Sweeping New Immigration Regulations for Highly Skilled Workers: Implications for Employers and Foreign Workers

Description

The Department of Homeland Security’s new immigration regulations, which became effective Jan. 17, 2017, will improve U.S. employers’ ability to hire and retain highly skilled foreign workers who are currently working under employment-based immigrant visa petitions while awaiting permanent status.

The regs will also enable these workers to seek promotions, accept lateral positions, change employers, or pursue other employment options. The regs impact employers of non-immigrants in the H-1B, H-1B1, E-1, E-2, E-3, L-1, O-1, P and TN categories, as well as EB-1, EB-2 and EB-3 immigrants and their dependents.

The most significant changes in the new regs are 60-day grace periods for certain non-immigrants after employment has ceased, a 180-day automatic extension of work eligibility for workers that timely file extensions of their work authorization cards, a consistent process for applying the green card “portability rule,” and a new discretionary work authorization category for green card applicants adversely impacted by immigrant visa backlogs. The regulations also clarify what an employer must show to be considered “exempt” from the yearly H-1B quota.

Attorneys advising employers of foreign workers must fully understand the scope and impact of the regs to properly advise their clients.

Listen as our authoritative panel examines the new regulations, identifying key provisions and important changes. The panel will analyze who will be impacted—and how—and steps counsel and their clients should take in the wake of the new regulations.