Weekly Immigration Update: March 8–14, 2024

France, March 13, 2024  
Rules Related to Tax for Hiring Foreign Workers Relaxed

The government has relaxed the rules related to the tax paid by French companies hiring foreign nationals from outside the European Union/European Economic Area/Switzerland. Specifically:

• Employers of French residence permit holders (who are exempt from work authorization) no longer need to pay the foreign worker tax for these workers; and
• Employers subject to the tax only need to pay it once annually, whereas previously, they needed to pay an invoice sent by the General Directorate of Public Finance after each hire.

This measure is part of an effort to streamline the immigration process and ease the process for French employers seeking to attract and hire foreign talent.

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Hungary, March 13, 2024
New Immigration Laws Effective March 1, 2024

• The Hungarian government introduced significant changes to its immigration system, with key changes implemented on March 1, 2024, including:
  • The end of the ‘single permit’ and the introduction of multiple new permit types, including a new ‘guest worker’ permit which is more restrictive in its scope and rights;
  • The introduction of the ‘Hungarian Card’ – a domestic ‘highly-skilled worker’ immigration pathway; and
  • Stricter notification rules for employers.
• While the law was being implemented, residence and settlement permits expiring during the temporary suspension of application processing were automatically extended until April 30, 2024. Processing has since resumed as of March 1, 2024.
• These reforms are likely to make it harder for employers to source and retain low-skilled workers (which is part of a broader government strategy of protecting local workers); while, conversely, providing relaxed or new pathways for sourcing highly-skilled talent, especially in the engineering or information and technology sectors.

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United States, March 8, 2024
April 2024 Visa Bulletin: Most Employment-Based (EB) Categories Will Advance, But State Dept. Projects Little to No Movement in EB Categories in Coming Months

• The EB-1 China Final Action Date will advance by six weeks to September 1, 2022, and the EB-1 India Final Action Date will advance by five months to March 1, 2021.
• The EB-2 Final Action Date for all countries except India and China will advance by seven weeks, to January 15, 2023. China will advance by one month to February 1, 2020, and India will advance by six weeks to April 15, 2012.
• The EB-3 Professional/Skilled Worker Final Action Dates for China will remain the same at September 1, 2020. India will move forward by six weeks to August 15, 2012. The rest of the world will advance by two and a half months to November 22, 2022.
• USCIS will honor Final Action Dates for employment-based categories in April.
• Looking ahead, the State Department projects little to no priority date movement in employment-based categories for the remainder of FY 2024, which ends on September 30, 2024.

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