US Election 2020: What happened in US immigration this week

First, a US court blocked the visa fee hike that was set to be implemented by the US Citizenship and Immigration Services on October 2 in an order dated September 29.

The fee hike, if implemented, would have increased the fees of H-1B and L-1 visa holders by 20 percent and 75 percent respectively. The current fee for the visas stand at $460. It would increase to $555 and $805 for H-1B and L-1 respectively.

Though this is going for an appeal, all temporary guest workers would benefit from the ban on fee hike till the time the judgement is overturned in an appeals court.

Second, The US federal court ruled in favour of the US chamber of commerce, National Association for Manufacturers blocking temporarily the ban on guest worker visa such as H-1B in an order dated October 1. The June 22 proclamation banned the entry of H-1B, L-1, and J-1 visa holders in a bid to address growing unemployment issues due to COVID-19.

Judge Jeffrey S White blocked the proclamation on grounds that it exceeded the President’s authority. White further stated in the order that the immigration agencies should not engage in the non-processing or non-issuance of visas in the said categories.

“The preliminary injunction shall take effect immediately and shall remain in effect pending trial in this action or further order of this court,” the order said of the June 22 proclamation by Trump.

Both of these cases were filed against the Trump administration and the government lost on both counts.

Extension of premium processing

Another development is the expansion of premium visas for the more employment-based.

Currently premium processing is applicable for visa categories such as H-1B and L-1. Those who apply for H-4 Employment Authorisation Document (EAD) are not eligible. The extension would be applicable for dependents such as H-4 and L-2, spouses of H-1B and L-1 visa holders, EAD processing.

The time frame for premium processing is not greater than 30 days and would be under $1,500.

Stuart Anderson, executive director, National Foundation for American Policy, said in a Forbes article that this development is seen as positive as it would offer employers and employees an opportunity to pay more to get the visa processing done at a faster rate.

Two proposed regulations withdrawn

On September 30, two proposed regulations aimed at tightening visa rules were withdrawn by the Department of Homeland Security and Department of labour.

However it turns out the DHS withdrew to speed up the process when elections are around the corner. This will not be good news for H-1B employees and employers as the Trump administration intends to push these regulations faster.