See Oct. 3, 2018) ( For the specific data points used, see the Technical Appendix, located in the Docket for this rulemaking. 21. See (dated September 16, 2021, reissued Dec. 17, 2021), On February 24, 2021, the President issued a continuation of the national emergency concerning the COVID-19 pandemic. should verify the contents of the documents against a final, official Backlogs across USCIS-administered benefit requests, including employment authorization, have been increasing steadily since FY 2010, due to factors discussed in the preamble. Additional information on visa retrogression can be found on our Based on the simulation, the expected value is $4,371.6 million, and the 95 percent precision bound results in a range of forecasts from $454.5.0 million to $ 13,509.3 million. Since the shares are close across the population bounds, we average them and apply the resulting figures, of 82.0 percent and 18.0 percent, in order (Rows O and P). Individuals with hearing or speech impairments may access the telephone numbers above via TTY by calling the toll-free Federal Information Relay Service at 1-877-889-5627 (TTY/TDD). 9, 2022), Start Printed Page 26616 5) Processing times are defined as the number of months it took for an application, petition, or request to be processed Accordingly, stabilized earnings for these EAD renewal applicants may also prevent any monetary or other support that would have been necessary from the support network of affected EAD holders during such a period of unemployment. If DHS does not immediately increase the 180-day automatic extension period, the total number of applicants with renewal applications pending past the 180-day auto-extension period is expected to increase by approximately 14,500 per month. See 8 CFR 274a.12(a)(1). However, even Form I-797C notices that refer to a 180-day automatic extension still meet the regulatory requirements. 169. [168] For example, on May 17, 2021, USCIS temporarily suspended the biometrics requirement for certain Form I-539 applicants to address the processing delays exacerbated by limited Application Support Center (ASC) capacity due to COVID-19. BM See https://www.uscis.gov/i-9-central/handbook-for-employers-m-274/100-unlawful-discrimination-and-penalties-for-prohibited-practices/108-penalties-for-prohibited-practices In addition, USCIS cannot accept comments contained on any form of digital media storage devices, such as CDs/DVDs and USB drives. At the start of FY 2021, there were approximately 126,000 employment-based adjustment of status applications pending with USCIS. Because we cannot forecast the future population with precision, we present a range. OCB ranks density fit according to internal routines that evaluate the appropriateness of several tests according to the sample size/population. 140. See However, the precise number of days is 540. News Alert, USCIS Temporarily Closing Offices to the Public March 18-April 1 (Mar. As an example, USCIS expanded telework flexibility arrangements under which an employee could perform the duties and responsibilities of such employee's position, and other authorized activities, from an approved worksite other than the location from which the employee would normally work. First, the analytical procedures and results applicable to durations for auto-extended EADs that lapsed but where renewal Form I-765 applications were since approved are detailed; as described in the preceding section, this portion is not part of the adjusted population affected by this rule, but metrics and data derived from it are vital to the subsequent estimation procedures. 92. (explaining that certain H-4, E, or L dependent spouses may submit a document combination including an unexpired Form I-94 indicating H-4, E, or L-2 nonimmigrant status alongside Form I-797C). Finally, we have already noted that the goal of this TFR is to prevent EADs from lapsing, and that the 540-day benchmark would cover almost every case. This second group is referred to as near-term, in context. Sept. 11, 2020), provided limited injunctive relief to members of two organizations, CASA de Maryland (CASA) and the Asylum Seeker Advocacy Project (ASAP), who file Form I-589 or Form I-765 as asylum applicants. 1255a (C22). The third group consists of the future population that, without this rule, could experience a lapse in employment during the 18-month period in which the TFR is effective. However, USCIS was unable to do so in the summer of 2021 due to understaffing, including reduced contracting resources resulting from the prior years' fiscal situation; the broad scope of backlogs across numerous benefit types; and competing priorities, as discussed above. In September 2020, however, the 2020 Fee Rule was enjoined before it took effect and remains under a preliminary injunction. Source: BLS, The Employment SituationNovember 2021, 9, 12, 14, and 20, Accordingly, we have scaled the population to exclude 0.32 percent of the population whose EAD could still lapse. The target cycle time refers to the processing time goal for a given application type. Docket: Chad Wolf et al., 77. Start Printed Page 26627 31, 2021). Relevant calculation: (6.2 percent Social Security + 1.45 percent Medicare) 2 employee and employer losses = 15.3 percent total estimated public tax impact. 18. 76. = 266,841 to 375,545 Adjusted Population $11.80 to $36.78 Hourly Earnings 1.45 Benefits Multiplier 5.714 Time Scalar Gamma Distributed Lapse Duration in Calendar Days. DHS can add some robustness to the estimates by incorporating actual data concerning the employment of the EAD holders to draw inference on their earnings. 78. [27], Noncitizens admitted to the United States as citizens of the Federated States USCIS continues to recover from the pandemic-related impacts on operations and revenue, leading to a gradually improving fiscal situation, return to stability, and renewed capacity to undertake initiatives to reduce backlogs. This was due to a 4-percent decrease in receipts, increases in completions (naturalizations, adjustments of status, and nonimmigrant and immigrant worker petitions), and additional staffing. In the last three fiscal years, the median processing time across all form types was 8.7 months in FY 2021, 8.3 months in FY 2020, and 6.5 months in FY 2019. This is a discreet distribution which essentially means that any value in the range has the same probability as being selected as any other value. however, the Employment Authorization Applications Rule and the Asylum Application, Interview, and Employment Authorization for Applicants Rule (Broader Asylum EAD Rule), 85 FR 38532 (June 26, 2020), imposed a biometrics collection requirement for initial and renewal Forms I-765 in the C08 asylum applicant categorywhich represents approximately 58 percent of the renewal EAD receipts filed that are eligible for the automatic extension. 12988, Civil Justice Reform. 124. https://www.gao.gov/assets/gao-21-529.pdf. As stated in section IV.A of this preamble, DHS has found that there is good cause to conclude that notice, the opportunity for advanced public participation, and a delay in the effective date are impracticable and contrary to the public interest. , or as provided by statute or regulation, including 8 CFR 274a.14. 193. https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/document/policy-manual-updates/20210609-EmploymentAuthorization.pdf. 173. By comparison, in FY 2020, SCOPS allocated 327,947 (or approximately 4.5 percent fewer) officer hours to the same workload and subsequently was only able to complete 1,379,745 (or approximately 4.4 percent fewer) adjudications. 416 F. Supp. Accordingly, for the reasons set forth in the preamble, the Secretary of Homeland Security amends 8 CFR part 274a as follows: 1. 59. Hence, while we draw on data and information from the pool of applicants whose auto-extended EADs lapsed but whose renewal Forms I-765 applications were subsequently approved, they are not part of the population affected by the rule. Applicants who are filing within an eligibility category listed in 8 CFR 274a.12(c) must use Form I-765 to request both employment authorization and an EAD. See How To Get an H-4 Work Permit 7. ) applicable to the end of the initial EAD validity date and the eventual approval of the renewal Form I-765 application in cases where the auto-extended EAD had lapsed. Form I-765 workload includes requests for initial, renewal, and replacement employment authorization and/or EADs. 245(c), 8 U.S.C. Based on the trend USCIS has observed in the growth of processing times for Form I-765 renewal applications in the past year (see section II.A.Table1 for more details), and USCIS' projection of similar growth through the end of CY 2022,[128] While every effort has been made to ensure that ALERT:If you are a healthcare worker or a childcare worker, If you are a healthcare worker or a childcare worker. Therefore, individuals who show Form I-797C notices that refer to a 180-day extension, along with their qualifying EADs, still receive the up to 540-day extension under this rule. 1103(a)(3), authorizes the Secretary to establish such regulations as the Secretary deems necessary for carrying out the Secretary's authority under the INA, and section 214 of the INA, 8 U.S.C. Activities Grp. Citizenship and Immigration Services Fee Schedule and Changes to Certain Other Immigration Benefit Request Requirements, An asylee cannot apply for initial employment authorization earlier than 150 calendar days after the date USCIS or the immigration court accepts the asylum application. This is especially concerning where the backlog involves employment authorization, which is critical to applicants' and their families' livelihoods as well as U.S. employers' continuity of operations. While some information on employment is available through E-Verify (discussed below) we cannot determine how many individual employers would be impacted. Sept. 11, 2020). see 6. For context, there were roughly 0.8 unemployed persons per job opening in January and February 2020 before COVID. 553(b)(B) and (d)(3). DHS, USCIS, Because their employment authorization is incident to their immigration status or circumstance, these renewal EAD applicants' primary consequence is that their EADs become invalid. USCIS lifted the agency-wide hiring freeze in March 2021. USCIS works to return to pre-pandemic processing times. The number of months shown is the median. LC). DHS believes this assumption is justifiable because applicants would generally not have expended the direct filing (for the pertinent EAD categories in which there is a filing fee) and time-related opportunity costs associated with applying for an EAD if they did not expect to recoup an economic benefit. Impact of Pandemic Response Measures, p. 6, in Backlog Reduction of Pending Affirmative Asylum Cases: Fiscal Year 2021 Report to Congress (Oct. 20, 2021), https://www.uscis.gov/news/alerts/uscis-to-continue-processing-applications-for-employment-authorization-extension-requests-despite. It is challenging to quantify Federal and State income tax impacts of employment in the labor market scenario because individual and household tax situations vary widely as do the various State income tax rates. Mar. DHS believes that with the immediate implementation of this rulemaking, the potential for additional gaps in employment authorization and/or EAD validity, job loss, and financial uncertainty will be reduced significantly for Form I-765 renewal applicants and their families while USCIS works toward implementing its backlog reduction plan to return processing times to the pre-emergency 3-month average. The EV data does not provide information on job type or occupation, but it does substantiate the NAICS code pursuant to the 3-digit subsector level (with a few exceptions). 5 U.S.C. As explained in the preamble, certain applicants within the affected population, including those who are employment authorized incident to status or non-working adults and children, may not necessarily lose their employment authorization after the 180-day automatic extension period is exhausted, but their EADs become invalid so that they can no longer use them for other purposes, such as an identification document or as proof for receiving State or local public benefits to the extent eligible, in addition to not having proof of employment authorization for Form I-9 purposes. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites. As can be gathered from rows M and N, the allocations are different according to the high and low population. [28], Noncitizens granted withholding of deportation or removal (A10). A decision on an expedite request is not an approval or a denial of the underlying benefit request. the material on FederalRegister.gov is accurately displayed, consistent with DHS does not know what this next-best alternative may be for those companies. In one sense, the stabilized earnings impacts are overstated a bit. Module E discusses the impacts from an economic and business perspective, and Module F concludes with consideration of other possible effects. Trump, et al., https://www.uscis.gov/eadautoextend: Accordingly, the stabilized earnings derived from this rule, and estimated above, will prevent such a reduction in taxes. See Such applicants therefore lose employment authorization and/or their EADs become invalid while the decision on their renewal applications remains outstanding. While these applicants may have available alternative evidentiary options other than an EAD that they can use to show proof of employment authorization to their employers for Form I-9 completion or for purposes of receiving State or local public benefits ( See Once hired, employers face additional training, orientation, and assessment costs. [16] For contact information for USCIS offices located outside the United States, see the USCIS International Immigration Offices page.
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