Legislative and Regulatory Developments
SBA Announces Small Business Roundtable on Pending Non-Compete Rulemaking
The Small Business Administration’s (SBA) Office of Advocacy will hold a stakeholder conference call on February 28, 2023 to hear from small businesses on the potential impact of the FTC’s proposal to ban non-compete provisions. The Small Business Roundtable will be held from 2:00 p.m. – 3:30 p.m. EST using the Teams platform. To participate, email Jennifer Smith at [email protected]. The SBA will send the meeting link on February 24, 2023.
The agenda is posted on the SBA website. In addition to discussing the rule, the SBA would like to hear about potential economic impact and possible alternatives.
Please contact our Government Affairs Team with any concerns about the proposed rule. Comments are due March 20, 2023.
State Department to Pilot Domestic Visa Renewal Program
In response to pleas from employers, workers, and trade associations, the State Department will launch a pilot program to restore the issuance of state-side visa renewals. The pilot, which would extend to H-1and L-1 visas, was first reported by Bloomberg. The State Department is expected to convey more information about how the program will work, including a start date and coverage, as early as March.
The domestic visa renewal program was discontinued in 2004. Since then, applicants were required to leave the country to get their visas stamped, and limited appointment times created creating processing backlogs. The pandemic compounded the delays.
Shev Dalal-Dheini, director of government relations at the American Immigration Lawyers Association, told Bloomberg, “The need became even more apparent with the pandemic and delays in visa processing because people were really left in limbo. If they had to travel, it wasn’t guaranteed that they were able to get their visa stamp to return.”
According to a State Department official, new regulations are not necessary to establish a domestic visa renewal program. However, creating this new program will require a new consular division in Washington, DC which could take some time. TechServe’s Government Affairs Team will continue to monitor developments. Please contact us with any questions.
