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In immigration news this week:
These items and other news from Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, France, Israel, Lithuania, Malaysia, Norway, Papua New Guinea, Qatar, Sweden, and the United States follow in this edition of the Fragomen Immigration Update.
Important Updates in Immigration This Week
United States, November 7, 2019
DHS Finalizes H-1B Cap Registration Fee
To view entire article, click here.
United States, November 6, 2019
Polish Nationals Eligible for B Visa Waiver Program Starting November 11
To view entire article, click here.
Iraq, November 6, 2019
Oil and Gas Sector Employment Visa Process to be Streamlined; Approval Delays in Short Term
To view entire article, click here.
Israel, November 6, 2019
Visa Nationals Ineligible for Hi-Tech Visas
To view entire article, click here.
Iraq, November 6, 2019
Employment Visa Holders May Need to Leave Iraq to Obtain New Employment Visa
To view entire article, click here.
Canada, November 5, 2019
Stricter Requirements Implemented for Quebec Experience Program and Quebec Skilled Worker Program
To view entire article, click here.
Mexico, November 4, 2019
Travel Restrictions During In-Person Registration Processes in Mexico City
To view entire article, click here.
United States, November 4, 2019
H-1B Cap Update: Decision on H-1B Cap Registration Expected This Year, Acting USCIS Director Says
To view entire article, click here.
United States, November 4, 2019
Federal Court Blocks Health Insurance Requirement for Immigrant Visa Applicants
To view entire article, click here.
United States, November 1, 2019
State Department Publishes Draft Public Charge Questionnaire
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United States, November 1, 2019
DHS Continues to Extend TPS for El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras, Nepal, Nicaragua, and Sudan in Compliance with Court Orders
To view entire article, click here.
Weekly News Briefs
Bolivia: General Strike and Protests Affecting Immigration Processing – Amid protests concerning the presidential election and the ongoing general strike, private entities and government offices in La Paz, Santa Cruz and Cochabamba are closed or are altering their office hours. The closures are preventing Fragomen, foreign nationals and employers from completing immigration processes, including document procurement and legalizations. Foreign nationals and employers can expect processing delays for immigration-related applications until the situation normalizes. Fragomen is working with affected clients on a case-by-case basis.
Brazil: Visa Waiver for Qatari Nationals; Waiver Forthcoming for Indian and Chinese Nationals – Effective immediately, nationals of Qatar are eligible for visa-free transit and entry to Brazil for tourist and business stays of up to 30 days, extendable for an additional 30 days. Since 2017, citizens of Brazil have been eligible for visa-on-arrival for stays of up to 30 days in Qatar with the possibility of a 30-day extension. Chinese and Indian nationals are also soon expected to be visa waived or benefit from a simplified visa process when an agreement is finalized.
Colombia: Online Appointment Now Required for Salvoconducto Status – Foreign nationals applying for a safe passage (salvoconducto) in Bogotá must now book an appointment online through Migración Colombia's website and can no longer walk in without an appointment. Fragomen is monitoring the appointment system but expects appointments to be granted within three business days after the request, as is the case in other cities. Foreign nationals can apply for safe passage status to extend their stay period in Colombia when they cannot extend their visa prior to the renewal deadline, or as part of a regularization process following the payment of fines.
European Union: France, Norway and Sweden Confirm Border Control Extension – As an update, France, Norway and Sweden have now formally extended internal border controls. France has extended controls until April 30, 2020; Norway and Sweden have extended controls until May 12, 2020. All listed countries are part of the Schengen area, where internal border controls are not allowed according to EU law, except for temporary national security measures. The current controls have been in place since late 2015; in 2016 and 2017, the European Council recommended prolonging the checks due to migration flows and intra-EU security at that time.
Israel: Strike at Israeli Consulates Worldwide Ends – The strike of employees of all worldwide Israeli consular posts last week, which temporarily suspended all consular services, has ended. Applicants with consular applications should expect processing delays as a result of the backlog of applications that may have accumulated during the suspension and should contact their immigration professional for case-by-case advice.
Lithuania: Streamlined Immigration Process for Favored Nations – Effective immediately, nationals of Australia, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea and the United States benefit from streamlined immigration processing. Specifically, eligible applicants need not obtain a work permit before filing a temporary residence permit application, removing an administrative step which took approximately seven business days to complete. Additionally, eligible applicants need no longer submit a police clearance certificate with their temporary residence permit application, a document which took several days to several weeks to obtain and authenticate. Favored nations’ applications are processed in 45-90 calendar days instead of the standard 60-120. After Brexit, UK nationals are also expected to benefit from these streamlined processes.
Malaysia: Longer Validity of Approval Letters for Some Employment Pass Applications – The Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) has announced that approval letters issued to Employment Pass (EP) applicants in the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) sector will now have a longer six-month validity. Previously, approval letters issued to ICT applicants only had a three-month validity compared to the six-month validity issued to applicants in the Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC) sector. The longer validity period should now be sufficient time for EP applicants to obtain a reference visa (if required) and enter Malaysia to complete their EP endorsement. It should benefit employers and foreign nationals filing their EP applications with MDEC, and prevent cases where sponsoring companies had to refile their employee's EP application because the approval letter lapsed before the employee could enter Malaysia. The change is also seen as MDEC's way to standardize the validity of approval letters between the MSC and ICT sectors.
Papua New Guinea: End of Year Closures Require Early Application Submission – The PNG Labour Department has announced that it will be closed December 20, 2019-January 9, 2020. Employers must submit new work permit applications to the Labour Department by November 8, 2019, and work permit renewal applications by November 29, 2019, in order for the applications to be processed before the closure period.
Qatar: Visa-Free Entry in Effect for Nationals of Rwanda – The government of Qatar signed a bilateral agreement implementing visa-free entry for Rwandan nationals traveling to Qatar for tourism for up to 30 days with the possibility of extending their visa for another 30 days. In order to qualify for visa-free entry, Rwandan nationals must hold a passport with a minimum validity of six months from the date of entry and a return or onward ticket from Qatar. At this time, Qatari nationals still require a visa for entry into Rwanda; however, this may change in the near future based on the agreement.
United States: Latest PERM and PWD Processing Times – As of September 30, 2019, the Department of Labor (DOL) was conducting analyst review for PERM applications filed in July or earlier, and processing audited cases filed in February 2019 or earlier. DOL is working on standard reconsideration requests submitted in May 2019 or earlier.
As of September 31, 2019, DOL is issuing prevailing wage determinations for PERM and H-1B requests filed in May 2019. The agency has been processing PERM redeterminations requested in July 2019 and H-1B redeterminations requested in August 2019, respectively, and PERM center director reviews requested in June 2019. There are no pending H-1B center director reviews. These reports are available on the iCERT page.
This alert is for informational purposes only. If you have any questions, please contact the global immigration professional with whom you work at Fragomen.