In the Spring a young man's fancy lightly turns to thoughts of ... the semi-annual OMB Unified Regulatory Agenda. What new immigration actions might we find buried in this list of federal agency rulemaking plans that's hiding in plain sight? 1/ reginfo.gov/public/do/eAge…
Let's start with @DHSgov & new plans that didn't appear in the prior regulatory agenda last fall. (These are all draft rules that haven't been published yet, and won't take effect for months or years, after a full public notice-and-comment process.) 2/ reginfo.gov/public/do/eAge…
Here's a new proposal to eliminate the requirement that @USCIS has 30 days to process an #asylum applicant's request for a work permit. 3/
reginfo.gov/public/do/eAge…
This is also new: Making it mandatory to use electronic filing (not paper-based applications) for green card renewals (I-90) and naturalization (N-400), plus other @USCIS forms down the road. 4/
reginfo.gov/public/do/eAge…
Meanwhile, @CBP will clarify criteria for B-1/B-2 visa applicants, "to ensure fair and consistent adjudication and enforcement" & "to make the criteria more transparent." Details unclear, but could affect millions of tourists & business travelers. 5/ reginfo.gov/public/do/eAge…
And another new proposal from @CBP that might require U.S. citizens to provide photographs or other biometric data upon entering or departing the United States. 6/
reginfo.gov/public/do/eAge…
And here's a new proposal from @ICEgov, which runs the Visa Security Program (VSP) and wants it to be funded by user fees instead of less predictable congressional funding. 7/
reginfo.gov/public/do/eAge…
Those are the @DHSgov immigration regulatory proposals that haven't been previously announced, as far as I can tell. But there are many more that were set in motion last year and could leave the starting gate soon... 8/
Dramatic changes to the "public charge" criteria that affect who gets a green card and which permanent residents are deportable (this draft rule could appear in the Federal Register very soon). 9/
reginfo.gov/public/do/eAge…
Rescission of International Entrepreneur Rule (#IER) (also could be published any day now). 10/
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Eliminating work permits for spouses of #H1B workers (#H4EAD). 11/
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A new electronic registration program for #H1B petitions, which could also mean changes to the current lottery system. 12/
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Constraining the type of workers who could be eligible for #H1B visas, based on wages and skills. 13/
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Unspecified changes to #STEM OPT: "improve protections of U.S. workers who may be negatively impacted by employment of nonimmigrant students on F and M visas"; "comprehensive reform of practical training options intended to reduce fraud and abuse." 14/
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Tightening English language proficiency requirements for certain foreign health workers (interim final rule that would take effect immediately?) 15/
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Changes to the appeals process within @USCIS. 16/
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Possible expansion of required biometrics at @USCIS. 17/
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Codifying current policy on which victims of spousal abuse are eligible for work permits. 18/
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Hiking user fees throughout @USCIS and the @ICEgov student visa program (this happens from time to time). 19/
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Some other pending actions that pre-date the Trump administration: changes to the fraud-afflicted investor visa program (#EB5 green cards) and finalizing a rule for victims of human trafficking (T visas). 20/
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Finally, note that many major changes to the legal #immigration system are happening *without* regulations (which take a long time to finalize). Instead we feel these changes through new policy memos (which are public) and new visa adjudication standards (which are not). 21/21
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