On December 18, 2015, President Obama signed the Omnibus Appropriations Bill, a $1.1 trillion funding bill that will keep the federal government running until Sept. 30, 2016. Among its many hundreds of provisions, the +2,000 page bill includes a number of provisions of interest to the immigration law community. Specifically, the bill extends the EB-5, Conrad 30, Special Immigrant Religious Workers and E-Verify programs through the end of fiscal 2016. This means that:
-The Employment-based Fifth Preference (EB-5), which permits millionaire entrepreneurs to gain lawful permanent residence, will continue in its present form for the remainder of the fiscal year. Numerous proposals for reforming or updating the EB-5 program have been put aside for the present and the program, which has the subject of scrutiny and investigations, will remain intact for now.
– The Conrad 30 program, which allows foreign medical graduates to avoid the two-year home country residence requirement linked to their J-1 status, has been extended. The Conrad 30 program permits a limited number of foreign medical graduates to serve three years in medically-underserved area in lieu of returning to their home country.
– The Special Immigrant Religious Worker program, which permits qualified religious workers employed by recognized religious institutions to become lawful permanent residents of the U.S., has also been extended, and
– The E-Verify program, used by employers to verify the immigration and work authorization status of workers, will also continue to receive funding.
Other relevant provisions include:
– a substantial spike in special filing fees paid by sponsors of H-1B and L-1 workers with more than 50 employees who have 50% or more employees in H-1B or L-1 status. The new fees – now $4,500 for L-1’s and $4,000 for H-1B’s – must be paid for both initial and extension petitions and are authorized for ten years, through September 30, 2025.
– changes to the H-2B program which permit the use of private wage surveys, define “seasonal” work as ten months or less, exempt returning H-2B workers from the 2016 cap and offer flexibility for workers in the seafood industry.
For more information about the Omnibus Appropriations Bill click here. For information on how these provisions may impact you and your business contact us.