Our office handles a substantial number of ETA Form 9089 – Permanent Labor Certification (“PERM”) applications and we are closely monitoring the current PERM processing times not only for the benefit of our clients but also to be able to predict longer-term trends in PERM processing. The Department of Labor (“DOL”) has provided an update [...]
After the significant forward movement in many of the family-based preference categories in the fall, the government has received a significant number of I-130 family-based immigrant petitions in a number of preference categories. In an effort to process these pending I-130 petition in a more efficient manner, in November 2010, USCIS transferred approximately 36,000 I-130 [...]
There have been rumors and speculation on this topic (which we did not report until we had final confirmation), but now it is official. USCIS has announced that they will start issuing a combined Employment Authorization Document (EAD) and Advance Parole (AP) card for some applicants for adjustment of status. The new combined EAD/AP card [...]
The U.S. State Department just released the March 2011 Visa Bulletin which is the sixth Visa Bulletin for the FY2011 fiscal year. The major headline in the upcoming month’s bulletin is the major (additional) retrogression in family-based second A preference visa numbers, accompanied by the continued slow forward movement across the employment-based categories. The retrogression [...]
Our office has established a reputation as one of the premier practices for handling appeals with the Administrative Appeals Office (AAO) and we often receive inquiries not only about about the procedural aspects of an AAO appeal but also about the current processing times for AAO cases. The AAO processing times are published monthly, at [...]
Updated: February 16, 2011 Many of our readers are aware of the story about Tri-Valley University (recent Google News) and how it was shut down by federal authorities for allegedly defrauding students and helping them obtain F-1 student visas in violation of immigration laws. University Allegedly Committed Fraud and Violation of U.S. Immigration Laws According [...]
Our office has established a reputation as one of the premier practices for handling appeals with the Administrative Appeals Office (AAO) and we often receive inquiries not only about about the procedural aspects of an AAO appeal but also about the current processing times for AAO cases. The AAO processing times are published monthly, at [...]
The Pew Hispanic Center has released its most recent report on the unauthorized immigrant population. As of March 2010, there were an estimated 11.2 unauthorized immigrants in the U.S., a number unchanged from the year prior. This lack of change follows two years of decline from a high of an estimated 12 million in 2007. [...]
Many of our readers are aware that as of January 26, 2011, USCIS has received a sufficient number of H-1B cap-subject petitions to fill the annual H-1B quota. All cap-subject new H-1B petitions received by USCIS on or after January 27 will be rejected. Throughout the entire H-1B cap season, our office was providing weekly [...]
USCIS released the weekly FY2011 information on the numbers of cap-subject H-1Bs filed since April 1. As of January 21, 2011, USCIS has received approximately 62,800 H-1B petitions counting toward the 65,000 cap (an increase of 2,100 over the last week). Also, as of December 24, the U.S. Masters cap (with its 20,000 limit) has [...]