Episode 58: Final fee rule, H-1B contingency planning, work permit options for recently arrive migrants

It’s Jan. 25, and this is your BAL Immigration Report.

• A new USCIS fee schedule clears White House review.
• Companies are in the midst of H-1B contingency planning.
• Bloomberg Law’s Andrew Kreighbaum joins us to discuss the calls for increased work permit options for migrants.

“Governors — for one, J.B. Pritzker in Illinois, a Democrat, and Republicans like Spencer Cox in Utah and Eric Holcomb in Indiana — have said that we could do more to address those labor gaps by allowing more recently arrived migrants the option to work legally in the U.S.”

—Andrew Kreighbaum, Bloomberg Law

U.S. News

USCIS filing fees

The White House Office of Management and Budget has finished its review of a final rule to raise U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services filing fees. The text of the rule is not yet available, but this review is the last step in the regulatory process before publication.

Under a proposal published last year, fees would have increased by a weighted average of 40%, and the H-1B registration fee would have increased from $10 to $215. It remains to be seen what the final fees will be and whether they will be in place for the fiscal year 2025 H-1B cap season. BAL will continue to provide updates as information becomes available.

H-1B alternatives webinar

Plan early and often: That was the takeaway from a BAL webinar this week on H-1B alternatives.

BAL partner Michelle Funk and senior associate Gabriel Castro hosted the event, with Funk saying H-1B contingency planning is increasingly important. “For a long time, we used to wait to talk about contingency planning until after all of the petitions were filed and the lottery was run. But now, as the number of filings goes up each year and everyone’s chances of being selected go down, we’ve really moved up the timeline and we’ve started to talk about contingency planning before those registrations are even submitted.”

Funk noted that H-1B registrations have continued to rise in recent years, even through the COVID pandemic and an uncertain economy. Among webinar participants, 42% said they have already begun H-1B contingency planning, while an additional 36% said they intend to between now and April.

To view the full webinar on demand, visit BAL.com/events.

U.S. news roundup

• The Department of Labor posted updated PERM and prevailing wage processing times.
• The State Department published updated guidance ahead of the launch next week of its domestic visa renewal pilot program. A pre-assessment tool to help foreign nationals determine if they may qualify for pilot is available here.

Spotlight

Conversation with Andrew Kreighbaum, Bloomberg Law immigration reporter: Immigration trends and labor shortages

BAL: The United States has seen a surge in migrants crossing the southern border in recent years. At the same time, the country is experiencing historically low levels of unemployment, and some companies report difficulty finding enough workers to meet staffing needs. Can you discuss this dynamic and how some are calling for expanded work permit options for recently arrived migrants?

Kreighbaum: This is an issue that we’ve been following to some extent for the past year or so. We’ve seen governors from both parties, going back to last February, calling for more options to get work permits in the hands of migrants, and congressional Democrats as well. And those calls, those proposals to the administration, are indicative of the sort of desperation that not just elected officials but also businesses and industry groups in their states are feeling to fill labor shortages right now. Last year, we saw the national unemployment rate hit a historic low, 3.4%. There were some states, like Massachusetts, that went even lower in in terms of the unemployment rates. Governors — for one, J.B. Pritzker in Illinois, a Democrat, and Republicans like Spencer Cox in Utah and Eric Holcomb in Indiana — have said that we could do more to address those labor gaps by allowing more recently arrived migrants the option to work legally in the U.S.

BAL: As Kreighbaum has noted in his reporting, the Department of Homeland Security has used its parole authority to allow hundreds of thousands of people into the U.S. in the past 18 months from countries including Afghanistan, Ukraine and Venezuela. Could the government use the same authority to grant work authorization to other recent arrivals and longer-term residents?

Kreighbaum: Groups like the American Business Immigration Coalition, for one, have been calling for expanded use of the parole option to get not only recent arrivals but also long-term residents of the U.S. without legal work authorization that option.

BAL: Are advocates are also focusing on challenges asylum seekers face?

Kreighbaum: They come here and they’re not legally eligible to get a work permit until their asylum claim has been pending for half a year. Migrants says they have challenges finding and getting resources just to survive that time. Meanwhile, many businesses and employers who would like to hire those folks and put them to work aren’t able to do so legally.

BAL: Business groups, immigration advocates and some elected officials agree that Congress should take action to expand work permit options, but do the proposals face some opposition?

Kreighbaum: The challenge for supporters of the parole authorities is that it has been somewhat untested. The Biden administration has been making really unprecedented use of that authority so far, but initiatives already rolled out are being challenged in court. The parole issue is really at the center of Senate negotiations involving the border right now, and it could be on the trading block. Meanwhile, the asylum legislation faces hurdles that any immigration bill tends to face. It’s tough to get anything through Congress, and often smaller, more targeted pieces of immigration legislation can get tied to these issues of border security and  bogged down that way.

BAL: In the absence of legislation, Kreighbaum says advocates are pushing for administrative fixes, including speeding up work permit processing and reinstating automatic 18-month extensions for some work permit renewals. For more on this topic, you can read Kreighbaum’s article, Labor crunch fuels pursuit of expanded immigrant work options.

Global News

Cap on international student permits

In Canada, officials have announced an intake cap on international student permit applications for two years. The cap will provide approximately 360,000 approved study permits in 2024, a decrease of 35% from 2023. The 2025 cap numbers will be determined at the end of this year.

Current and renewing study permit holders and individuals pursuing advanced degrees or elementary and secondary education programs are not subject to the cap. The Canadian government is instituting the cap to support sustainable population growth by alleviating pressures on housing, healthcare and other services, and stabilizing the number of international students.

China expands visa-free entry

China has added Ireland and Switzerland to its growing list of countries eligible for visa-free entry. The announcement was made at the World Economic Forum in Davos during the Chinese premier’s visit, according to media reports.

In December, China granted visa-free travel for up to 15 days to nationals of France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and Malaysia. Chinese authorities are loosening travel requirements in an effort to boost tourism and business investment in the country after its years-long COVID-19 lockdown.

Global news roundup

• Indian authorities announced that Person of Indian Origin cards would remain valid until the end of 2024.
• The United Kingdom delayed the implementation of an increase to immigration health surcharge fees.
• Qatar has announced the extension of Hayya card validity.

Follow us on X, and sign up for daily immigration updates. We’ll be back next week with more news from the world of corporate immigration.