Starting on June 8, 2022, Minnesotans who worked on the frontlines during the COVID-19 peacetime emergency can now apply for “Hero Pay” available through the state’s Frontline Worker Pay Program.
Remote and hybrid work are here to stay.
The impending cessation of LIBOR has been a hot topic on the minds of borrowers and lenders alike over the last few years.
Payments fraud is nothing new, and while the scams are evolving, the core procedures for detecting and preventing them haven’t changed as much as one might think.
On May 17, Governor Reynolds signed HF 2562 into law, with much of the law being immediately effective as of May 17, 2022. Companies that own, operate and manage manufactured home communities (MHCs or MHC landlords) in Iowa need to take note of this new law, as the law contains several amendments to Iowa Code Chapter 562B relating to manufactured home communities.
Western businesses with operations in Eastern Europe and other global companies have reacted to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine with shock, concern for their employees’ safety and well-being, and a scramble to comply with the raft of sanctions levied against Russia as fighting began. Likely among the lower priorities for businesses would be consideration of the environmental, social and governance (ESG) implications of the conflict. Nonetheless, Russia’s brazen military incursion does in fact raise critical considerations for the ESG programs of forward-thinking American businesses–namely the importance of the Rule of Law.
USCIS and DOL have released the joint temporary rule implementing the process for employers who have a certified ETA 9142B with an employment start date in the second half of fiscal year (FY) 2022 to apply for the 35,000 additional H-2B visa numbers which will be released on May 18, 2022.
On April 29, 2022, Gov. Tim Walz signed Frontline Worker Payments into law, enabling certain Minnesotans who worked on the frontlines during the COVID-19 emergency to apply for bonus pay. While details of the program, including the online application process and timeline, are still being finalized, below we offer a summary of the salient points of the bill.
- U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced a temporary final rule that increases to up to 540 days the automatic extension period for work authorization and Employment Authorization Documents available to certain EAD renewal applicants.
- U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced changes to case processing information available online.
- To reduce wait times, U.S. Customs and Border Protection is urging travelers who require a Form I-94, Arrival/Departure Record, to apply and prepay online before arriving at a U.S. land border.
- U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement announced an extension of Form I-9 flexibilities until October 31, 2022.
- The Department of Labor's Office of Foreign Labor Certification announced that the Foreign Labor Application Gateway is implementing technical changes to H-2B filing for the Form ETA-9142B submission process.
- The Department of Homeland Security posted Federal Register notices on temporary protected status for Sudan and Ukraine.
- U.S. Customs and Border Protection will continue to require non-U.S. travelers entering the United States via land ports of entry and ferry terminals at the U.S.-Mexico and U.S.-Canada borders to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and provide related proof of vaccination upon request.
- Several measures related to foreign students were announced.
- Rep. Zoe Lofgren (CA-19) introduced H.R. 7374, the "Jumpstart our Legal Immigration System Act."
In United Farm Workers v. DOL a federal district court vacated a 2020 final rule, "Adverse Effect Wage Rate Methodology for the Temporary Employment of H-2A Nonimmigrants in Non-Range Occupations in the United States," remanding it to the Department of Labor for further rulemaking consistent with the court's order.
- U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced that it is adopting a "risk-based" approach when waiving interviews for certain conditional permanent residents who have filed a petition to remove the conditions on their permanent resident status.
- Where Will It Rain? Project Opportunities Created by the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act
Savvy contractors can position themselves to win future projects by defining which types of funded projects are most likely to offer contracting opportunities and then following the flow of federal money into those projects.
- U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced that it has updated its policy manual, effective immediately, to align existing guidance on certain first preference immigrants with a recent manual update relating to nonimmigrants of extraordinary ability.
- Agencies began issuing Form I-94, Arrival-Departure records, with new Class of Admission codes for certain E and L nonimmigrant dependent spouses who are employment authorized based on their status.
- E-Verify announced in an email sent March 21, 2022, that users can now close a case from the document upload page in E‑Verify by providing one of the following reasons.
- The Department of Homeland Security announced that beginning May 1, 2022, it is ending the COVID-19 temporary policy for List B identity documents.
- State Dept. Warns About Upcoming Availability of Employment Third Preference "Other Workers" NumbersThe Department of State notes in its Visa Bulletin for April 2022 that high number use in the employment third preference "Other Workers" category may necessitate the establishment of a worldwide final action date as early as June to hold number use within the maximum allowed under the fiscal year 2022 annual limit.
- U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services said that it is preparing some domestic offices to reopen and resume non-emergency public services on or after June 4, 2022.
- U.S. Customs and Border Protection is now issuing the Form I-94 (Arrival/Departure Record) electronically at land ports of entry.
- Rep. Zoe Lofgren (CA-19) introduced the "Jumpstart our Legal Immigration System Act," a bill that would recapture approximately 400,000 family- and employment-based visas, create an accelerated path to adjustment of status for those already in the United States, and provide additional funds to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to improve visa processing.
- U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced that it is adopting a "risk-based" approach when waiving interviews for certain conditional permanent residents who have filed a petition to remove the conditions on their permanent resident status.
- U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced a "trio" of efforts, including setting new agency-wide backlog reduction goals, expanding premium processing, and working to improve timely access to employment authorization documents.
- U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services released several updates related to the fiscal year 2023 H-1B cap season.
- In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services is once again extending certain flexibilities through July 25, 2022, to assist applicants, petitioners, and requestors.
- The Department of Homeland Security invites public comments on its proposed extension and revisions to Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification, before it expires on October 31, 2022.
- U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced that it will dispose of E‑Verify records that are more than 10 years old; E-Verify employers have until May 5, 2022, to download case information.
- Starting April 11, 2022, U.S. citizens will be able to select "X" as their gender marker on their U.S. passport applications.
- Effective January 1, 2022, Mexico joined the list of countries that require companies (including those owed by foreigners), trusts, other legal vehicles, financial institutions and others to gather, maintain, update and, if requested by Mexico’s Tax Administration Service, provide information about controlling beneficiaries (also called beneficial owners or ultimate beneficiaries).
The Departments of Treasury and Commerce have recently announced new sanctions targeting certain entities and individuals in Russia and Belarus in response to their governments’ invasion of Ukraine.
Home improvement projects often end with disputes between the owner and contractor regarding the quality of the work done and the amount due the contractor.
In reaction to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the United States has steadily intensified sanctions focused on Russia and certain regions of Ukraine.
In addition to the economic steps taken to punish Russia for its invasion of Ukraine, the U.S. government’s actions have now expanded to the patent world, which will ultimately impact U.S. companies with Russian patents.
The Department of Homeland Security announced the designation of Ukraine for Temporary Protected Status for 18 months.
- The Department of State announced on March 1, 2022, that the U.S. Mission to Ukraine is not currently offering visa services.
The Department of State released information for U.S. citizens in Ukraine, including an online form to enable communication with U.S. citizens, telephone numbers for immediate assistance and advice and tips.
- The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2022, an omnibus spending bill passed by Congress and signed by President Biden, reauthorizes the EB-5 regional center program for five years, among other things.
- U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services recently released statistics on the H-1B cap registration process.
- U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced that it received a sufficient number of petitions needed to reach the congressionally mandated 65,000 H-1B visa regular cap and the 20,000 H-1B visa U.S. advanced degree exemption.
- U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced that it received enough petitions to meet the congressionally mandated H-2B cap for the second half of fiscal year 2022.
- U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services recently clarified Form I‑9 guidance related to Native American Tribal documents in M‑274, Handbook for Employers.
- USCIS No Longer Accepts Single Combined Payments on Certain Forms Filed With H-1B or H-1B1 PetitionsU.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced that for all H-1B and H-1B1 petitions received on or after April 1, 2022, USCIS will no longer accept a single, combined fee payment when Forms I-539, I-765 or I-824 are filed together with an H-1B or H-1B1 petition.
- U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services is encouraging eligible applicants to consider requesting to transfer the underlying basis of their adjustment of status applications to the first or second employment-based preference categories.
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