UPDATE FROM AILA 01/09/2018
“In a news update on January 8, 2018, the McClatchy DC news service reported
that the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has stated that it not considering a
regulatory change to the H-1B extension rules, as had previously been reported in a December 30,
2017 article by McClatchy DC. In particular, USCIS stated to McClatchy DC that the agency is
not considering changing its interpretation of section 104(c) of the American Competitiveness in
the Twenty-First Century Act (AC21), which provides for H-1B extensions beyond the six-year
limit for H-1B workers who have reached certain milestones in the green card process. USCIS
went on to note that “such a change would not likely result in these H-1B holders having to leave
the United States because employers could request extensions in one-year increments under
section 106(a)-(b) of AC21 instead.” USCIS did, however, indicate that the agency is considering
a number of policy and regulatory changes to carry out the President’s Buy American, Hire
American” executive order, including conducting a “thorough review” of employment-based visa
programs.”
Over the last few days, news has spread regarding potential new regulations that could greatly impact H-1B extensions beyond the 6 year limitation. The word around town is that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has discussed the idea to stop H-1B extensions beyond the 6 year limit based on certain language found under the law. Continue reading
