary with deep connections in the region. BAL Denver will serve as a springboard to grow the firm’s presence in the Rocky Mountain market.
BAL provides corporate immigration services to companies and entrepreneurs. The firm’s services are comprehensive, from investor visas for start-ups to full-scale global immigration programs for some of the world’s largest companies, including in the tech sector that is flocking to the Rocky Mountain area: a recent SmartAsset survey named Denver one of the best places in the country for tech work. The region also has a disproportionate number of tech job openings, and BAL plans to help companies address this gap by mobilizing talent from around the world.
“As we help companies in Colorado and the Rocky Mountain region to mobilize global talent, we’re also staffing a new office in a challenging labor market. BAL attracts top talent because we offer cutting-edge technology tools and a people-centered culture,” Jeff said, adding that the firm offers employees flexible schedules, unlimited vacation and paid time-off to do volunteer work of their choosing. “This complete package enables us to grow a high-caliber legal team that offers top-notch legal services to clients.”
Consistent with BAL’s focus on creating an enjoyable work environment for its employees, the Denver office landed in an 1871 loft-style building in the city’s hip LoDo district. Legal teams work in an office with windows overlooking Denver’s iconic Coors Field on one side and the city’s trendy Dairy Block on the other. The historic office is located within blocks of Denver’s best breweries, restaurants and accessible transportation.
“We look forward to transforming corporate mobility in the Rocky Mountain West, and we’ve found the perfect location for our game-changing team,” said BAL Managing Partner Jeremy Fudge. “The Denver office space reflects BAL’s strengths: We offer people-focused, creative legal solutions, and meet clients with our sleeves rolled up, ready to tackle even the most complex immigration challenges. Add to that our proprietary tech platform and the best legal minds in the business, and it’s a truly special place.”
The expansion is BAL’s fifth new office opening in the past five years as the firm grows through major U.S. economic centers, including the recently opened Austin, Texas and Santa Clara, California offices. The firm’s “oneBAL” culture epitomizes collaborative teamwork: workloads are shared firmwide, while regional offices provide the personal interaction and on-the-ground support BAL clients have come to expect from the service-oriented firm.
About Berry Appleman & Leiden LLP (BAL) BAL, the world’s leading corporate immigration law firm and the Best Lawyers® “Law Firm of the Year” in U.S. Immigration Law for 2019, ranks #1 on the Diversity Scorecard by The American Lawyer (2020 and 2021), #1 on Law360’s Diversity Snapshot (2020 and 2021), and the #1 Law Firm for Women according to the National Law Journal (2019, 2020 and 2021). BAL’s Cobalt® digital immigration services platform won the 2020 CODiE Award for Best Legal Tech Product, the prestigious CIO100 award for Innovative Use of Intelligent Automation in Immigration Services, and Legalweek’s Most Innovative Law Firm Operations Team of 2021. BAL is singularly focused on meeting the immigration challenges of corporate clients around the world in ways that make immigration more strategic and enable clients to be more successful. Established in 1980, BAL has consistently provided immigration expertise, top-notch information security and leading technology innovation. The firm entered into a strategic alliance with Deloitte UK to create the world’s first global immigration service delivery model. BAL and its leaders are highly ranked in every major legal publication, including Best Lawyers®, Chambers and Partners, The Legal 500, and Who’s Who Legal. See website for details: https://www.bal.com
DALLAS, Jan. 25, 2022 – In a momentous announcement, Berry Appleman & Leiden LLP (BAL) congratulates Founding Partner David Berry on his retirement and transition to Partner Emeritus of the firm.
For 41 years, David has been a preeminent attorney and visionary in immigration at BAL, helping to grow the firm from a two-attorney practice to an award-winning global powerhouse.
“David has been a mentor, leader, partner and friend. He’s been a role model to all who have been fortunate enough to work with him. We wish him all the best in his next chapter,” said Managing Partner Jeremy Fudge.
“We will miss David’s daily presence, but his legacy endures in the mission and values of the firm he helped build,” said Frieda Garcia, a Partner who began her career at BAL over 20 years ago.
David founded the firm in San Francisco in 1980 with fellow solo immigration attorney, Jeff Appleman. Warren Leiden joined as a name partner in 1996. Over the years, the firm flourished along with the global economy and now serves corporate clients in nearly every country in the world.
“It’s been an amazing four decades filled with so many fond memories. I’m proud to have been part of an area of law that has had – and continues to have – a profound impact on individual lives and the face of our country,” David said. He looks forward to spending more time with his family, hiking and biking in the mountains, and serving as a board member for organizations focused on healing the world.
David leaves the firm in capable hands, with Jeremy at the helm for the past nine years, backed by one of the most diverse groups of partners in the legal industry. By passing the torch to this next generation of leaders, the firm will continue to have a positive impact on millions of lives around the world: BAL represents the future of immigration, with an aggressive growth trajectory and new U.S. office openings planned, while its industry-leading proprietary technological tools continue to delight clients and attract top immigration professionals to its thriving practice.
DALLAS, Jan. 5, 2021 – BAL, the world’s leading corporate immigration firm, is pleased to announce the promotions of Josiah Curtis and Maria DeLapp to the partnership.
“Practicing corporate immigration during these unprecedented years has required passion, creativity, and fortitude, qualities both Josiah and Maria exhibit in abundance,” said Managing Partner Jeremy Fudge. “They are committed to achieving results for our clients and our firm while serving as strong leaders and mentors for BAL team members.”
Josiah practices in BAL’s Boston office, where he assists clients of all sizes find creative solutions and strategies for their immigration programs. He was recognized in this year’s prestigious Chambers USA 2021 guide, where a client said of Josiah and his Boston colleagues, “I’m blown away by their expert knowledge. They are a walking Wikipedia of immigration knowledge.”
“From my first day at BAL, I’ve appreciated how unique this firm is—from the inclusive culture to the high-tech tools at our fingertips,” Josiah said. “BAL has enabled me to provide a level of client service that exceeds expectations and makes a real difference to individuals in this uncertain environment. I’m honored to take this step into leadership as BAL transforms the practice of immigration law while positively impacting lives.”
Maria leads operations in the firm’s Chicago office and represents clients in such diverse industries as IT, manufacturing, agriculture, scientific, engineering and financial services, automotive suppliers, and professional football, baseball, and rugby clubs. She has extensive experience helping clients manage immigration due diligence during all stages of mergers and acquisitions, and brings a unique perspective to her work, informed by her own immigration experience.
“The immigration journey is very personal to me because I immigrated to the U.S. as a teenager when my father obtained work here as a scientist,” Maria said. “I had an interesting start at BAL—launching a new office in a new market in the midst of a global pandemic. We built a great team and BAL continues to attract top talent in the industry. I’m honored to help lead a firm with a collaborative workplace culture that focuses on personalized service and a people-centered approach to immigration.”
Media Contact: Emily Albrecht Senior Director — Marketing & Communications ealbrecht@bal.com 469-290-9158
DALLAS, Dec, 9, 2021 – Tech-forward immigration law firm Berry Appleman & Leiden LLP’s Chief Information & Technology Officer Vince DiMascio has published groundbreaking research that will be presented at the IEEE International Conference on Data Mining (ICDM), this week in Auckland, New Zealand. DiMascio and his co-authors built an innovative tool that leverages artificial intelligence and machine learning to automate and improve a mundane but critical step in the immigration process.
The tool uses natural language processing to “read” a job description and determine the standard occupational classification (SOC) code that best matches the job description on employment-based immigration petitions. The tool reduces turnaround time and ensures consistency in the selection of codes, especially across volumes of petitions where more than one code fits the description.
“This research sets BAL apart in an area of AI and legal tech that no one has explored, and could revolutionize the immigration application process,” said DiMascio. “We are able to train the tool to learn new job terminology and map job descriptions to SOC codes, with the aim of improving accuracy, efficiency, quality of work and client experience.”
As a trailblazer in the legal technology space, BAL continues to push the envelope on innovations that improve the immigration process. The U.S. Labor Department categorizes jobs into 867 occupational categories, each with a unique SOC code. Searching and selecting the code can be a tedious process and any problems in code selection can lead to delays or denials in immigration processing.
In this extremely competitive labor market, compounded by immigration backlogs and ongoing travel restrictions, employers depend on accurate and efficient immigration filings to fill critical job openings. DiMascio’s technology improves the process by training predictive models to determine the best-fitting SOC code based on the employee’s job description, benefiting both foreign national employees and their employers.
The published research is DiMascio’s latest achievement, following award-winning enhancements to BAL’s proprietary case management system, Cobalt®, and the use of AI to improve data migration during client onboarding. DiMascio previously co-authored a peer-reviewed paper on combining text and image readers to categorize RFEs and automating response templates. This impressive suite of technology gives BAL’s legal teams “extra hands” to respond to unpredictable surges in immigration filings caused by rapid policy changes, and enable our clients’ employees to take advantage of every opportunity to pursue their dreams.
“BAL is leading the industry in presenting peer-reviewed papers at world-class conferences like IEEE,” said BAL Partner Edward Rios, who heads the firm’s Innovation & Strategy Group. “BAL’s tech innovations are more than just academic—they are ultimately about serving people. Combining our technical and legal expertise, we design innovative solutions that create a smoother immigration experience for clients around the world. Our relentless pursuit of next-generation technologies also makes us an employer of choice for elite immigration professionals who want to lead in the industry.”
About BAL Established in 1980, BAL powers human achievement through immigration expertise, people-centered client services and innovative technology. BAL, with 13 offices across the United States and global coverage in more than 185 countries around the world, operates as a single entity through its oneBAL culture — a uniquely holistic approach, intentionally structured as one team, one brand, one P&L, one standard of excellence and one unifying technology. This united approach enables the firm to deliver the highest level of knowledge, insights and resources from across the entire organization.
At BAL, we pursue the exceptional. To learn more visit bal.com.
The United States eased international entry requirements Monday for foreign nationals who are fully vaccinated against COVID-19. The country-based “physical presence” bans that had restricted air travelers from Brazil, China, Iran, South Africa, and most of Europe are now revoked.
Even with the new entry rules, however, the COVID-19 pandemic continues to present challenges for companies and their employees. The latest BAL White Paper, “Lifting the Travel Bans, Holiday Travel and Planning: What to Expect in the Coming Months,” provides details on the new U.S. entry requirements and highlights ongoing considerations for employers and employees as they plan to travel in the coming months.
Fill out the below form to receive your copy of the White Paper:
Dallas, Nov. 4, 2021 – Industry-leading immigration law firm BAL has once again been named a top-ranking law firm in the 2022 “Best Law Firms” rankings by the prestigious U.S. News & World Report and Best Lawyers® annual ranking of the best law firms in the country.
BAL was honored with the highest “Tier 1” category in the 2022 national rankings in immigration law and in regional office rankings for Houston, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C. The firm also received regional rankings for its Boston and Dallas offices.
“We’re excited to receive this recognition for providing exceptional service to clients in challenging immigration conditions,” said BAL Partner Frieda Garcia. “To consistently rank at the top of the field by U.S. News- Best Lawyers® is a huge honor.”
BAL continues to innovate the practice of immigration law, leading the industry in technological advances—like its proprietary case-management system, Cobalt®, and its immigration knowledge portal Advisor—that allow a seamless client experience, the ability to scale to clients’ needs and an overall superior immigration journey for their employees.
The tech-forward firm is dedicated to personalized, on-the-ground client service and has launched a nationwide expansion—opening or expanding offices in Austin, Chicago, Denver and Santa Clara, Calif. in the past two years and initiating a hiring spree that nabbed well-connected attorneys such as AILA luminary Jeff Joseph and former State Department attorney Tiffany Derentz.
“As we continue to build the best team in the business, push the envelope with technology and deliver flawless service to clients, we’re proud to blaze the path forward for immigration law,” said Managing Partner Jeremy Fudge. “Even with great rankings like this, we’re not satisfied. We’ll keep amplifying our efforts to improve and grow, so we can help more people achieve their dreams.”
About Berry Appleman & Leiden LLP (BAL)
BAL, the world’s leading corporate immigration law firm, is the Best Lawyers® “Law Firm of the Year” in U.S. Immigration Law for 2019, ranks #1 on the Diversity Scorecard by The American Lawyer (2020 and 2021), #1 on Law360’s Diversity Snapshot (2020 and 2021), and the #1 Law Firm for Women according to the National Law Journal (2019, 2020 and 2021). BAL’s Cobalt® digital immigration services platform won the 2020 CODiE Award for Best Legal Tech Product, the prestigious CIO100 award for Innovative Use of Intelligent Automation in Immigration Services, and Legalweek’s Most Innovative Law Firm Operations Team of 2021. BAL is singularly focused on meeting the immigration challenges of corporate clients around the world in ways that make immigration more strategic and enable clients to be more successful. Established in 1980, BAL has consistently provided immigration expertise, top-notch information security and leading technology innovation. The firm entered into a strategic alliance with Deloitte UK to create the world’s first global immigration service delivery model. BAL and its leaders are highly ranked in every major legal publication, including Best Lawyers®, Chambers and Partners, The Legal 500, and Who’s Who Legal. See website for details: https://www.bal.com
In this tight labor market where companies cannot afford to lose talent, delays in immigration processing are preventing U.S. businesses from retaining high-skilled workers in key job roles, such as tech, that are fueling the economic recovery.
Delays by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services in renewing work authorization for spouses of high skilled H-1B and L-1 workers are frustrating their ability to stay in the workplace. The delays have grown so long that it is now a common occurrence for these workers to see their employment authorization expire before their renewals are approved.
These ongoing delays are causing significant disruption for U.S. business who have been forced to take thousands of H-4 and L-2 employees off payroll and put projects on ice, while these employees wait for their employment authorization document (EAD) to be renewed. Employees whose work authorization lapses not only interrupt their careers; they may be unable to renew a driver’s license, obtain health insurance or travel. These spouses are highly educated and employed in high-skilled occupations, including in tech and other STEM fields.
H-4 spouses contribute an estimated $7.5 billion to the U.S. economy. In a lawsuit filed earlier this month, an H-4 spouse sued U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services for causing him to lose his job as an analyst with one of the world’s leading tech companies because his work authorization expired while he waits for the government to process his renewal.
The watchdog Government Accountability Office has criticized the agency for failing to process immigration applications in a timely manner. While the number of annual petitions grew about 25% between 2015 and 2020, applications for employment authorization documents (EADs) surged by 80%, and the total number of pending cases jumped 85%, creating a growing backlog that is leaving many applicants indefinitely on hold. The GAO pointed to systemic USCIS flaws, including the lack of a sustainable workforce recruiting and retention plans, failure to request adequate resources and funding, and failure to track its caseload with a reliable case management process. “The growth in USCIS’s pending caseload and processing times impacts the individuals, families, and businesses who rely on the immigration system,” the report said.
So far, the agency has taken only incremental steps to address the backlogs and delays. The government could do much more to mitigate risks of current work authorization from expiring, such as providing automatic extensions of work authorization while renewal applications are pending and giving L-2 spouses automatic work authorization on the basis of their relationship to the L-1 visa holder, without needing to apply for an EAD. Under current policy, the earliest an applicant may file to renew their EAD is six months prior to the EAD expiration, but current processing times can take well over a year, leaving many H-1B and L-1 spouses out of work for months at a time. A class action lawsuit was filed last month seeking automatic extensions for spouses who have applied for EAD renewals.
U.S. companies have consistently advocated for H-4 spouses to be eligible for work authorization. These workers add depth of talent and skill to the U.S. economy: 90% of H-4 spouses hold a bachelor’s degree, nearly 60% have a master’s degree, and two-thirds of H-4 EAD-holders work in STEM fields. Moreover, H-4 spouses are eligible for work authorization only if they are already in line for permanent residency, so their contributions are not transitory.
While USCIS addresses its long-term workforce and funding issues in response to the GAO report, it should take immediate steps to mitigate the impact on employers and the economy when businesses lose valuable talent for no other reason than government processing delays.
Nassim Mahzoon is a Partner in the Santa Clara, Calif., office of Berry Appleman & Leiden LLP where she counsels clients on all aspects of corporate immigration and compliance, and provides holistic and strategic guidance to businesses and their employees.
This article was originally published in the California Business Journal on Nov. 3, 2021.