USCIS updated the H-2B cap numbers as of July 21st. As of that date, there have been 29,234 petitions counted towards the 33,000 cap for the first half of the fiscal year. With the current rate, the H-2B cap is expected to be reached within a week or so.
The first step which must be taken by an F-1 student who wishes to apply for OPT renewal pursuant to the 17-month extension rule is to ensure that his or her school is on the list of SEVP schools which are authorized to issue 17-month OPT extensions. The Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has released an updated list of SEVP schools. Please read the full article for the updated SEVP schools list.
The receipt number is one of the most commonly used numbers, by immigrants and lawyers alike, to track the progress or identify a particular immigration case or filing. These receipt numbers start with three letters and follow by a series of numbers, for example EAC-06-123-45678. Please read the full article on more information about the USCIS receipt numbers.
We wrote earlier about the availability of limited I-140 premium processing filings. It is only available to certain H-1B holders who "H-out" of their status and for whom the only way to remain on H-1B status would be a I-140 premium processing filing. The USCIS has now commented on some of the limitations on the I-140 premium processing program and has provided some guidance and clarification on which types of I-140 are eligible for premium processing. Please read the full article for further details.
USCIS has provided two recent updates on the numbers on the H-2B visa count. The two recent updates are useful because it allows us to sample the rate at which H-2B visa numbers are being used. The July 1 announcement stated that the H-2B count, as of July 1, stands at 17,305 for the first half of FY 2009. The July 7 announcement stated that the H-2B count, as of July 7, stands at 20,390, an increase of nearly 3,000 over a period of less than a week. It should be noted that the period included the July 4th holiday, so it is safe to assume that the actual filing rate is somewhat higher. The cap for the first half of FY 2009 is set at 33,000, so based on current demand at a rate of 3,000 visa petitions in 6 days, we anticipate that the remaining numbers willbe exhausted some time in August. This expectation assumes that the rate of 3,000 visa petitions per 6 days will not change.
We wrote on Friday about the anticipated significant forward movement for EB-2 India. The August 2008 Visa Bulletin is out now and it confirms our expectation. In addition, EB-2 China has also moved forward significantly. Both EB-2 India and China have a date of June 1, 2006 (from April 2004 previously). Another important update related to the visa bulletin is the unavailability of visas in the "Other Workers" category - they are now unavailable (from April 2003 previously). The visa bulletin explains that such unavailability is due to the numbers for the "Other Workers" category reaching their annual numerical limit. It is expected that once the FY 2009 begins in October, the dates should return to April 2003. Please read the full article for more details on the August 2008 Visa Bulletin.
The August 2008 Visa Bulletin is about to be released and we have reliable (based on past experience) information that EB-2 India will move forward by more than two years - from April 2004 to June 2006. This is excellent news for applicants in the EB-2 India category. Stay tuned as we wil update this post with more information as the official State Department Visa Bulletin is distributed.
Many of our clients and readers have asked us what kind of relief or changes they can expect once the new president takes office in January of 2009. Although it is difficult to predict the exact type of policies they will implement once they take office, the Wall Street Journal created a helpful chart comparing Obama and McCain on immigration. Please read the full article for details on Obama and McCain's immigration policies and for analysis on how it may impact the immigrant community.
USCIS has released a new version of the Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification. Employers should start using the revised form (it has Rev. 06/16/08 in the bottom right corner) effective immediately because USCIS will no longer accept older versions. Please read the full article on more information on the new Form I-9.
A very frequent two-part question we receive from current and prospective clients who are expecting visa number and have used AC21 to switch employers and are no longer with the original employer who sponsored their green card is 1) whether they can travel abroad using advance parole (AP) document issued by the former employer and 2) what should they respond, upon return, when questioned by a border agent about their employment situation. Please read the full article for more details.