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The Department of Labor has posted an update regarding the processing of H-2B labor certifications granted under the 2008 Final Rule. To read the update, please visit the H-2B Program Page.

A Washington DC Federal court has held that DHS improperly promulgated the 2008 regulations creating the 17-month OPT CAP GAP extension for STEM graduates (strictly speaking, this is not reallly "CAP GAP" issue).  According to the court, DHS should have placed the proposed regulation before the public, allowed everyone to comment, considered the comments and then published the final regulation.  Thus, DHS violated the procedural mandate requiring "notice and comment."  According to the court, there was no good reason to skip the "notice and comment" mandate.

As part of the Office of Foreign Labor Certification's (OFLC) on-going efforts to increase public engagement, the OFLC will host a webinar on Tuesday, September 13, 2016, designed to educate stakeholders, program users, and other interested members of the public on recent program workload trends, common deficiencies and best practices associated with employer requests for H-2B prevailing wage determinations and applications for temporary labor certification under the H-2A and H-2B visa programs.

U.S. Department of Labor Employment and Training Administration OFFICE OF FOREIGN LABOR CERTIFICATION 2015 H-2B Interim Final Rule FAQs   Round 16:  Foreign Labor Recruiter List    1. What is the Foreign Labor Recruiter List?  The Office of Foreign Labor Certification (OFLC) compiles a list of people and entities that employers have indicated that they engage or plan to engage to carry out the recruitment of prospective H-2B workers (“foreign labor recruiters”).  See 20 CFR 655.9.

 In response to statutory requirements, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) will allow up to 12,998 nonimmigrants in fiscal year (FY) 2017 for the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI)-Only Transitional Worker (CW-1) program.

ETA is announcing a process change related to the submission of applications for temporary labor certification under the H-2B visa program intended to reduce burdens on employers and streamline the adjudication of temporary need.

USCIS urges prospective H-2B employers seeking to hire potential “returning workers” with employment start dates in fiscal year (FY) 2017 to continue to identify these workers and provide the H-2B Returning Worker Certification.

The Department of Labor has published a seventeenth round of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) related to the filing and processing of H-2B Applications for Temporary Employment Certification covering issues related to the area of intended employment and what constitutes a worksite under the H-2B program. The Round 17 FAQs are posted on the H-2B Interim Final Rule Implementation Page on the Office of Foreign Labor Certification website at https://www.foreignlaborcert.doleta.gov/2015_H-2B_IFR.cfm. 

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS)  proposed changes to its regulations that would strengthen and enhance the process for foreign students with science, technology, engineering, or mathematics (STEM) degrees from a U.S. college or university to get practical training experience in the United States.  The enhancement of this regulation was announced as a part of President Obama’s November Executive Actions. 

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) proposes to amend its F-1 nonimmigrant student visa regulations on optional practical training (OPT) for certain students with degrees in science, technology, engineering, or mathematics (STEM) from U.S. institutions of higher education. Specifically, the proposal would allow such F-1 STEM students who have elected to pursue 12 months of OPT in the United States to extend the OPT period by 24 months (STEM OPT extension).