Visa Lawyer Blog
In this post, we discuss the latest developments in U.S. immigration news.
As you may recall, back in September USCIS issued a proposed rule requiring petitioners filing H-1B cap-subject petitions to pay a $10 registration fee for each petition submitted to USCIS for the H-1B cap selection process, beginning with the H-1B fiscal year 2021 cap season.
Today, November 7, 2019 the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) published the final version of this rule which will become effective beginning December 9, 2019, although the $10 fee will not be required until registrations are submitted beginning with the fiscal year 2021 H-1B cap selection process.
The final rule is scheduled to be published in the Federal Register tomorrow November 8th. An unpublished version of the rule is available here.
Extension of Temporary Protected Status
On November 4, 2019, USCIS published a notice in the federal register announcing the automatic extension of TPS-related documentation for beneficiaries under the TPS designations for El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras, Nepal, Nicaragua, and Sudan.
TPS-related documentation for individuals from these countries will remain valid through January 4, 2021.
This automatic extension will apply to all TPS-related documentation (including Employment Authorization Cards) set to expire on the following dates:
- Beneficiaries under TPS designations for El Salvador, Haiti, and Sudan—January 2, 2020
- Beneficiaries under TPS designations for Honduras—January 5, 2020
- Beneficiaries under TPS designation for Nepal—March 20, 2020
A beneficiary under the TPS designation for any of these countries who has applied for a new EAD but who has not yet received his or her new EAD is covered by this automatic extension, provided that the EAD he or she possesses contains one of the expiration dates indicated above.
Proper Re-Registration
Current beneficiaries under the TPS designations for El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras, Nepal, Nicaragua, and Sudan do not need to pay a fee or file any application, including Application for Employment Authorization (Form I-765), to maintain their TPS benefits through January 4, 2021, provided that they have properly re-registered for TPS during either the most recent DHS-announced registration period for their country, or any applicable previous re-registration.
TPS beneficiaries who failed to re-register for TPS may still file an Application for Temporary Protected Status (Form I-821) upon a showing of good cause for failing to register on time.
What types of TPS-related documentation are automatically extended under this notice?
- Validity periods of Employment Authorization Cards (EADs)
- Validity periods of Forms I-94 Arrival/Departure Record
- Validity periods of Forms I-797
Employer Information
TPS individuals may show their automatically extended EADs to employers to demonstrate that their employment authorization cards remain valid and may also provide employers with the Federal Register Notice available here to explain that their TPS-related Documentation have been automatically extended through January 4, 2021.
For more information about this automatic extension please click here.