What is BALCA? The Board of Alien Labor Certification Appeals (BALCA) is an administrative body which reviews mainly denials of PERM labor certification cases but it also handles a number of Department of Labor review cases. With respect to PERM denials, BALCA is the appellate body which reviews appeals for PERM denials. BALCA Reverses PERM [...]
As we are going into the peak of the H-1B cap season, our office receives many inquiries about the duration of the H-1B filing season this year or, in other words, when will the H-1B cap be reached? So far we have been able to compare demand with prior H-1B filing seasons and we knew [...]
The U.S. State Department has just released the April 2014 Visa Bulletin which is the seventh Visa Bulletin for the FY2014 fiscal year. The major headline in the upcoming month’s Visa Bulletin is the expected lack of movement in EB-2 India, the continued forward movement in EB-3 ROW, China and Mexico, and the fact that [...]
The Department of Labor has provided some updates for the first quarter of the Fiscal Year 2014 (October 1, 2013 to December 31, 2013) on their processing of PERM cases and we are happy to share them with our clients and readers. Please note that this period reflects the period of the partial government shutdown [...]
The process of hiring foreign workers is complicated and time-consuming thus many employers find it necessary to have a dedicated staff with expertise in making strategic decisions regarding hiring foreign nationals. The immigration function is typically housed in various departments at different organizations but most commonly within the HR department. With proper planning and follow [...]
Our office had received a number of inquiries and we have worked with a number of individuals, universities and their DSOs who had seen a spike in OPT extension (STEM OPT extensions, most often) which were denied by USCIS due to the fact that the F-1 holder had engaged in volunteering or unpaid work during [...]
The U.S. State Department has just released the March 2014 Visa Bulletin which is the sixth Visa Bulletin for the FY2014 fiscal year. The major headline in the upcoming month’s Visa Bulletin is the expected lack of movement in EB-2 India, the continued forward movement in EB-3 ROW, China and Mexico, the fact that FB-2A [...]
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service ("USCIS") just announced that they have released the revised FormN-400, Application for Naturalization. The main changes in the new N-400 form are the new questions required by anti-terrorism and child soldier prevention statutes, the (according to USCIS) clearer eligibility instructions and the addition of a dynamic 2D data barcode [...]
The Department of State ("DOS") has issued travel warning for Russia, alerting U.S. citizens planning to attend the 2014 Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia that they should remain attentive regarding their personal security at all times. “There is no indication of a specific threat to U.S. institutions or citizens, but U.S. citizens should be aware [...]
The Department of Labor (DOL) has released the most recent annual report for the Office of Foreign Labor Certification (OFLC). Even though the report was recently released, it is for the 2012 fiscal year (FY2012) which covered the period between October 1, 2011 and September 30, 2012. While we understand that the relevant period is [...]