Business Immigration in a Minute by Honigman LLP

• The Department of State (“DOS”) recently released the November 2022 Visa Bulletin. In addition to the final action dates and dates for filing charts for employment-based immigrant visa and adjustment of status cases, it contains notes on the diversity visa lottery and visa availability in the EB-2 category. Notably, the DOS states that it may need to implement a worldwide cut-off date for EB-2 at some point in the coming months to keep immigrant visa number use in this category within the FY 2023 limits. The EB-2 and EB-3 China and India final action dates and dates for filing remain unchanged in November. Further, all first employment-based preference countries of chargeability remain current. For November 2022, employment-based applicants must use the dates for filing chart for adjustment of status applications.
  
  
• U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) extended the temporary waiver of the “60-day rule” requiring that the civil surgeon’s signature on a valid Form I-693 be dated no more than 60 days before the applicant files the application for the underlying immigration benefit. The waiver was originally effective until September 30, 2022, but USCIS has extended it until March 31, 2023 to further ease processing delays and associated difficulties in timely completing the medical examination.
  
  

• U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement announced an extension of the flexibilities in rules related to Form I-9 compliance and inspection that were granted in 2020. Due to the continued precautions related to COVID-19, the Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”) has extended this policy until July 31, 2023. 
  
  

• The U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) recently updated its processing times for permanent labor certification (“PERM”) applications and prevailing wage requests. As of September 30, 2022, DOL is adjudicating ETA 9089 PERM applications filed in or before February 2022 and processing PERM prevailing wage requests filed in or before January 2022.
  
  

• Effective September 26, 2022, USCIS automatically extended the validity of green cards from 12 months to 24 months for lawful permanent residents who file Form I-90, Application to Replace Permanent Resident Card. USCIS is also printing amended receipt notices for individuals with pending Forms I-90. These receipt notices can be presented with an expired green card as evidence of continued status.
  
  
• USCIS posted an announcement that employers should continue to use the Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification, after its expiration date on October 31, 2022 until further notice. DHS will publish a Federal Register notice to announce the new version of the form once it is available.

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