Final Rule Published For Some Employment-Based Immigrant, Non-Immigrant Visa Programs

Houston, TX (Law Firm Newswire) January 23, 2017 – United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) published its final rule modernizing and improving aspects of non-immigrant and immigrant employment visa programs.

According to the USCIS regulations have been amended allowing U.S. companies to hire/retain some categories of foreign workers — the beneficiaries of approved employment-based immigrant visa petitions — waiting to become legal permanent residents. The new rule went into effect on January 17, 2017.

Some of the amendments to regulations include:

· Better enabling U.S. companies to hire/retain high-skilled individuals who are beneficiaries of approved employment-based immigrant visa petitions. (Form I-140 petitions)

· Providing more job flexibility/stability to high-skilled workers by increasing the ability to pursue careers by changing employers, positions, taking promotions and pursuing other work.

· Allowing a 60-day grace period during each authorized validity period for some high-skilled non-immigrant workers when a job ends before the completion of an authorized validity period. This allows workers to find new jobs and extends their non-immigrant status.

· Improving/clarifying practices/policies relating to sections of the American Competitiveness in the Twenty-First Century Act (ACTFC) and the American Competitiveness and Workforce Improvement Act (ACWIA) for some foreign workers, allowing USCIS greater consistency in adjudication.

· Clarify when applicants may keep priority dates when applying for adjustment of status to lawful permanent resident.

· Improving job portability for some beneficiaries of approved Form I-140 petitions by asserting petition validity in some circumstances despite an employer withdrawing an approved petition or a business shut down.

· Automatically extending authorization/validity of Form I-766s for certain individuals who renewed their forms on time.

“There are a number of other clarifications that may be of interest to employment-based non-immigrants and immigrants,” added respected Huston immigration attorney, Annie Banerjee. “If you want to check the latest updates, visit www.uscis.gov. If you have questions about how the latest rule applies to your current situation, my door is open to you.”

Learn more at http://www.visatous.com Law Offices of Annie Banerjee 131 Brooks Street, Suite #300 Sugar Land, Texas 77478 Phone: (281) 242-9139