Business Immigration Insights

We last wrote about international travel during COVID-19 in March, with a general overview and a separate article about travel in North America.  Since then, many changes have occurred (for example, those traveling to Canada and the United Kingdom must now quarantine for 14 days after arrival), while other elements of travel have remained the same (U.S. consulates around the world remain closed). As of June 18, 2020, countries are continuing to respond with travel warnings, travel restrictions, health screenings, quarantines, and extensions of immigration status for affected ...

We are pleased to announce that the Labor and Employment team at Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP has been recognized as practice leaders in Immigration and Labor and Employment Disputes (Including Collective Actions): Defense by The Legal 500. Eleven individual lawyers on HuntonAK’s Labor and Employment and Immigration Team also were acknowledged.

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The Visa Bulletin is released monthly by the Department of State and is used to determine when a sponsored foreign national can submit the final step of the green card process, or if already pending, when the final step can be adjudicated.

Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, US immigration agencies have continued offering minor, but welcome, accommodations to individuals affected by COVID-19 who rely on immigration programs. While there are no groundbreaking changes, here is a roundup of the most notable changes in the last two months.

After suspending all “premium processing” for more than two months during the COVID-19 pandemic, USCIS today announced it will again accept premium fees (currently, $1,440 per form) and requests for expedited adjudication (currently, 15 calendar days) for Forms I-129 (Petition for Nonimmigrant Worker) and I‑140 (Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker).

On March 25, we reported that US Citizenship and Immigration Services had closed all local domestic offices, including asylum offices, field offices, and application support centers, due to COVID-19 contagion risks.  Those closures, while initially short term, have been extended several times and remain in effect as of today.

On May 24, 2020, the White House added Brazil to the list of countries triggering denial of admission to the US if travelers have been physically present in those countries for the preceding 14 days.  The presidential action cited “widespread, ongoing person-to-person transmission of SARS-CoV-2” as the reason for the ban, listing the WHO’s ranking of Brazil with the “third highest number of confirmed cases in the world.”

The Visa Bulletin is released monthly by the Department of State and is used to determine when a sponsored foreign national can submit the final step of the green card process, or if already pending, when the final step can be adjudicated.

As of May 1, 2020, when employers verify identity and employment authorization for their employees, they must use the October 21, 2019, edition of Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification.

On March 12, we recommended that employers designate authorized representatives to complete and reverify Forms I-9 in person during COVID-19 closures and furloughs.  On March 24, we updated our guidance in detail because, in response to COVID-19, USCIS began allowing employers and employees to complete Forms I-9 remotely.  The agency has now further relaxed I-9 verification requirements.