PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - DOL’s Guidance on Continued COVID-19 Timeframe Relief
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - COVID-19 Edition - Deadline Extensions Impacting HIPAA, COBRA and ERISA
What's Next for the Paycheck Protection Program? by Lindsey Berwick and John Wittenberg
If you have been following immigration news and are wondering how changes in Washington might affect your workforce, you are not alone. Senate Joint Resolution 8 (S.J. Res. 8) in the 119th Congress aims to undo a USCIS...more
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced a permanent increase in the automatic extension period for certain Employment Authorization Documents (EADs) up to 540 days. The final rule will take effect on January 13,...more
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has confirmed that it will automatically extend the validity of permanent resident cards (green cards) for lawful permanent residents who have filed Form I-90, Application to...more
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced a temporary final rule to increase the automatic extension period for Employment Authorization Documents (EADs) for certain renewal categories from 180 days to up to...more
Good news for those applying for or with pending Employment Authorization Document (EAD) renewals. DHS is temporarily reinstituting its 540-day automatic extension of work authorization for eligible individuals....more
UPDATE: Employers should be advised that USCIS has extended the H-1B CAP registration period for FY2025. The registration period was initially set to close at 12:00 pm EST on March 22, 2024, but has now been extended to 12:00...more
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has extended the agency’s deadline to register candidates for the fiscal year (FY) 2025 H-1B cap lottery, providing additional time for companies and attorneys to complete the...more
USCIS announced the extension and redesignation of Syria for Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for 18 months from April 1, 2024, to Sept. 30, 2025. The redesignation is based on the continuing civil war and the accompanying...more
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has updated its policy manual to clarify the circumstances under which the agency, in its discretion, may forgive a failure to timely file a nonimmigrant extension of stay or...more
On September 8, 2023, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced it was extending the re-registration period for beneficiaries of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) under the designations of El Salvador, Haiti,...more
Maryland health care employers and J-1 physicians who commit to serve the underserved in Maryland and who missed Conrad 30 waiver application deadline Dec. 1 are in luck: The Maryland Department of Health (MDH) has reopened...more
On September 27, 2023, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) issued an update to the USCIS Policy Manual to increase the maximum validity period to five years for initial and renewal Employment Authorization...more
By the end of October, a temporary rule that has been allowing certain foreign nationals to receive an increased period of automatically extended authorization to work in the United States for the past year will expire – and...more
On July 12, 2023, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) added eight fields of study to the Designated Degree Program List qualifying F-1 students to secure a STEM OPT (science, technology, engineering, mathematics...more
On May 5, 2023, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that the previously issued COVID-19 temporary flexibilities allowing for the virtual review of employees’ Form I-9 documents for the Form I-9...more
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is ending employers’ ability to remotely inspect I-9 documents on July 31, 2023. Employers will have an additional 30 days, until August...more
On April 19, 2023, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that the temporary suspension of the biometrics requirement for certain individuals filing Form I-539, Application to Extend/Change Nonimmigrant...more
On March 23, 2023, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that COVID-19–related deadline extensions for responses to agency notices or requests, such as Requests for Evidence and Notices of Intent to...more
USCIS has proposed raising its filing fees – and the burden of those increased fees will fall primarily on employers large and small. For example, the filing fee for an H-1B visa would be raised by 70% from $460 to $780....more
USCIS is extending the validity of conditional permanent residence cards, or green cards, for 48 months beyond the card’s expiration date. The move is in response to the long processing delays for those filing petitions to...more
USCIS has recently announced important immigration policies involving COVID-19, H-4 and L-2 applications, EB-1 and EB-2 Form 1-140 petitions, F-1 students, and permanent resident cards (“green cards”)....more
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) again extended certain COVID-19-related flexibilities, this time through March 23, 2023. However, USCIS anticipates that this will be the final extension for these...more
On January 24, 2023 U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced another extension of certain COVID-19-related flexibilities, now through March 23, 2023. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) originally...more
On December 12, 2022, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that it would automatically extend the validity of permanent resident cards (green cards) for lawful permanent residents (LPRs) who have...more
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has extended the temporary waiver of the requirement that a civil surgeon’s signature on Form I-693, Report of Medical Examination and Vaccination Record, be dated no...more