Weekly Immigration Update: July 28–August 3, 2023

United States, August 2, 2023
DHS Issues New Edition of Form I-9 As New Remote Verification Option Takes Effect for E-Verify Employers

• The new edition of Form I-9, dated August 1, 2023, will become mandatory for all employers on November 1, 2023.
• Through October 31, 2023, employers may continue to use the previous edition, dated October 21, 2019.
• The new form does not contain any substantive changes from the October 21, 2019 version. However, there are changes to how the form is organized and additional explanations along with references to USCIS resources on the I-9 process.
• The publication of this new form is designed to recognize a newly published rule that authorizes certain employers to use an alternative process to review Form I-9 documents remotely. This alternative process is available to some E-Verify employers in lieu of the general requirement for physical inspection of documents in the presence of the employee presenting the documents.

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Ireland, August 2, 2023
Naturalization Rules Relaxed

• Citizenship applicants (including minors) can now be outside Ireland for a total of 70 days for each of the years that they are relying upon to become eligible for citizenship, up from the previous six weeks per year.
• Applicants may also be permitted an additional 30 days outside Ireland (in each of these years) for specified exceptional circumstances.
• Minors born in Ireland, who did not qualify for citizenship at birth, can now apply for citizenship after three years of accumulated residence in Ireland, down from the previous five years.

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United States, August 1, 2023
USCIS Selects Over 77,000 Additional H-1B Cap Registrations in Second Lottery

• USCIS selected an additional 77,609 registrations in its recently completed second lottery drawing, bringing the total number of selections to date for FY 2024 to 188,400.
• As a result of the additional selections, the overall selection rate for eligible registrations has increased to 24.8%, from 14.6% after the first lottery.

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United States, August 1, 2023
USCIS Completes Second FY 2024 H-1B Cap Selection Process

• USCIS has completed the second FY 2024 H-1B cap registration lottery selection, and has notified employers of selection results. Employers will need to log into their H-1B cap registration accounts to learn which beneficiaries were selected.
• The petition filing period for H-1B cap selections in the second round is August 2 to October 31, 2023.

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