A collective sigh of relief from the immigration law community, particularly business immigration practitioners, as a California U.S. District Court judge slapped down both the DHS H-1B rule and the DOL wage level rule, finding that both rules had been promulgated in violation of the APA and that the government “failed to show there was good cause to dispense with the rational and thoughtful discourse that is provided by the APA’s notice and comment requirements.” The court has set aside both rules with immediate effect, meaning that the DOL will have to revert back to its previous wage levels (hopefully in the coming days) and that USCIS may not apply its new H-1B standard, which was set to take effect on Monday, December 7th. This ruling was not entirely unexpected, but still represents welcome news as we eagerly await the transition to a more sane administration.
A full copy of the District Court opinion can be found here.
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