U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has published a 77-page final rule in the Federal Register modernising 8 CFR 264, the regulations that govern alien registration. Effective immediately, the rule designates Form I-770 as the universal registration form for persons who are otherwise undocumented, clarifies which documents can serve as evidence of registration, and tightens fingerprint-waiver criteria for certain non-immigrants. Most non-immigrants already meet registration requirements through the visa process, but the changes will be felt by humanitarian parolees, long-term undocumented residents and Canadian snowbirds who historically bypassed fingerprint collection. Employers sponsoring these populations—particularly those hiring parolees under private refugee initiatives—must now ensure that employees obtain the newly prescribed evidence or risk I-9 non-compliance. The rule also codifies DHS’ authority to issue temporary proof of registration before a benefit is adjudicated, a small but welcome change that should reduce driver-licence and payroll headaches for adjustment-of-status applicants. Stakeholders have 60 days to comment on future tweaks, signalling USCIS’s openness to further streamlining. For global mobility managers, the headline is clear: registration, identity verification and work-authorisation are converging. HR systems should capture the new document numbers and validity periods, while relocation teams should brief affected assignees well ahead of state-DMV visits.
Source: Federal Register / Justia
