As previously reported, on March 5, 2015 U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) suspended processing of H-2B petitions for non-immigrant workers, due to the federal district court decision in Perez v. Perez, No. 3:14-cv-682 (N.D. Fla., Mar. 4, 2015) which vacated Department of Labor’s 2008 H-2B regulations. On March 16, 2015, the Department of Homeland Security and Department of Labor made a statement that they are working to issue a joint interim Final Rule to fill the regulatory gap caused by the federal court decision.
On March 17, 2015, USCIS announced that it will resume adjudications of H-2B petitions, but will continue to suspend premium processing until further notice. USCIS will resume adjudicating H-2B petitions based on temporary labor certifications issued by the Department of Labor.