| Budget Deal Keeps Government Open & Trump Declares a State of Emergency After weeks of negotiations, on Valentine’s Day, U.S. Congress passed a budget deal to fund the federal government through the end of September. President Trump signed the bill, but because it did not include additional funds to build a border wall on our southern border, the President declared a national emergency so that he can redirect funds from other agencies to build the wall. The bill that was passed included $1.35 billion for steel fencing along 55 miles of the southern border in the Rio Grande Valley. The spending bill also provided additional funding for upgrading ports of entry to better detect drug smuggling, as well as money to improve conditions of custody for families seeking asylum. By declaring a national emergency, the president seeks to use $3.6 billion currently set aside for military construction to build a wall. The ACLU and the State of California have both said they will challenge in court the President’s declaration of emergency. H-1B Lottery Quickly Approaching Employers should be aware that the filing period for cap-subject H-1B petitions is growing closer. The filing period this year will begin on April 1 and run through April 5. It is important to allow enough time to prepare these applications, so we recommend reaching out as soon as possible to begin the process for any employees whom you may want to sponsor. Those who are selected and approved for an H-1B visa will be eligible to begin working in H-1B status at the beginning of Fiscal Year 2020, which is October 1, 2019. This year, foreign nationals with Master’s degrees from U.S. institutions of higher education will have a better chance of being selected. Under the new rule, the order in which cap-subject petitions will be selected will reverse, such that all petitions, even those eligible for the advanced degree exemption, are first counted toward the regular cap. Once the regular cap has been reached, petitions eligible for the advanced degree exemption and not yet selected for the regular cap will then be counted toward the Master’s cap. This change is effective as of April 1, 2019. More information is available here. Lawsuit Filed to Protect TPS for Honduras and Nepal A group of Honduran and Nepali immigrants filed a lawsuit this month in a federal court in San Francisco against the Trump administration’s decision to terminate Temporary Protected Status (‘TPS”) for individuals from Honduras and Nepal. Both countries are scheduled to lose TPS designation within the next year, with Nepal’s set to terminate this June. The plaintiffs claim that the Department of Homeland Security’s decision to end TPS was racially motivated and unfairly “changed how it evaluated conditions in these countries when determining whether immigrants could return there.” A similar decision to end TPS for Sudan, El Salvador, Haiti, and Nicaragua was enjoined last year, also by a federal court in Northern California, halting TPS termination for those countries while the case progresses. We are pleased to see the court stepping in to ensure a fair and justice system. See here for more information. Premium Processing is Back On Tuesday, Feb. 19, 2019, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) reinstated premium processing for all H-1B petitions filed on or before Dec. 21, 2018. Premium Processing Service provides expedited processing for certain employment-based petitions and applications. Specifically, USCIS guarantees 15 calendar day processing to those petitioners or applicants who choose to use this service or USCIS will refund the Premium Processing Service fee. Premium processing costs an additional $1,410 for the service. See here for more information. Visa Bulletin The Visa Bulletin includes “Final Action Dates” and “Dates for Filing Applications” for the family- and employment-based categories. The DOS Visa Bulletin for March 2019 is available here. |
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