Legal Updates Archive

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has launched a new self-service tool allowing benefit requestors, and their attorneys and accredited representatives, to reschedule most biometric services appointments before the date of the appointment. USCIS also clarified its guidance on policies and procedures related to "good cause" in this context.

On July 7, 2023, the Department of Homeland Security announced the implementation of new family reunification parole processes for eligible nationals of Colombia, El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras. DHS said the new processes are for "nationals from those countries whose family members are U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents and who have received approval to join their family in the United States.

The Department of Homeland Security has amended the DHS STEM Designated Degree Program List by adding eight qualifying fields of study and a corresponding Department of Education Classification of Instructional Programs code for each. No CIP codes from the existing list are being removed.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced on July 12, 2023, that it is expanding myProgress (formerly known as personalized processing times) to Form I-765, Application for Employment Authorization, and Form I-131, Application for Travel Document. MyProgress is also available for applicants with a USCIS online account who file Form I-90, Application to Replace Permanent Resident Card, among others.

The Department of Labor's Office of Foreign Labor Certification has issued a set of Frequently Asked Questions regarding the final rule, "Adverse Effect Wage Rate Methodology for the Temporary Employment of H-2A Nonimmigrants in Non-Range Occupations in the United States," which was published on February 28, 2023.

On July 31, 2023, USCIS announced the second selection process is complete and all prospective petitioners with selected registrations have been notified that they are eligible to file an H-1B cap-subject petition for the beneficiary.

The Office of the Citizenship and Immigration Services Ombudsman's Annual Report for 2023 examines the effects of backlogs and additional challenges facing the agency. It recommends actions USCIS can take to address the human consequences and detrimental effects on the agency of backlogs.

The Department of State recently clarified the Final Action Date retrogression applicable to employment-based third preference visa applicants chargeable to India, effective with the July 2023 Visa Bulletin, and explained the reason for prorating India EB-3 visas.

The Department of State's Visa Bulletin for August includes information on establishment of a Worldwide EB-1 final action date; retrogression in the EB-1 category for India; and retrogression in the EB-3 category for Rest of World countries, Mexico and Philippines.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced on July 18, 2023, that it is updating its visa availability approach for managing the inventory of Form I-526, Immigrant Petition by Alien Investor.

Residential landlords in Iowa and other parts of the country continue to struggle with the inconsistency and confusion among state courts regarding whether the additional 30-day notice to vacate requirement of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act of 2020 is still applicable.

January 1 is New Year’s Day, and it is also the opening of the H-2B filing season for employers seeking to sponsor H-2B workers on April 1, 2024, or later. Due to a steady labor shortage for essential workers, there has been exponential growth in the use of the H-2B visa. 

On July 21, 2023, the Department of Homeland Security announced a new I-9 rule which will allow employers enrolled in E-Verify and in good standing an alternative option to remotely prepare Form I-9s for new hires.

The recently concluded Minnesota legislative session resulted in a historical amount of legislation across a variety of topics. One of these was a residential landlord-tenant law. The legislature enacted a number of tenant-friendly provisions, most of which will take effect on January 1, 2024. 

Department of State has recently announced in the August 2023 Visa Bulletin that India will be subject to a final action cutoff date of January 1, 2012, within the Employment Based First Preference category (EB-1), having reached their limit for FY-2023.

The Department of State announced on May 30, 2023 that for the Diversity Visa program for fiscal year 2024 and onward, selectees only need initially to submit to the Kentucky Consular Center the DS-260 immigrant visa application form for themselves and any accompanying family members.

USCIS said it has received many duplicate filings of Form I-134A, Online Request to be a Supporter and Declaration of Financial Support, and related inquiries. Some potential supporters are filing multiple Forms I-134A for the same beneficiary. "This adds to our workload, which delays processing," USCIS said, noting that potential supporters who wish to support more than one beneficiary must file one Form I-134A for each beneficiary.

The Department of State notes that due to high demand, retrogressions have been necessary for the EB-3 category for India, Mexico, Philippines and Rest of World.

The Department of Homeland Security has released updated guidance on parole periods and employment authorization for certain Afghan and Ukrainian parolees.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced on June 9, 2023, that certain individuals requesting parole based on urgent humanitarian reasons or significant public benefit can file Form I-131, Application for Travel Document, online.

At a hearing on June 7, 2023, of the House Subcommittee on Oversight and Accountability, Rena Bitter, Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of Consular Affairs, said the Bureau and the Department of State have taken "extraordinary measures" to meet current U.S. passport and visa demand.

The Department of Homeland Security has rescinded the Trump administration's terminations of the temporary protected status designations for El Salvador, Honduras, Nepal and Nicaragua, and extended TPS for these countries for 18 months.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has released policy guidance on the eligibility criteria for initial and renewal applications for an Employment Authorization Document in compelling circumstances.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services is expanding premium processing for applicants filing Form I‑539, Application to Extend/Change Nonimmigrant Status, and seeking a change of status to F‑1, F‑2, M‑1, M‑2, J‑1 or J‑2 nonimmigrant status. Online filing of Form I-907, Request for Premium Processing Service, will also be available for these applicants. This phase of premium processing service is only available for change-of-status requests. Premium processing is not available for individuals seeking an extension of stay in M-1 or M-2 status.

Effective July 1, 2023, the Department of Labor's Employment and Training Administration is updating the adverse effect wage rates under the H‑2A temporary agricultural employment program that apply to a limited set of H‑2A job opportunities for which the AEWR is determined using the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has updated policy guidance regarding the J visa classification, including USCIS's role in the adjudication of waivers of the two-year foreign residence requirement and change-of-status requests.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's online change-of-address form for noncitizens is now fully operational, ICE announced on June 13, 2023. The new system gives noncitizens the option to update their information online instead of doing so by phone or in person.

Employers will have an additional 30 days to comply with Form I-9 requirements after COVID-19 flexibilities sunset on July 31, 2023, according to the Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Following the Department of Homeland Security's recent announcement that it was rescinding the Trump administration's terminations of the temporary protected status designations for El Salvador, Honduras, Nepal and Nicaragua, and reinstating and extending TPS for these countries for 18 months, DHS has published notices for each country in the Federal Register providing the eligibility criteria, timelines, and procedures necessary for current beneficiaries to re-register for TPS and renew their employment authorization documents.

Clients often contact us seeking to raise capital for or invest in North Dakota farm and ranch land. North Dakota’s previously strict corporate farming law made this a complicated process. Things have changed. In the recently completed 2023 legislative session, North Dakota lawmakers added a substantial new exemption for livestock operations, allowing significant new direct capital investment into the state.

The Minnesota legislature got busy this year. Changes to Minnesota’s pregnancy and parenting leave, lactation and pregnancy accommodations, and city minimum wages, as well as marijuana legalization, a noncompete ban, and new prohibitions on so-called captive audience meetings become effective imminently. Employers would be wise to pay close attention to implementation dates for these laws.

What was intended to be a short-term, soon-to-be-supplanted directive, the interim policy remains in place, and the NCAA has offered little in the way of additional guidance since its adoption. As a result, NIL activity has skyrocketed across its hundreds of member institutions with participating parties operating in an environment akin to “The Wild West,” largely free of significant oversight and clear boundaries.

On May 26, 2023, Minnesota's Governor Walz approved a bill (HF 402) that requires advance notice to the attorney general and commissioner of health of certain health care transactions and prohibits anticompetitive transactions. 

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement announced on May 4, 2023, that employers will have 30 days to comply with Form I-9, Employment Authorization Verification, requirements after the COVID-19 flexibilities sunset on July 31, 2023.

On May 3, 2023, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced the extension and expansion of employment authorization under Deferred Enforced Departure for eligible Hong Kong residents.

As of May 12, 2023, COVID-19 vaccines will no longer be required for international travelers entering the United States via air, land ports of entry, and ferry terminals. The Biden administration said the rescission of these travel restrictions were in alignment with the end of the Public Health Emergency on May 11, 2023.

As of May 6, 2023, Diversity Visa entrants can check their status online at Entrant Status Check, using their unique confirmation number, to see if their entry was selected.

The Department of State’s (DOS) Visa Bulletin for June 2023 reports a retrogression for the India EB-5 category and a likely retrogression soon for the India EB-3 category.

The Department of Labor’s Office of Foreign Labor Certification is postponing to June 1, 2023, the date for filers to begin submitting the new, revised applications for permanent employment certification and CW-1 applications for temporary employment certification in the Foreign Labor Application Gateway system.

The Office of the Citizenship and Immigration Services Ombudsman released tips on how F-1 students seeking Optional Practical Training can avoid delays in processing the Form I-765, Application for Employment Authorization.

On May 16, 2023, the Departments of Homeland Security and Justice published a final rule released on May 10, 2023, “Circumvention of Lawful Pathways,” which was effective May 11, 2023. 

On May 18, 2023, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced an updated process for granting advance travel authorization for up to 30,000 noncitizen Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans each month to come to the United States to seek parole on a case-by-case basis.

The Department of Labor’s Office of Foreign Labor Certification has released public disclosure data and selected program statistics, and it has updated its H-2B labor recruiter list.

FL 1718, effective July 1, 2023, was signed into law by Gov. Ron DeSantis.

On May 26, 2023, the Department of Labor’s Office of Foreign Labor Certification announced Form ETA 9089 case submission for PERM in the Foreign Labor Application Gateway and related technical guidance.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement issued a broadcast message to all Student and Exchange Visitor Information System users to remind them about updated visa issuance guidance and a fee increase.

On May 25, 2023, the Supreme Court of the United States issued a decision in Sackett v. Environmental Protection Agency, significantly contracting the jurisdictional reach of the federal Clean Water Act (CWA) over wetlands. The majority decision is the most consequential CWA decision in decades, one likely to exclude millions of acres of formerly jurisdictional wetlands from federal regulation.

The Bank Term Funding Program has been initiated by the Federal Reserve and the FDIC to provide liquidity to financial institutions. Under the program, banks can borrow from the applicable Federal Reserve Bank with any collateral eligible for purchase by the Federal Reserve Bank so long as the collateral was owned by the bank on March 12, 2023.

With conversion schedules for core processing vendors booking out increasingly further, two-step bank mergers are becoming increasingly common. Under this scheme, the “legal merge” takes place on the closing date, but the “operational merge” doesn’t take place until sometime post-closing. While this might seem like a great solution, banks considering a two-step merger must take into account and carefully plan for a lengthy list of legal, operational, and regulatory issues.

Current Minnesota law does not provide lenders, owners, and junior creditors with much guidance regarding surpluses that result from a bid at a mortgage foreclosure sale of more than the amount due on the mortgage. Historically, Minnesota case law has provided some guidance on these issues, but a bill recently introduced in the Minnesota House would provide more guidance on issues surrounding surpluses.