🎓Proposed Changes to Nonimmigrant Admissions Impacting Businesses
Unlike most nonimmigrant classifications, which are admitted for a fixed time period, aliens in the F (academic student), J (exchange visitor), and most I (representatives of foreign information media) classifications, with limited exceptions, are currently admitted into the United States for the period of time that they are complying with the terms and conditions of their nonimmigrant classification ("duration of status"). The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) proposes to amend its regulations by changing the admission period in the F, J, and I classifications from duration of status to an admission for a fixed time period.
Learn More⚖️Regulation Changes for Temporary Immigration Judges
This final rule aligns the regulatory requirements for candidates for Temporary Immigration Judge ("TIJ") appointments to mirror the regulatory requirements for permanent Immigration Judge ("IJ") appointments, thus allowing the Attorney General and Director of EOIR to select TIJs from a larger pool of well-qualified candidates. Additionally, the Department of Justice ("the Department" or "DOJ") is making various technical and non-substantive changes to its regulations.
Learn More🌍Visa Bond Pilot Program 2025
In this temporary final rule (TFR), the Department of State (the Department) announces the commencement of a 12-month long visa bond pilot program. Aliens applying for visas as temporary visitors for business or pleasure (B-1/B-2) and who are nationals of countries identified by the Department as having high visa overstay rates, where screening and vetting information is deemed deficient, or offering Citizenship by Investment, if the alien obtained citizenship with no residency requirement, may be subject to the pilot program. Consular officers may require covered nonimmigrant visa applicants to post a bond of up to $15,000 as a condition of visa issuance, as determined by the consular officers.
Learn More🌾Proposed Rule to Rescind H-2A Labor Regulation Requirements
The Department of Labor (Department or DOL) is proposing to amend its regulations governing the certification of agricultural labor or services to be performed by temporary foreign workers in H-2A nonimmigrant status (H-2A workers) and enforcement of the contractual obligations applicable to employers of such nonimmigrant workers. This notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM or proposed rule) that would rescind provisions contained within a final rule published by the Department on April 29, 2024, which adopted a number of unnecessary, burdensome, and costly requirements on employers. Specifically, these provisions include, but are not limited to, substantial new requirements associated with the material terms and conditions offered by employers to H-2A workers that are not commonly provided to other U.S. workers, including progressive discipline policies for cause-based employment terminations, anti-retaliation measures for certain workers engaged in self-organization and other concerted activities, and expanding the authority and scope for a State Workforce Agency (SWA) to discontinue employment services to employers, which prevents those employers from accessing the H-2A program, while eliminating employers' option to request a hearing prior to the SWA's final determination. Further, the final rule imposed extensive highly-sensitive data collection requirements on employers related to their use of foreign labor recruiters, including personal names and physical addresses abroad, as well as detailed personal information associated with all owners of the employers, operators of the place(s) of employment, and supervisor(s) and manager(s) of workers employed under the terms of the work contract, with very limited or no practical utility to the agency's statutory decision making. A brief summary of this rulemaking can be found at www.regulations.gov by searching by the RIN: 1205-AC25.
Learn More❌Rescission of Nondiscrimination Provisions Under Workforce Investment Act
The U.S. Department of Labor (the Department) is rescinding its regulations implementing the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (WIA) containing the nondiscrimination and equal-opportunity provisions of WIA. In 2014, Congress passed the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA), which repealed WIA and required the Secretary of Labor to transition any authority under WIA to the system created by WIOA. Therefore, the Department is taking this action to remove regulations for a program that is no longer operative.
Learn More⚖️New DHS Civil Penalties Framework for Immigration Violations
This interim final rule ("IFR") amends existing DHS and DOJ regulations. It provides exclusive DHS procedures for the issuance of civil monetary penalties under the Immigration and Nationality Act for aliens who fail to depart voluntarily during the voluntary departure period, willfully fail or refuse to depart after a final removal order and certain other proscribed activities, or are apprehended while improperly entering or attempting to enter the United States. The IFR also transfers the appeals process for these penalties from DOJ's Board of Immigration Appeals to DHS.
Learn More📉Treasury Direct Final Rule on Eliminating Unnecessary Regulations
Pursuant to an Executive order, the Department of the Treasury (Treasury) is conducting a review of existing regulations, with the goal of reducing regulatory burden by revoking or revising existing regulations that meet the criteria set forth in the Executive order. In support of that objective, this direct final rule streamlines titles 12 and 31 of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) by removing regulations that are no longer necessary or no longer have any current or future applicability.
Learn More⚖️Regulation Reduces Size of the Board of Immigration Appeals
This interim final rule ("IFR") amends the Department of Justice ("Department") regulations relating to the organization of the Board of Immigration Appeals ("Board" or "BIA") by reducing the Board to 15 members.
Learn More📄Update on Beneficial Ownership Reporting Requirements and Exemptions
FinCEN is adopting this interim final rule to narrow the existing beneficial ownership information (BOI) reporting requirements under the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA) to require only entities previously defined as "foreign reporting companies" to report BOI. Under this interim final rule, entities previously defined as "domestic reporting companies" are exempted from the reporting requirements and do not have to report BOI to FinCEN, or update or correct BOI previously reported to FinCEN. With limited exceptions, the interim final rule does not change the existing requirement for foreign reporting companies to file BOI reports, but it extends the deadline to file initial BOI reports, and to update or correct previously filed BOI reports, to 30 days from the date of this publication to give foreign reporting companies additional time to comply. However, the interim final rule exempts foreign reporting companies from having to report the BOI of any U.S. persons who are beneficial owners of the foreign reporting company and exempts U.S. persons from having to provide such information to any foreign reporting company for which they are a beneficial owner. FinCEN is accepting comments on this interim final rule. FinCEN will assess the exemptions, as appropriate, in light of those comments and intends to issue a final rule this year.
Learn More📋New Alien Registration Form and Compliance Requirements
This IFR amends DHS regulations to designate a new registration form for aliens to comply with statutory alien registration and fingerprinting provisions. Aliens who are subject to alien registration requirements of the Immigration and Nationality Act, as amended ("INA") who have not yet registered may use this registration form to satisfy their statutory obligations. This IFR also amends DHS regulations to designate additional documentation that may serve as evidence of alien registration.
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