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2022

USCIS Posts FY 2023 Employment-Based Adjustment of Status FAQs

September 9, 2022
On September 8, 2022, USCIS posted a set of Fiscal Year 2023 Employment-Based Adjustment of Status FAQs. USCIS states, "The employment-based (EB) annual limit for fiscal year (FY) 2023 will be higher than was typical before the pandemic, though lower than in FY 2021 and FY 2022. We are dedicated to ensuring we use as many available employment-based visas as possible in FY 2023, which ends on Sept. 30, 2023."
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DHS Extends Venezuela TPS and SSR

September 8, 2022
In Federal Register notices published on September 8, 2022, DHS extended the availability of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) and Special Student Relief (SSR) to eligible citizens of Venezuela. The prior Venezuela SSR notice expires on September 9. The new notice makes Venezuela SSR available until March 10, 2024. Read more about SSR on NAFSA's page, Special Student Relief For F-1 Students: Essential Concepts.
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DOL Speaks About Plans for Integrating PERM into FLAG

August 31, 2022
OFLC Administrator Brian Pasternak says, “By integrating the permanent labor certification process into the Foreign Labor Application Gateway... we will make it easier, faster, and cheaper for employers to access permanent labor certification services and create a more seamless immigrant visa processing experience." No timeline was mentioned.
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DOS Announces Forthcoming Special Student Relief for Ukrainian J-1 Students

August 25, 2022
The Department of State (DOS) informed Exchange Visitor Program sponsors in an email that it will soon issue a Federal Register notice describing the details of Special Student Relief (SSR) arrangements for eligible Ukrainian J-1 college and university students. NAFSA confirmed with the BridgeUSA Office of Private Sector Exchange Designation that sponsors must wait until the Federal Register notice is published before approving Special Student Relief benefits for eligible J-1 students. It is hoped that the Federal Register notice will be published in the next two or three weeks.
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USCIS Posts Overviews of STEM Pathways in the US Immigration System

July 29, 2022
In a July 28, 2022 news alert, USCIS announced that it "has published additional online resources on uscis.gov to provide an overview of some of the temporary and permanent pathways for noncitizens to work in the United States in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). This guide also highlights some of the most important considerations for STEM professionals who want to work in the United States."
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Syria Special Student Relief to be Extended Until 2024

July 29, 2022
ICE's current Special Student Relief (SSR) notice for F-1 students from Syria is effective April 22, 2021 until September 30, 2022, for F-1 students who were in the United States as of April 22, 2021. A Federal Register notice scheduled to be published on August 1, 2022 will extend SSR until April 1, 2024, for Syrian F-1 students who will be in the United States as of August 1, 2022. DHS will also be extending Syrian Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for eligible individuals.
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USCIS Makes Permanent Certain COVID-19 Signature Flexibilities

July 26, 2022
In a July 25, 2022 notice, USCIS stated: "In an effort to take the lessons learned from our pandemic posture, USCIS has been evaluating which flexibilities can and should be extended permanently. As a result of this evaluation, the reproduced signature flexibility announced in March, 2020, will become permanent policy on July 25, 2022."
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OFLC Announces New Appendix A Education and Training Category Tables Effective July 1, 2022

June 30, 2022
"On November 15, 2021, the Employment and Training Administration issued a Federal Register notice (FRN) informing the public that the Office of Foreign Labor Certification (OFLC) was updating Appendix A to the Preamble–Education and Training Categories by Occupational Information Network (O*NET)–Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) Occupations. Appendix A is a list of professional occupations that serves as a guide for employers to distinguish between professional and non-professional occupations in order to comply with the professional recruitment requirements of the PERM program. The FRN stated that OFLC intends to review BLS's occupational and education data each year to publish a new list of occupations on its website, even when BLS data remain the same from the previous year... OFLC is releasing this year's Appendix A, implementing the new list of professional occupations, effective July 1, 2022."
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Spring 2022 Regulatory Agenda Posted

June 23, 2022
The Spring 2022 Unified Agenda of Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions was posted on Reginfo.gov on June 21, 2022. NAFSA has compiled the immigration-related regulatory actions most relevant to institutions that invite international students and scholars to the United States.
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July 1 Implementation of 2018 SOC Codes and Latest OEWS Data Set

June 21, 2022
All prevailing wage determinations issued on or after July 1, 2022 will be issued with the 2018 Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) code and with the latest Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) data set, regardless of the date of submission.
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