DHS ANNOUNCES TWO RULES TO MODERNIZE H-1 AND H-2 PROGRAMS
January 9, 2025
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On December 18, 2024, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”) announced two final rules to modernize the H-1B program as well as the H-2 program. Please note that the H-1B program differs from the H-2 program in that H-1B visa are designed for individuals with specialized skills while H-2 visas are for non-professional foreign workers. To further implement these rules, DHS stated that a new edition of Form I-129, Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker, will be required for all petitions beginning on January 17, 2025.
For the H-1 program, the final rule revises the regulatory definition and criteria for a position to be deemed a “specialty occupation” to provide greater flexibility for employers. The final rule also seeks to strengthen the H-1B program’s integrity by requiring an employer to establish that it has a bona fide position in a specialty occupation available for a foreign work as of the requested start date. The other final rule issued by DHS relates to the H-2 program and intends to provide greater flexibility to H-2A (temporary agricultural) and H-2B (temporary nonagricultural) workers. The final H-2 program rule adjusts the existing admission periods before and after the validity dates of an approved visa petition. This modification allows H-2 workers to maintain valid H-2 status for a period of up to 10 days prior to the petition’s validity period and up to 30 days following the expiration of the petition.
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