Alerts

With the re-election of Donald Trump and upcoming inauguration on January 20, 2025, employers can anticipate significant changes to U.S. immigration policy that may impact their business and foreign national employees. Although the exact policies to be implemented by the incoming administration are not known, using his prior administration policies such as “Buy American, Hire American” and campaign promises as a guide, there likely will be a renewed focus on compliance and limiting various legal immigration programs. The prior Trump administration implemented changes with wide-reaching impacts, affecting everything from border security and asylum processes to employment-based immigration and travel bans.  Although the exact impact of a second Trump presidency remains to be seen, the most likely areas of focus include the following:

Over 100 Moore & Van Allen women attorneys and senior administrators attended the 2024 Women of Moore & Van Allen (WoMVA) Conference in May at The Casey. This year’s keynote address was, “Foundations for Flourishing: Leveraging the Science of Positive Psychology for Greater Well-being, Resilience, and Performance” by Jordana Confino, JC Coaching & Consulting Founder & CEO.

Welcome to the first installment of MVA’s Business Immigration Quarterly!  Each quarter we will be bringing you a roundup of current trends, important issues, and interesting topics in the business immigration community.  As always, we are here to answer any questions you have about specific immigration matters or any of the topics highlighted below.  We appreciate the opportunity to partner with you and we look forward to bringing you updates in this format.

On March 18, 2024, the Office for Civil Rights ("OCR") at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services ("HHS") published updated guidance on the use of online tracking technologies by HIPAA covered entities and business associates (the "2024 Update"). The 2024 Update replaces the original guidance that OCR published on December 1, 2022 (the "2022 Guidance"). The 2024 Update attempts to clarify when information captured by tracking technologies constitutes individually identifiable health information ("IIHI") and provides guidance to covered entities and business associates on their obligations with respect to the use of online tracking technologies. 

The initial registration period for the FY 2025 H-1B cap will open at noon Eastern on March 6, 2024, and run through noon Eastern on March 22, 2024. USCIS has announced several significant changes to the H-1B program aimed at strengthening the integrity of and reducing the potential for fraud in the H-1B registration process. Steps have been implemented to reduce the potential for “gaming” the registration system and ensuring each beneficiary has the same chance of being selected, regardless of the number of registrations submitted on their behalf. USCIS is also making updates to the H-1B registration accounts, increasing fees associated with the registration and filing of H-1B petitions and launched online filing options for H-1B petitioners.

As we start 2024, we take this time to reflect on all we have accomplished together in 2023. We were excited to have welcomed a number of new team members across our practice areas, received national recognition by reputable industry outlets such as Financial Times, Chambers, and Best Lawyers in America, and also shared many milestones and celebrations with our partners.

The registration period for H-1B cap-subject petitions is approaching! As a reminder, the annual H-1B cap is set at 65,000, with an additional 20,000 numbers available for individuals who have earned an advanced degree from an accredited U.S. educational institution. Once these caps have been reached, employers will be unable to file new cap-subject H-1B petitions until the registration period opens again in 2025.