What's new in global
immigration?

8 February 2022

This week, the SSW Global Immigration team would like to highlight the following updates from Poland and the USA.

Poland: Changes to the Foreigners Act

Effective 29 January 2022, the long-anticipated amendments to Poland’s Foreigners Act have taken effect. The key changes are as follows:

Application procedures:

  • Temporary residence and work permit applicants no longer need to show that:
    • they have a source of stable and regular income, sufficient to support themselves and dependant family members;
    • they have a place of residence in Poland (i.e., proof of accommodation such as a rental contract).
  • All temporary residence and work permit applications must be processed and decided within 60 days after receipt of all required documents. Applications that have not yet been determined and were submitted before 1 January 2022 may be reviewed under an expedited method.

Employment conditions:

  • The amended legislation requires that a foreigner’s monthly remuneration cannot be less than the Polish minimum wage, regardless of the person’s working duration or contract type.
  • Foreign workers no longer have to apply for new work permits in the following situations:
    • their job title changes but the scope of duties remains the same or
    • they work longer hours while receiving proportionally higher pay.

Declaration of an employer’s intent to hire a foreigner:

  • Citizens of Armenia, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova, Russia, or Ukraine will be eligible to work in Poland for up to 24 months after signing a “Declaration of intent to employ a foreigner”. Previously, this document could only be granted for a period of no more than six months in a 12 month period.

USA: 2023 H-1B registration

US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USICS) has announced that the initial registration period for the fiscal year 2023 H-1B cap will run between noon Eastern on 1 March 2022 and noon Eastern on 18 March 2022.

During this period, employers seeking to file H-1B cap-subject petitions for the fiscal year 2023 cap, including those eligible for the advanced degree exemption, must first use a myUSCIS online account to register each beneficiary electronically for the selection process and pay the associated $10 H-1B registration fee for each registration submitted on behalf of each beneficiary.

Prospective petitioners submitting their own registrations (US employers and US agents, collectively known as “registrants”) will use a “registrant” account. Registrants will be able to create new accounts beginning at noon Eastern on 21 February 2022.

If enough registrations are received by 18 March 2022, USCIS will randomly select registrations and send selection notifications via users’ myUSCIS online accounts by 31 March 2022.

An H-1B cap-subject petition, including a petition for a beneficiary who is eligible for the advanced degree exemption, may only be filed by a petitioner whose registration for the beneficiary named in the H-1B petition was selected in the H-1B registration process.

Expert advice on global immigration

If you need support with any aspect of worldwide immigration, Smith Stone Walters is here to help.

To speak to a member of our Global Immigration team, please contact us today.

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