Shabani & Associates, P.C., presents this month’s most important immigration updates.

FY 2025 H-1B Cap Registration Period Opens Soon; USCIS Issues Reminders for Employers About Online Filing, Other New Requirements for Cap and Non-Cap Petitions The initial registration period for the FY 2025 H-1B cap season will open at noon ET on March 6, 2024, and run through noon ET on March 22, 2024. A USCIS online account is required to register each beneficiary electronically for the selection process and pay the associated $10 registration fee. Certain Updated Forms Take Effect April 1 With No Grace Period. Under the new fee final rule effective April 1, 2024, the new 04/01/24 editions of several forms will be required. Reminder: Premium Processing Fees Have Increased. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services reminded employers that fees for Form I-907, Request for Premium Processing, increased as of February 26, 2024. Eligible Ukrainians Can Apply for Re-Parole Eligible Ukrainian citizens and their immediate family members who were paroled into the United States on or after February 11, 2022, and are physically present can apply for re-parole. DOS Implements New Visa Restrictions for Transportation Operators Facilitating Irregular Migration The Department of State has implemented a new visa restriction policy that “targets owners, executives, and senior officials of charter flight, ground, and maritime transportation companies providing transportation services designed for use primarily by persons intending to migrate irregularly to the United States.” E-Verify to Pilot ‘Next Generation’ Service in Spring 2024: E-Verify+ will include streamlining Form I-9 and the employment eligibility verification process. DOS Signs MOU With Germany on Exchange Visitor Program The Department of State has signed a memorandum of understanding with Germany to allow certain German principals to come to the United States as J-1 exchange visitors. Mayorkas Impeached; Conviction in Senate Seems Unlikely After a previous failed attempt to impeach Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas, Republicans in the House of Representatives succeeded in impeaching Mr. Mayorkas on February 13. Conviction in the Senate seems highly unlikely. President Orders Deferred Enforced Departure for Palestinians in the United States On February 14, 2024, President Biden directed the Secretary of Homeland Security to grant Deferred Enforced Departure to Palestinians in the United States for 18 months, with some exceptions. ETA Extends Comment Period for Responses to PERM Schedule A Request for Information: ETA said it has received “a very limited number of comments, only a few of which have responded to the questions posed in the RFI.” The public comment period has been extended to May 13, 2024. CIS Ombudsman Releases Tips on How to Avoid Getting Locked Out of Your USCIS Account The tips include how to create a strong password, the importance of logging in regularly to maintain access, what to do when locked out, how to reset a password, security considerations, and how USCIS’s Technical Help Desk works to assist with account access. ETA Updates Allowable Charges for Agricultural Workers’ Meals and for Travel Reimbursement, Including Lodging The Employment and Training Administration announced updates to the allowable monetary charges that employers of H-2A workers, in occupations other than herding or production of livestock on the range, may charge workers when the employer provides three meals per day. The annual notice also announced the maximum travel subsistence meal reimbursement a worker with receipts may claim under the H-2A and H-2B programs and reminded employers of their obligations concerning overnight lodging costs as part of required subsistence. USCIS Releases FY 2023 Data and Highlights of FY 2024 Plans U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services released end-of-fiscal-year 2023 data and highlights of its plans for FY 2024. EOIR to Transition to DOJ Login: The Executive Office for Immigration Review is implementing a phased migration to DOJ Login that it expects to complete this spring. EOIR will notify users by email when it is time for them to activate their new DOJ Login ID. ABIL Global: Canada –Québec reopened its Immigrant Investor Program on January 1, 2024.