The political climate here in Washington, DC changes very quickly. We wrote recently about some broad conceptual proposals for comprehensive immigration reform, followed by our reports of President Obama's remarks that he does feel that the time is ripe for immigration reform. However, some congressmen are pushing an immigration reform proposals forward. A recent proposal [...]
USCIS released the weekly FY2011 information on the numbers of cap-subject H-1Bs filed since April 1. As of May 14, 2010, USCIS has received approximately 19,000 H-1B petitions counting toward the 65,000 cap (a weekly increase of 1,000). Similarly, as of May 14, there were 8,100 H-1B visas filed subject to the U.S. Masters cap [...]
Last week we discussed the recent Congressional Research Service (CRS) report on unauthorized aliens. Today, we discuss the companion CRS report, analyzing the permanent residency admissions to the U.S. Both reports are helpful in providing some current information on the state of the U.S. immigration system and on the conflicting priorities which are likely to [...]
The Department of Labor (“DOL”) has provided an update on the current PERM processing dates as of April 30, 2010. They are as follows: Regular processing: July 2009. DOL is processing PERM applications with priority dates in July of 2009. This suggests that there is very slight forward movement for regular PERM processing. Accordingly, regular [...]
We have written and reacted previously on developments related to immigration reform here in Washington, DC (March 12, 2010 and March 18, 2010). Our articles developed a fair amount of comments, excitement and hope. However, the uncertainty and the current political climate here in Washington may make comprehensive immigration reform a rollercoaster ride. In comments [...]
In an opinion piece, to be published tomorrow, Friday, March 19, 2010, at the Washington Post, Senators Charles Schumer (D-NY) and Lindsay Graham (R-SC) have unveiled their proposal for comprehensive immigration reform. The plan, as outlined in the Washington Post piece, sets several four broad principles for immigration reform. Biometric Social Security Cards to Prevent [...]
Today's Wall Street Journal has a recap of recent high-level meetings and plans regarding an immigration reform, a topic which President Obama said he will tackle during his first year in office. Washington has been busy for the past few months with health care, wars and the economic crisis. Not surprisingly, immigration reform has not [...]
The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (“ICE”) announced recently that ICE would be issuing Notices of Inspection (NOI) to 1,000 employers across the United States associated with critical infrastructure. The NOIS will seek to determine the employers’ compliance with employment eligibility verification laws. What is Critical Infrastructure Employer? The announcement seems to focus on employers associated with [...]
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We wrote in September about the gap in expected revenue by USCIS following the filing fee increase of Summer 2007. We noted that the agency has a $282 million shortfall in expected revenues. As a result of the announced 2007 fee increase, USCIS saw a surge in applications and hiring in 2007, ahead of a hefty [...]