Update on USCIS Practice of Denying Pending Forms I-131 for Abandonment Due to International Travel
During the annual Office of the Citizenship and Immigration Services (CIS) Ombudsman Conference, USCIS Director L. Francis Cissna disclosed the agency’s intention to end the practice of denying pending Forms I-131, Application for Travel Document in situations where the applicant travels overseas. Though the director did not go so far as to disclose the exact date of the policy changes, Cissna indicated the impact the feedback received from the CIS Ombudsman and other stakeholders had upon his decision to cease the denials and the imminence of the policy change.
The American Alliance for Immigration Lawyers (AILA) was among those who submitted comments, requesting among other things that USCIS remove language from the Form I-131 instructions which considers an applicant’s departure from the United States prior to the document’s issuance to be abandoned. At a minimum, AILA requested USCIS restore a previous policy which exempted applicants travelling on valid nonimmigrant visas or approved advanced parole travel documents from the abandonment policy.
For more information, view the AILA announcement.
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DHS and DOL Propose Modernizing Recruitment Requirements for H-2B Employers to Protect U.S. Workers
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) worked in conjunction with the Department of Labor (DOL) to produce a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) which sought to augment the requirements for employers recruiting H-2B nonimmigrant workers, making it easier to hire U.S. workers to identify and fill the positions instead. Specifically, the proposed rule would mandate electronic advertisements for the positions be posted on the internet for a minimum of 14 days, a more modernized approach to the print newspaper advertisements currently required by regulations. DOL and DHS believe that such electronic postings on sites where the U.S. workers in the area of the job opportunity would frequent, when compared to the more primitive print method of advertisement is more practical and would promote U.S. workers learning of the opportunities.
For more information, view the USCIS announcement or read the NPRM published in the Federal Register.
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