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A proposal to modify the H-1B and F-1 visa programs clears White House review. The U.S. halts visa services in Israel. And an interview with BAL CEO Jeremy Fudge.
Get this news and more in the new episode of BAL’s podcast, the BAL Immigration Report, available on Apple, Spotify and Google Podcasts or on the BAL news site.
This alert has been provided by the BAL U.S. Practice group.
Copyright ©2023 Berry Appleman & Leiden LLP. All rights reserved. Reprinting or digital redistribution to the public is permitted only with the express written permission of Berry Appleman & Leiden LLP. For inquiries, please contact copyright@bal.com.
It’s Oct. 19, and this is your BAL Immigration Report.
“Immigration has historically been delivered by the firm how the firm wants to deliver it, versus how does the foreign national actually want to receive this service? Right? And how do you make it as simple as ordering something on Amazon that’s on your door the next day?”
—Jeremy Fudge, BAL CEO
A proposed rule modifying the H-1B and F-1 visa programs has cleared White House Office of Management and Budget review. The rule’s text is not yet available, but this review is the last step of the regulatory process before publication.
The Department of Homeland Security said the proposed rule will modernize H-1B requirements and oversight as well as provide additional flexibility in the F-1 student visa program. The proposal is expected to go through a 60-day public comment period before it is updated and published as a final rule. It is not clear at this time if the rule will be in place for the fiscal year 2025 cap registration season. BAL will provide updates as information becomes available.
The U.S. government has halted visa services in Israel amid ongoing security concerns. Non-U.S. citizens in need of emergency visa services should request an expedited appointment at a U.S. embassy or consulate outside of Israel.
The Israeli government has extended the validity of work visas until Nov. 9 for all foreign nationals in the country whose Israeli visas expire within the next month. The situation continues to evolve and travel rules and procedures may change with little or no notice. U.S. citizens in Israel, the West Bank, Gaza or Lebanon who need assistance should fill out the State Department’s crisis intake form, available on their website.
An interview with BAL CEO Jeremy Fudge.
BAL Immigration Report: Last week, BAL celebrated its 43rd anniversary. Founding partners David Berry and Jeff Appleman opened the firm in San Francisco in 1980. Warren Leiden — the L in BAL — joined the firm in the 1996. Fudge followed Leiden as managing partner and now serves as BAL’s CEO. In an interview with the BAL Immigration Report, Fudge talked about the immigration landscape today, BAL’s mission and what he does to stay motivated. We opened our discussion by asking about the firm’s early years and how they shaped what BAL is today.
Fudge: There’s a lot about today’s BAL in terms of its look and feel and vocabulary and so forth that didn’t exist 43 years ago, but there are very much things that are in today’s reality that come from our origin, come from our history and come from our roots. Starting with how the firm is structured itself, fundamentally at the core, is from our origin story. David and Jeff, Berry and Appleman, decided that they were going to go into this partnership together, and they were going to be 50-50 partners, and each had a sort of an area of focus, if you will.
Then a handful of years later, when Warren Leiden joined, the same principle stood the growth of two into three, and each had their responsibilities and each were equal partners in this thing. And so that business concept of how to structure the partnership and keep it that way has continued to today, and we all have different things we contribute and add our value to and put our fingerprint on. They’re different, but we can see the value in those things amongst each other. That’s the origin, the nexus of “oneBAL,” this concept we have today, this word we have today — the idea that you can have different people contributing different things, true diversity. In doing so, you can still appreciate and see the value in what others are doing, and it allows ultimately then for this culture to develop that we have today of teamwork and camaraderie and all for one, one for all, we’re all in this together. That comes from how we were created 43 years ago and continues forward today.
BAL: Fudge also says another facet of BAL that dates to its founding is its focus on helping people, a priority that has remained in place whether the firm is handling family-based immigration, asylum, removal defense or business immigration, the bulk of the firm’s work now. As he surveys the industry landscape today, he says that technology poses new challenges and opportunities, but that the need to adapt has been a constant in immigration law for years.
Fudge: Obviously, what we’re seeing more and more in terms of technology is just the use of what we see in society, the use of AI, the use of machine learning, the use of RPA, etc. Those are things we’ve been working on and building into our processes, building into our system and our platform for several years now — by no means are we new to figuring it out. I think that’s the direction everyone’s going to have to go ultimately. We’re seeing it in society, in any number of jobs and industries and companies and so forth. But I think in immigration — something that, thanks to the government, is still a transactional, paper-based, rote kind of process — it just screams for innovation in that sense. I think you’ll see firms that are embracing that and keep up with it, both in terms of their ability to change and adapt, but also their financial ability to embrace it and build it. And I think you’ll see more consolidation in the marketplace because of that. And you’ll see some firms that can’t keep up because of that.
BAL: Fudge says service delivery and immigration law is also “ripe for disruption and innovation” and that BAL remains at the forefront in this regard.
Fudge: I think the model of how immigration has been done needs updating, it needs to mirror how I order a thingamabob on Amazon or a pizza at Domino’s or whatever. Things have to be easy. They have to be simple. They have to be bespoke to the customer, right? And immigration has historically been delivered by the firm how the firm wants to deliver it, versus does the foreign national actually want to receive this service? Right? And how do you make it as simple as ordering something on Amazon that’s on your door the next day?
BAL: The BAL mission is simple: to provide an experience that makes a positive difference in people’s lives. Fudge says the mission was intentionally crafted to be broad enough to meet changing norms and expectations.
Fudge: One of the lessons we took again from our origin is, what are those core things that should transcend time? And for us, the idea of we’re here to help people in its most simple, basic form, that is one of those. How we help people, the way we deliver service, the way we produce forms, the way we deliver customer service — all of those things can and will change and are changing. But the ability to say, to yourself and to each other at BAL, “We’re here to help people. We’re here to love people. We’re here to serve people,” and so provide an experience that makes a positive difference to people’s lives is as simple to apply as saying who are the people that we’re trying to help, that we’re trying to serve, and how do we make a positive difference in their life? How do we make an experience — and experience is a keyword in that intentionally — how do we provide an experience that does that? And so that certainly sets itself up for the path we’re on for the next couple years of how do you deliver a more bespoke solution to people? How do you make it feel as simple and easy as the Amazon order or the Domino’s pizza order or whatever? How do you serve them the way they want to be served?
BAL: Fudge is widely recognized as one of the top immigration lawyers in the country, including by Best Lawyers, Chambers USA and Law Dragon. Last year, he was named to an elite list of top employee-approved CEOs by Texas CEO magazine. Fudge says this honor was especially gratifying because it was based on ratings from BAL employees. We asked him how he stays motivated personally and how he keeps the firm motivated to meet the challenges of a competitive industry.
Fudge: I’m maybe a little bit unique in the sense of I’m an analytical left-brain lawyer, but I’m also a very right-brained creative type. And so I motivate, I find inspiration for myself in all kinds of things. It could be going and seeing U2 at the Sphere in Vegas this last weekend. It could be reading a book. It could be reading my Bible. It could be so many different things, watching a movie, so many different things that I sort of live with my antenna up trying to constantly collect ideas, thoughts, concepts, words, whatever it might be. And so for me, I’m constantly just trying to live there and I thrive there. And so that’s part of it. I think part of it for me is having a view toward the future, having a sense of what that needs to be and what that needs to look like. And so that vision gives me inspiration and equally gives me excitement and hope and motivation to get there. Those are things that are true for me.
I think for our people, I can answer that two ways. I think one way is it is my job and other leaders’ jobs to be a source of inspiration, a source of motivation, a source of strength, a source of hope for our people. I think at the same time, our people are uniquely wired in a sense that I don’t need to motivate them. They’re motivated. They’re working in an area that they believe in and feel strongly about. They find a personal connection and purpose tied to their work, and that’s something we spent the last year on as a whole organization, talking about purpose, and our own unique purposes, and why are we in the world, and what’s the point of life — very deep questions for a law firm to be talking about. But that’s the journey we’ve been on, and it’s fruitful in that sense because I think if you know what your purpose is, you feel like you are in the right place doing the right thing and it has personal meaning to you, then again motivation starts to come more naturally from that.
In Canada, authorities reaffirmed their commitment to welcome 15,000 migrants from across the Americas on humanitarian grounds. As part of this effort, the government is opening a new permanent residence pathway for Colombians, Haitians and Venezuelans with extended family members who are Canadian citizens or permanent residents. The country will also admit an additional 4,000 temporary foreign workers from the region this year.
Canada also announced a $75 million six-year investment in efforts across Latin America and the Caribbean to support refugees and migrants.
In Ireland, officials urged Resident Permit holders to submit renewal applications as soon as possible due to expected processing delays. The Immigration Services Registration Office advised applicants that resident permit card processing may take up to six weeks. Individuals who intend to travel internationally over the holidays should submit their renewal application no later than Oct. 31 to ensure they receive their new card on time.
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.
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