Week in Review: 3/7 - 3/15

Immigration News & Notes

USCIS Streamlines Process for Refugee EAD: USCIS has begun implementing a streamlined process for?Form I-765, Application for Employment Authorization , to provide Employment Authorization Documents (EADs) more efficiently to eligible?refugees after they are admitted into the United States. This streamlined process shortens the wait time for an EAD to approximately 30 days instead of several months.

USCIS Online Feedback: USCIS is seeking feedback from applicants who have tracked the progress of a form they have filed using USCIS online tools, including Case Processing Times , Case Status Online or myProgress within their USCIS online account. Learn more?

?? Reminder! New Forms: USCIS has issued a reminder that, effective April 1, 2024, applicants must use new editions of the following forms:

• Form I-129, Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker ;
• Form I-129 CW, Petition for a CNMI-Only Nonimmigrant Transitional Worker;
• Form I-140, Immigrant Petition for Alien Workers ;
• Form I-600, Petition to Classify Orphan as an Immediate Relative ; and
• Form I-600A, Application for Advance Processing of an Orphan Petition , and the form’s supplements.

Although USCIS usually provides a grace period when publishing new forms, the forms listed above include changes necessary to administer the new fees.

Erickson Immigration Group recorded an informative session on the latest in US immigration and the upcoming election. Our guests looked at the impact of the recent policy and procedural changes on employers and foreign nationals, and what to expect as we look ahead to the 2024 Presidential Election and how employers and foreign nationals can prepare in the months leading up to it.

Watch: Recorded Presentation ?

Speakers

• Maunica Sthanki, Chief Strategist of Sthanki Strategies & former Counsel, Subcommittee on Immigration and Border Security
• Justin Parsons, Erickson Immigration Group Partner & Shareholder
• Andy Finkle, Erickson Immigration Group Senior Managing Attorney
• Kainoa Bostock, Erickson Immigration Group Associate Attorney

Global Immigration News & Notes

New Zealand: Immigration New Zealand (INZ) has announced that phase 2 updates have been made to the?List of Qualifications Exempt from Assessment (LQEA) and will come into effect from March 25, 2024. Learn more?

Poland: On February 9, 2024, Statistics Poland announced that the average wage in the national economy in 2023 rose to PLN 7155.48. This has therefore also increased the minimum salary threshold for foreign nationals applying for an EU Blue Card, by PLN 1214, to PLN 10,733.22 per month.

• The new threshold applies to all applications received since January 1, 2024, including those submitted before February 9, 2024.?
• Applications submitted between January 1 and February 9, 2024, should be updated with an appropriate salary increase, if necessary.
• The threshold increase does not affect EU Blue Cards that have been issued.

United Arab Emirates: The UAE government has launched the “Work Bundle” initiative to facilitate employee residency procedures and work permits in private sector companies. The initiative will initially be implemented in Dubai and then gradually expanded to include other emirates. Learn more?

United Kingdom: On March 14, 2024, the UK Home Secretary presented to Parliament a Statement of Changes to the Immigration Rules which implements several previously announced changes to the skilled worker and partner routes, and which comes into effect on April 4, 2024. Learn more?

What We’re Reading

US Economy Needs More Legal Immigration, Not Less? The Editors | Bloomberg Government, 03/11/24

How immigration is driving U.S. job growth Neil Irwin and Courtenay Brown | Axios, 03/13/24

US immigration fillip shifts economy's trajectory Mike Dolan | Reuters, 03/13/24

Biden Is Playing Right Into the GOP’s Hands on Immigration Anat Shenker-Osorio | Rolling Stone, 03/10/24

Trump's Immigration Plan Recalls Dark US Past Patricia Lopez | Bloomberg Government, 03/10/24

What We’re Listening To

In an interview recorded on Wednesday, February 21, 2024, Immigration Nerds host Lauren Clarke talked to David J. Bier, Associate Director of Immigration Studies at the Cato Institute about the state of America’s legal immigration system.

Mr. Bier recently testified at a hearing before the Committee on Oversight and Accountability in the United States House of Representatives. In that testimony and on this episode of the Immigration Nerds, Bier discusses the the parole sponsorship program, illegal encounters at the border, and his analysis of what legal immigration should look like in the United States.