Our office handles a fair amount of 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. About the AAO The AAO is an appeals office which handles appeals of certain decisions [...]
USCIS released the second “official” FY2011 information on the numbers of cap-subject H-1Bs filed since April 1. As of April 15, 2010, USCIS has received approximately 13,600 H-1B petitions counting toward the 65,000 cap (a weekly increase of only 100). Similarly, as of April 15, there were 5,800 H-1B visas filed subject to the U.S. [...]
On March 25, 2010, the Department of Labor ("DOL") held a stakeholders telephone conference to discuss DOL operations generally, and address PERM, iCERT prevailing wage and other specific areas. We are happy to share some interesting pieces of information from DOL. PERM Processing. With respect to PERM processing, DOL has made efforts to decrease its [...]
The May 2010 Visa Bulletin was just released by the State Department. The eighth visa bulletin for the fiscal year 2010 brings gradual forward across most employment-based categories except EB-2 India (no change this month, for the second month in a row). A notable movement can be seen in the EB-3 India category where the [...]
The H-1B season is well underway. Yesterday we reported on the Vermont Service Center's H-1B FY2011 numbers as of April 5. Today, USCIS released the first "official" FY2011 information on the numbers of cap-subject H-1Bs filed since April 1 for both the Vermont and California Service Centers. As of April 8, 2010, USCIS has received [...]
The Vermont Service Center (VSC) of USCIS has released the first "semi-official" Fiscal Year 2011 H-1B numbers. As of close of business on Monday, April 5th, VSC has received a total of 9,525 cap-subject H-1B petitions. Of those, 6,791 were "regular H-1B cap" and 2,734 were "master's cap" petitions. Note that this information is for [...]
Generally, the U.S. Department of State likes to process visas at the consulate located at the applicant's home country. Howevre, U.S. consulates in Mexico and Canada have the practice of allowing third-country nationals (TCN) to apply for a U.S. visa stamp in addition to their home country. However, recent AILA interactions with the Department of [...]
In a decision dated as of March 26, 2010, the Administrative Appeals Office (AAO) has spelled out what we think is an an important policy change affecting employment-based permanent residency applicants who are beneficiaries of a labor certification either as a substitute or as the initial beneficiary of a subsequently-substituted labor certification. Brief Background on [...]
As many of our clients and readers know, the H-1B program allows stay in the U.S. on H or L status of up to six years. Time spent abroad during this period may be "recaptured" and added towards the six years of H-1B time. However, many foreign nationals who are not eligible to extend their [...]
We have written extensively over the past two months on the January 8, 2010 Neufeld Memorandum (the "Neufeld Memo") changing the H-1B adjudication standards for H-1B employers engaged in 3rd party placement or employee-owners. We have also written about AILA's efforts to rescind the Neufeld Memo. In a letter dated March 19, 2010 addressed to [...]