New application forms have been released in conjunction with looming Public Charge Regulation implementation. USCIS will have broader authority to examine whether foreign nationals will become a public charge of the United States. Specifically, the form has added sections that ask whether the beneficiary has received, since obtaining the non-immigrant status, certain benefits such as cash assistance for income maintenance, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), and Section 8 Housing Assistance under the Housing Choice Voucher Program. If a beneficiary has received or is currently certified to receive any of the public benefits, specific information regarding each public benefit must be provided.

 

As reported previously, this regulation will cause increased information and documentation requirements, as well as more close examination of personal circumstances of beneficiaries. However, non-immigrants who are seeking an extension or a change of status will not be fully impacted by the rule. They will be required to satisfy a new public charge condition to be deemed eligible the associated immigration benefit they are seeking.

 

For adjustment of status applicants, the new regulation will cause cases to be reviewed under a “totality of the circumstances” test which will take into consideration each applicant’s factors such as age, household size, income, and education. Additionally, adjustment of status (green card) applicants will be required to submit a copy of their credit history and credit score, as well as detailed information about their health coverage. If an applicant has certain health issues, this can deem the applicant unable to care for himself, which can be a disqualifying factor for the applicant. Unfortunately, there is currently not a bright line test in regards to what specifically would disqualify someone. We will need to wait and see how USCIS adjudicates such matters as they come through. A new I-485 form will we be used by USCIS starting February 24.

 

The regulation will create new eligibility conditions for those seeking an extension or a change of status from within the United States. Such applicants will be required to disclose if they have ever received or are currently certified to receive certain public benefits on or after February 24, 2020. The foreign beneficiary must have received benefits for more than 12 months within a 36-month period to be negatively affected by the regulation.

 

Starting February 24th, non-immigrant changes or extensions of status will need to be filed on updated editions of Form 1-129, which will also include the public charge questions. These will encompass the non-immigrant worker statuses, including, H-1B, L-1, and O-1 status.

 

For questions about whether you might be impacted by the new rule, please contact the Graham Adair attorney overseeing your case, or contact us at info@grahamadair.com.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced on Friday that it had completed a pilot program to test its new H-1B registration system. We previously reported, that USCIS has been pushing to implement this new process for the upcoming H-1B lottery season. Because of the new technology and potential for issues, USCIS had decided to not implement the registration requirement for the H-1B cap that was run earlier this year. However, USCIS determined that the testing phase was sufficiently successful for implementation in the upcoming FY2021 H-1B cap.

 

Therefore, companies seeking to file H-1B petitions in this year’s H-1B lottery must first pay the required fee and provide basic company information, as well as information about each beneficiary to be included in the electronic lottery.

 

The registration process will go from March 1 through March 20. The lottery selection process will then be run on those electronic registrations. Only those with selected registrations will be eligible to file H-1B cap-subject petitions. USCIS plans to continue running a separate lottery for those with advanced U.S. degrees as part of this registration system.

 

There are still many uncertainties with how this system will work, including the impact it will have on those individuals who need “cap-gap” coverage to continue working. Graham Adair will be reviewing the potential H-1B cases for our clients and providing specific advice on H-1B cap strategy for this coming fiscal year.

 

In the coming days, USCIS will post additional instructions along with key dates. We will continue to provide updates as they become available. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact your Graham Adair representative. For more frequent updates, please follow us on Twitter (@GrahamAdairLaw).

 

Earlier this month, the Federal Register posted a proclamation issued by President Trump suspending immigration benefits for those who “will financially burden the U.S. healthcare system.” The proclamation becomes effective the first week of November 2019.

The proclamation means that intending immigrants must have approved health insurance coverage within 30 days of entry or demonstrate financial resources sufficient to cover reasonably foreseeable medical costs. This policy will have little impact on those coming to the United States for work since most would be covered by company health insurance programs or, in the alternative, be able to demonstrate an income sufficient to pay for their own healthcare. Even minimal health insurance plans, such as a catastrophic plan, meet the new requirement. Interestingly, although Medicare also meets the new requirement, Medicaid is specifically called out as being insufficient.

The proclamation notes that a loss of $35 billion hits the United States healthcare system on an annual basis, some of which is attributable to services provided to those who are uninsured. The proclamation says that these shortfalls partially become a taxpayer burden as such healthcare institutions get reimbursed for those losses. It states that those who lawfully immigrate to the United States are three times more likely not to have healthcare coverage.

The new rule only applies to those seeking an immigrant visa, not those entering in a non-immigrant or temporary visa status. Those with existing immigrant visas are grandfathered in and therefore would also not be impacted. The proclamation also states that those seeking entry as refugees or asylees would not be subject to the health coverage limitation.

The journey of H.R.1044/S.386 through the Senate hit another roadblock as S.2603, the Resolving Extended Limbo for Immigrant Employees and Families (RELIEF) Act, was brought up for a vote by unanimous consent. At least one senator objected, blocking the unanimous consent fast-track and stalling both bills for the time being. A unanimous consent vote on H.R.1044/S.386 was originally expected to be held on Thursday, October 17th.

The RELIEF Act was introduced to address the massive green card backlog, with the goal of eliminating the backlog over five years. Building on S.744, the 2013 bipartisan comprehensive immigration reform bill, the bill would clarify spouses and children of Legal Permanent Residents as immediate relatives and exempt “derivative beneficiaries” of employment-based petitions from the annual caps that contribute to the backlog. It would also protect children who qualify based on a parent’s petition from “aging out” while waiting for approval, helping to keep families together.

We will continue to monitor developments and share updates as more information becomes available. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact your Graham Adair representative. For more frequent updates, please follow us on Twitter (@GrahamAdairLaw).

Earlier this afternoon, a federal judge in New York issued an injunction against the recently amended “public charge” rule. We discussed the amended public charge rule a few weeks ago. People deemed to be a public charge may be prevented from applying for permanent residency. The amended rule altered the definition of “public charge” to include an individual who receives one or more designated public benefits for more than 12 months, in the aggregate, within any 36-month period. Additionally, it was broadened to include many common services, such as public housing assistance, food stamps, supplemental income, and certain Medicaid costs.

The temporary injunction issued today will prevent the amended public charge rule from taking effect on Oct. 15.

The rule is being challenged in several federal courts by immigrants’ rights groups and more than a dozen state attorneys general. While the public charge requirement has been a long-standing rule, it has not previously been defined this specifically.

As the rule continues working its way through the court system, we will continue to monitor it and provide updates. But for now, people filing for permanent residency will not be subjected to the newly amended public charge rule.

For more frequent updates, please follow us on Twitter (@GrahamAdairLaw).

After passing the House with 365 bipartisan votes, H.R.1044, the Fairness for High Skilled Immigrants Act will be brought before the Senate today, September 19, 2019 as S.386. U.S. Senators Mike Lee and Kamala Harris have led negotiations with Senator Rand Paul, who agreed to remove his hold on the bill after reaching a reasonable compromise.

H.R.1044/S.386 would remove the per-country quotas for employment-based immigrant visas, reducing the green card backlog. The per-country quota currently remains at 7% of total annual green cards, meaning Iceland (pop. ~338,000) has the same quota as India (pop. ~1.3 billion). The resultant backlog has resulted in extreme wait times and uncertainty for employers that rely on highly-skilled immigrants. Eliminating the quotas and backlog is intended to ensure that the United States continues to attract top talent from around the world.

The bill is expected to be brought up by Unanimous Consent, expediting the process. We will continue to monitor developments and share updates as more information becomes available.

A memo from the U.S. Department of Justice, dated 9/16/19, has indicated that anticipated changes to the visa program which has allowed H-4 visa holder spouses of H-1B workers to obtain Employment Authorization Documents (EADs) will not be issued until the spring of 2020 at the earliest. The plan to eliminate the work authorization for H1-B spouses was formally introduced in February of 2019, with a proposed rule from USCIS and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) “Removing H-4 Dependent Spouses from the Class of Aliens Eligible for Employment Authorization.” The new regulations, currently under federal review, were initially expected to be published this year.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia is currently hearing a lawsuit seeking to invalidate the H-4 EAD rule. The suit was filed by anti-immigration group Save Jobs USA, arguing that the DHS had no authority to issue the initial H-4 EAD rule, which was introduced in 2015. DHS lawyers maintain that the suit should be put on hold due to the ongoing efforts by the administration to rescind the program. According to the memo “…DHS’s intention to proceed with publication of the H-4 EAD proposed rule remains unchanged. At this point, DHS has informed counsel that it believes the earliest possible publication date for that rule would be in spring 2020. Although that timeframe is aspirational, DHS believes that the September 27, 2019 oral argument should be removed from the calendar and postponed…”

We will continue to monitor developments and share updates as more information becomes available. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact your Graham Adair representative. For more frequent updates, please follow us on Twitter (@GrahamAdairLaw).

 

On Wednesday September 4, 2019, USCIS published a proposed rule in the Federal Register that would require payment of a $10 fee from all petitioners filing a H-1B cap-subject petition. The rule would apply to each registration submitted for the selection process, and is expected to be applicable to 2021 fiscal year cap filings. The 30-day public comment period is now open, with comments due 10/4/19 via mail or the Federal eRulemaking Portal: www.regulations.gov.

The new fee, which was excluded from the original January 2019 final rule that introduced the new online registration requirement, is expected to result in a marginal increase in costs for selected selected petitioners, and a cost savings for both unselected petitioners and the government. This is one in a series of steps toward implementing the new electronic registration system for H-1B filing. Details remain to be released about the new process, which will be in place for the April 2020 H-1B filing season.

We will continue to monitor developments and share updates as more information becomes available. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact your Graham Adair representative. For more frequent updates, please follow us on Twitter (@GrahamAdairLaw).

Due to the complexities of hiring foreign workers, many companies don’t even consider it as an option. Immigration law attorney Chad Graham says H-1B visa workers are eager to come to the U.S. and become part of our ecosystem.

LEHI, Utah – Sept. 3, 2019 – According to the U.S. Department of Labor, jobs in the computer and information technology is projected to grow 13 percent from 2016 to 2026, faster than the average for all occupations — adding about 557,100 new jobs. However, technology companies are finding there’s a shortage of local skilled labor to fill these positions.

A June 10 MarketWatch article reconfirmed this finding. It reported “the problem isn’t that companies aren’t willing to hire, but it’s that there’s a lack of skilled workers.”

In addition, the Federal Reserve found “Stronger employment growth continued to be constrained by tight labor markets.” It continued by saying many companies are complaining about “shortages of both high- and low-skilled employees.”

“The companies hardest hit by the skilled labor shortage are those in the technology sector,” said Graham Adair Co-Founder Chad Graham. “This has become a daily conundrum for hiring managers. The faster these skilled positions are filled; the more apt companies will be able to support their growth.”

Some companies use the strategy of poaching Bay Area talent, a well-known hotbed of skilled tech talent.

“Poaching talent from the Bay Area is typically not a good strategy,” said Graham. “The main challenge is Bay Area salaries often far exceed those of other cities. That makes it unrealistic to offer these employees a matching salary. And offering less because the cost of living is lower in your city may fall on deaf ears. These factors make it extremely challenging for hiring managers/recruiters.”

Graham says there’s definitely an opportunity for U.S. companies to start advertising and recruiting from foreign countries — particularly those that have specific work visas available for their citizens. Those with work visas are not restricted to the H-1B visa, which is subject to an annual limit. There are also other immigration options available to find this talent, including international students.

“Navigating the complexities of business visas, permanent residency, employment-based work permits, and compliance with immigration laws can be intimidating,” Graham said. “But that there are skilled, eligible H-1B visa workers out there, eager to come to the U.S. and contribute to our ecosystem.”

Graham believes every growing company in Utah should include immigration as part of its hiring strategy.

“In speaking with HR staff and recruiters, I’ve found tech companies in particular are struggling to fill positions,” said Graham. “Many of these companies experience rapid growth, which suddenly leads to a dire need to hire engineers quickly to support the growth.”

Graham says one of the reasons open job requisitions are hard for companies to fill is due to the ebb and flow of graduation at colleges, universities and vocational schools. Unfortunately, the hiring needs are often between graduation dates.

“I believe as more and more companies experience the benefits of hiring foreign nationals, it will be viewed as a valuable and standard hiring strategy for bringing in the necessary IT talent,” said Graham.

For more information, visit: grahamadair.com

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About Graham Adair

Graham Adair is an award-winning firm that provides intelligent solutions for business immigration needs worldwide by ensuring clients’ personnel are not bound by borders. The firm represents a broad cross section of businesses, from Fortune 500 companies to small start-ups, and across a wide spectrum of industries including finance, manufacturing, biotechnology, medical research, IT, transportation and education. Global immigration services include business visas, permanent residency, employment-based work permits, consular processing, and compliance with local immigration laws. Graham Adair, founded in 2010, has offices in San Jose, Austin, Atlanta and Lehi (Utah) — as well as global migration partners in more than 50 countries. Visit: grahamadair.com

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Press Contact: Jeff Pizzino, APR (+1 480-606-8292 or jeff@AuthenticityPR.com)

 

Mr. Boris Johnson was elected as the new PM of the UK in July 2019 after former PM, Theresa May, stepped down. Much of the angst surrounding the UK in light of the PM switch has been how Brexit would be handled.

Previously, under PM Theresa May, the UK was set to leave the EU on March 29, 2019. Theresa May’s government had plans in place in the event of a no-deal Brexit allowing free movement of EU nationals until January 2021 and offering an EU Settlement Scheme. After many failed attempts to pass a resolution, the UK leave date was delayed to October 31, 2019 with, or without, a deal.

Former PM Theresa May’s plans in the event of a no-deal Brexit included free movement until January 2021 and a grace period where EU nationals could apply for settled status up until December 31, 2020. The Government’s previous plans in the event of a no-deal Brexit, however, are now being significantly altered by the PM Boris Johnson’s Government signifying that a no-deal Brexit would include ending free movement immediately on October 31, 2019, and that the UK will absolutely leave no matter what. The Government further notes that it does not have an immigration plan in place on how a new system will impact EU national residents before and after exit day– this poses a chaotic scenario for several UK-based companies with international employees from the EU given that there are only 73 days left until the October 31, 2019 deadline.

As of now, there are no signs as to what a new immigration system would look like that will replace free movement, leaving significant unclarity as to how UK-based companies will move EU national employees into the UK after the deadline. The deadline to apply for settled status is still December 31, 2020. However, there will be many EU nationals traveling after October 31, 2019 who will not be able to establish that they have been a resident in the UK before exit day (a key factor and benefit of “free movement”). In addition to the new changes, it is unclear whether new EU arrivals will be able to work in the UK after October 31 meaning UK businesses will have no idea whether they can recruit EU nationals for openings after the exit date. The UK Home Office indicates that new plans will be announced very soon.

In light of this scenario, UK employers are encouraged to have their EU national employees, and their family members, apply for settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme. Those who have lived in the UK for extended periods of time may be able to apply for Permanent Residence or even citizenship, avoiding the requirements of the new system.

We at Graham Adair Inc. are dedicated to helping businesses support employees through Brexit and are closely monitoring the volatile Brexit changes. Please contact us at Graham Adair Inc. as we are closely connected with our UK Local Office and are open to answering questions.