Weekly Immigration Update: June 9–15, 2023

United States, June 15, 2023
Immigration Agencies Announce Their Spring 2023 Regulatory Plans

• The Department of Labor has significantly postponed its plan to propose increases in prevailing wages for the H-1B, PERM, and other wage-protected immigration programs; the proposal is now on the agency’s long-term agenda, slated for June 2024.
• The Department of Homeland Security continues to pursue proposed modernization of the H-1B program and changes to the adjustment of status process.
• U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has delayed to March 2024 the publication of a final rule that would increase filing fees for immigration benefit applications and petitions.

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United States, June 14, 2023
DHS Extends Temporary Protected Status for El Salvador, Honduras, Nepal, and Nicaragua; Announces Withdrawal of TPS Terminations

• The Department of Homeland Security has announced an 18-month extension of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for El Salvador, Honduras, Nepal, and Nicaragua.
• Details on applying for Temporary Protected Status under the extension will be announced in upcoming Federal Register notices.
• On Tuesday, the Department of Homeland Security said that it is rescinding the prior administration’s termination of TPS for El Salvador, Honduras, Nepal, and Nicaragua.

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Canada, June 13, 2023
New Immigration Streams for Refugees and Displaced Persons

• The government of Canada has opened a new Federal Pathway for permanent residence with two immigration streams for skilled refugees and other displaced individuals under the Economic Mobility Pathways Pilot.
• One stream is tailored to candidates who have a job offer from a Canadian employer and the second stream is available to highly skilled refugees without job offers.
• Under the new Federal Pathway, Canadian employers can hire candidates who qualify to fill a wide range of in-demand jobs, including nurse aides, personal support workers, long-term care aides, software engineers, web designers, mechanical and electrical engineers and technicians, logistics and warehouse workers, tourism and hospitality workers, and truck and delivery service drivers.
• The new pathway provides a streamlined application process resulting in shorter processing times.

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Australia, June 13, 2023
New Labour Market Testing Exemption for UK Citizens and Permanent Residents

• The Australian government has implemented the previously-announced labour market testing requirement exemption for UK citizens and permanent residents seeking to work in Australia.
• Employers seeking to hire UK citizens and permanent residents no longer need to complete a labour market test before applying for Temporary Skill Shortage (Subclass 482) Work Visas in Australia.
• Eligible applicants benefit from a streamlined process, saving approximately one to two months in the overall visa process due to the omission of the labour market testing requirement.

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United States, June 12, 2023
USCIS Expands Premium Processing Eligibility to Applicants Seeking to Change Status to F, M, or J

• Starting June 13, USCIS will accept Form I-907 premium processing requests for those who have a pending Form I-539 application to change into F, M, or J status.
• Starting June 26, the agency will accept premium processing requests from those seeking to change into F, M, or J status when their Form I-907 is filed concurrently with the Form I-539 application.
• The Form I-907 fee for these newly eligible categories is $1,750, and the premium processing timeframe is 30 calendar days after USCIS receives all prerequisites for the adjudication, including biometrics.
• USCIS will accept both online and paper filings of Form I-907 for these applications as long as the Form I-907 submission method matches the Form I-539 submission method.

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United States, June 12, 2023
H-1B Cap Petition Filing Period Closes June 30

• Employers have just a few more weeks to file petitions for foreign nationals selected in the FY 2024 H-1B cap lottery. USCIS must receive all cap petitions by June 30, 2023.
• It is not yet known whether USCIS will conduct a second lottery for cap employment in FY 2024. The agency is unlikely to announce a second lottery before July at the earliest, after it determines whether a sufficient number of H-1B cap petitions were filed by June 30 to meet the annual limit of 85,000.

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Greece, June 9, 2023
Forthcoming Law to Create Investor Residence Permit and Streamline Immigration Processes

A new law that goes into effect in January 2024 will:

• Codify the electronic submission and issuance of residence permits and renewals;
• Eliminate the residence permit for managerial positions;
• Create an Investor Residence Permit; and
• Codify the implementation of the EU Blue Card in Greece.

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United States, June 9, 2023
July 2023 Visa Bulletin Update: USCIS to Honor Final Action Dates for Employment-Based Categories

Next month, USCIS will accept employment-based adjustment of status applications from foreign nationals with a priority date that is earlier than the Final Action Dates listed in the State Department’s July 2023 Visa Bulletin.

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