February 1, 2012 - Yesterday, President Obama sent Congress a new Startup America Legislative Agenda to accelerate startup and small business growth following his State of the Union Address last week.  The agenda lays out his legislative vision as well as his intent to proceed with a series of administrative reforms that would be completed in the future.

Among these are several key immigration initiatives to be implemented at some future point by the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of State.  These include:

• A proposed rule enabling spouses of certain H-1B employees (those who have extended their H status beyond six years under the American Competitiveness in the Twenty First Century Act) to obtain work authorization;

• Expansion of eligibility for the 17-month extension of optional practical training (OPT) for F-1 students to include students having a prior degree in science, technology, engineering, or mathematics (STEM), rather than only those whose most recent degree is in a STEM field;

• Allowance of outstanding professors and researchers to present a broader scope of evidence of academic achievement;

• Harmonization of rules to allow E-3 visa holders from Australia and H-1B1 visa holders from Singapore and Chile to continue working with their current employer for up to 240 days while their petitions for extension of status are pending;

• Launch of the USCIS “Entrepreneurs in Residence” initiative, whose goal is to maximize the potential of attracting foreign entrepreneurial talent;

• Allowance for additional part-time study for spouses of F-1 students; and

• Extension of L-1 validity to match the reciprocity schedules, rather than the initial validity period of the petition approved by USCIS.

The Administration also endorses eliminating per-country limits on employment-based immigrant visas.  A bill that would accomplish this passed the House of Representatives at the end of 2011.  A companion bill is under consideration in the Senate now. 

BAL Comment:  These proposals from the Obama Administration offer critical attention to the ways that business immigration can help promote job creation and economic recovery.  BAL attorneys have been closely involved in promoting many of these ideas.  It is important to note that, while the announcement highlights the Administration’s awareness of the importance of effective high-skilled immigration policies to an overall job creation strategy, there will be some possibly significant time lag before implementation of the announced initiatives.  BAL will follow closely the progress of the immigration policy initiatives laid out in the President’s new agenda.

- Berry Appleman & Leiden LLP