USCIS announces a trial launch of E-Verify Plus.

A new study finds that immigrants are strongly linked to economic growth and innovation.

And more from the head of BAL’s sports and entertainment practice on the stalled WNBA debut of basketball star Nika Mühl and the challenges foreign female athletes face with the visa process.

Get this news and more in the special extended episode of BAL’s podcast, the BAL Immigration Report, available on Apple, Spotify and the BAL news site.

This alert has been provided by the BAL U.S. Practice Group.

Copyright © 2024 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.

The Biden administration pursues a crowded regulatory agenda for 2024.

Passport processing times reach pre-pandemic levels.

And a look at what current labor market trends mean for immigration programs this year.

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 © 2024 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.

A temporary policy on employment authorization extensions is set to end. Student visa issuance is on the rise. And a look at the impact of USCIS processing delays.

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.

DALLAS, March 3, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — Immigration technology provider Dunasi, in partnership with leading immigration firm BAL, has released a groundbreaking white paper, detailing their analysis of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) processing times. Leveraging 40 years of immigration experience and aggregated data from over 1.5 million cases, BAL compared its data to USCIS data to determine how accurate USCIS processing estimates are and to identify trends in processing timelines. 2021 Processing Time Trends – Dunasi (dunasitech.com)

“With the coronavirus pandemic compounding immigration delays, our clients need a trusted source to give them an accurate answer about their case processing time,” said Chanille Juneau, Chief Technology Officer at BAL. “We know BAL’s projections tend to be more accurate than USCIS estimates, so we did a deep dive into the data to help immigration applicants understand what to expect for each case type.”

The white paper analyzes the accuracy of USCIS predictions and recent processing trends, answering frequently asked questions such as: “How do USCIS processing time predictions compare with actual processing times?” and “Which application types are most delayed?”

Along with pinpointing the case types and service centers experiencing the lengthiest processing delays, the paper evaluates the role of recent immigration developments on processing times, such as the DHS Office of the Inspector General’s report criticizing USCIS’s manual processing system.

After identifying some concerning USCIS trends, the paper looks at USCIS plans to modernize its processes and speed case resolution. Drawing on BAL’s legal expertise, the paper also offers practical strategies for foreign nationals to improve their case processing times.

“We’re proud to lead the industry in innovative immigration technology, and we feel an obligation to use our wealth of tech expertise to benefit people around the world,” said BAL Managing Partner Jeremy Fudge. “That’s exactly what we’ve done in this report; Chanille and her team have discovered useful insights, identifying USCIS trends and discrepancies, to give foreign nationals more confidence in their immigration journeys.”

About Berry Appleman & Leiden LLP (BAL)
BAL, the world’s leading corporate immigration law firm, 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.

SOURCE Berry Appleman & Leiden LLP

Media Contact:
Emily Albrecht
Senior Director — Marketing & Communications
ealbrecht@bal.com
469-559-0174

Employees in the green card process are seeing additional flexibility in processing as the COVID-19 national emergency continues to complicate the normal steps, and the government appears to be relaxing certain requirements.

All U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) offices have been closed to the public since March 18 and are not scheduled to reopen until at least May 4, creating delays for applicants needing to attend biometrics appointments and green card interviews.

However, in recent days the agency announced flexible rules on biometrics and appears to be waiving green card interviews in some cases where interviews have been canceled because of the office closures. On March 30, USCIS announced that it will process certain requests to extend employment authorization documents without a biometrics appointment by using the applicant’s previously submitted biometrics. This temporary measure, in place for the duration of the office closures, will mitigate delays and help prevent lapses in employment authorization.

Though the agency has not announced whether it will relax the interview requirement, some green card applicants whose appointments were canceled because of the COVID-19 office closures have seen their case status updated to indicate their adjustment of status application has been approved and have received their green cards in the mail shortly thereafter.

Additionally, green card applicants who file their application without the medical exam form or with an expired medical exam form normally receive a courtesy notice indicating that they should bring their medical form to the USCIS interview. More recently, however, USCIS has been issuing Requests for Evidence instructing green card applicants to mail the medical form to USCIS directly—another signal that the agency may be adopting a policy of waiving green card interviews for the time being for some applicants.

For employees in earlier stages of the green card process, the Labor Department is also taking temporary steps to ease the PERM labor certification process. On March 25 the department began issuing labor certifications and final determinations via email and will continue to do so at least through June 30. However, applicants and employers must still sign the labor certification with an original wet signature before filing the I-140 petition with USCIS. Unlike USCIS, which is accepting electronically reproduced original signatures on USCIS forms for the duration of the national emergency, the Labor Department has yet to authorize submission of photocopies of original wet signatures on labor certifications.

What should employers and employment-based immigrants expect from these agencies in the coming weeks? DHS Acting Secretary Chad Wolf indicated this week that USCIS is considering additional options to give flexibility to petitioners and applicants, but BAL anticipates that the agency will take a piecemeal approach rather than make wholesale changes (such as automatic extensions of status).

The Labor Department is likely to release guidance in the coming days that should clarify additional procedures during the national emergency and provide greater flexibility in requirements and timelines for employees in the green card process.

Heather Oh is a Senior Associate in the New York City office of Berry Appleman & Leiden LLP.

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.