The administration, by and through the Department of Homeland Security, announced plans to delay implementation of the International Entrepreneur Rule which was to become effective on July 17, 2017.
The rule, published as a final rule by the Obama administration on January 17, 2017, was intended to allow use of existing Advance Parole mechanisms to permit entrepreneurs a way to pursue new business opportunities in the US outside of the existing nonimmigrant visa structure. We had discussed the rule in detail here.
The Department of Homeland Security has announced that it will delay implementation of the rule until March 14, 2018 and has expressed an intention to rescind the regulation – likely before it would ever become effective.
As a final rule, ordinarily the Administrative Procedures Act would require another full rulemaking process resulting in another final rule to delay or repeal the initial rule. The administration has sought to avoid the long public notice and comment period, followed by publication of a final rule, by claiming a “public interest” exception here. It is unclear what public interest could be served by delaying or withdrawing the original regulation at all, let alone rushing a decision to do this.