The upcoming change in the US presidential administration is expected to significantly alter the landscape of immigration adjudication and enforcement in the United States. Our immigration team will present a one-hour webinar examining some of the changes that President-elect Joseph Biden’s administration could make to US business immigration policy, as well as recent USCIS and DOL regulatory changes and immigration in post-Brexit Europe.

We will discuss how these changes may affect multinational employers and US healthcare organizations with foreign-born healthcare workers residing in the United States.

Register for the webinar now >>

Thursday, November 19, 2020
12:00–1:00 pm ET

Our labor and employment team recently posted a LawFlash to discuss the US Department of Labor (DOL) rule change related to how prevailing wages for permanent labor certifications and labor condition applications are determined. Effective October 8, 2020, the DOL will use a new formula for computing prevailing wage levels, resulting in higher prevailing wage levels for all occupations in the Occupation Employment Statistics wage database. This LawFlash may be of interest to our healthcare industry readers.

Read the full LawFlash >>

Our immigration colleagues recently published a LawFlash on the July 29 decision by the US District Court for the Southern District of New York to grant a preliminary nationwide injunction to temporarily block the continued implementation of the public charge rule during a public health emergency such as the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Two days later, the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) released a new proposed fee schedule with increased filing fees, set to take effect on October 2, 2020.

Read the LawFlash

As the new school year quickly approaches, colleges, universities, and academic medical center employers are a facing a number of key issues that they should begin considering to minimize difficulties following the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. We invite you to join our employee benefits and labor and employment teams for a webinar focused on the reopening issues and considerations to minimize difficulties as they begin to reopen or expand their operations.

Join our panelists Greg Needles, Klair Fitzpatrick, Eleanor Pelta, and Ami Wynne as they discuss:

• Immigration Barriers and New Rules for Foreign Students Returning to Campus
• Campus Accommodations for Faculty, Staff, and Students
• Managing Faculty and Staff Employment Claims
• Looking Around the Corner: Title IX Regulations and Implications of Upcoming Election

Register Now >>

While US healthcare institutions are poised to respond to any outbreak of the 2019 Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV), how should they prepare as employers for the questions and compliance challenges that arise in a public health crisis? In this LawFlash, our Labor, Employment, and Benefits team cautions that “employers must carefully balance concerns relating to employee and public safety with protecting employees from unnecessary medical inquiries, harassment, and discrimination—all while complying with immigration, leave, and medical privacy laws.”  Recommending that “[r]esponsibility should be assigned to specific individuals or teams to assess the hazard, communicate with employees and the public, and implement appropriate security measures,” they detail important information that employers should know before responding to an outbreak situation.

Read the LawFlash>

Check out our Responding to the 2019 Novel Coronavirus page for all of the latest developments.

Our global employment and immigration team details a number of recent developments with important implications for the US healthcare industry. These include a ruling by the US Supreme Court to lift the October 2019 injunction on the public charge rule, visa reciprocity changes for France and Australia, the potential expansion of the list of countries subject to the administration’s travel ban, and eligibility changes for E-1 treaty trader and E-2 treaty investor visas affecting Iranian nationals. Recent studies show that nearly one in four US healthcare industry workers are immigrants. To that end, healthcare industry employers should be aware of and consider how these changes may impact their workforce.

Read US Supreme Court Allows Public Charge Rule on Immigration to Move Forward >>

Read Travel Ban Countries List Likely to Expand; Visa Restrictions to Impact Nationals of Iran, France, Australia >>

The US District Court for the District of Oregon on November 2 issued a temporary restraining order (TRO) to block the new health insurance requirement for immigrant visa applicants from taking effect on November 3, 2019. As discussed in an earlier alert, the White House issued a presidential proclamation that sought to deny admission to the United States of “immigrant” foreign nationals that will “financially burden the United States healthcare system.” The proclamation effectively deems aliens seeking to immigrate permanently to the United States inadmissible unless they will be covered by “approved” health insurance within 30 days of their entry into the United States or have the financial resources to pay for “reasonably foreseeable” medical costs.

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Our global employment and immigration team recently issued alerts on decisions that affect the healthcare industry. The team discussed a new presidential proclamation that effectively makes foreign nationals inadmissible to the United States unless they have “approved” health insurance coverage, and noted that a trio of district courts have halted federal enforcement of the public charge rule. The team had previously summarized the public charge rule, which will not take effect so long as the district court lawsuits are pending.

Read New DHS ‘Public Charge’ Rule Could Have Employment-Based Implications >

Read USCIS to Implement New Public Charge Rule; White House Introduces Health Insurance Requirement for Immigrant Visa Applicants >

Read Federal Courts Halt New Public Charge Rule >

A final rule released by the US Department of Homeland Security will make it more difficult for foreign nationals who use public benefits to adjust or extend their immigration status in the United States based on their likelihood of becoming a “public charge” in the future. The rule also expands the list of programs that can lead to a public charge determination to those that provide healthcare and social services to vulnerable populations including Medicaid, SSI, SNAP, TANF, and federal housing benefits.

Read More

Nearly 20% of healthcare workers are immigrants according to the results of a June 2019 study that underscores the major contributions immigrants make to the US healthcare system. To learn more about how the US Department of State is regulating immigrant visa availability and adjusting the flow of status adjustments and consular immigrant visa application filings and approvals, please see our recent alert on the August 2019 visa bulletin.

Read the full LawFlash.