Our firm 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 [...]
The Department of Labor ("DOL") has provided an update on the current PERM processing dates as of November 31, 2009. They are as follows: Regular processing: February 2009. DOL is processing PERM applications with priority dates in February 2009. This suggests that there is certain forward movement for regular PERM processing. Accordingly, regular PERM processing [...]
Thank you for your support throughout 2009. We owe our success to you, our clients, readers and friends and we wish to express our gratitude and continued support. We are looking forward to working with you during the new year and we wish you a prosperous, happy and joyous New Year 2010.
Our office receives a fair number of Section 221(g) inquiries from visa applicants at a U.S. Consulate abroad. This article aims to explain Section 221(g) and to provide some tips for dealing with a 221(g) visa refusal. About Section 221(g) Section 221(g) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) provides for temporary refusal of visa when an [...]
In a November 2009 AILA meeting, Mr. Charlie Oppenheim, who is Chief of the Immigrant Visa Control and Reporting Division at the Department of State (or also known as the person who determines the visa bulletin dates), has indicated some ways in which the visa bulletin numbers will move over the next few months. Mr. Oppenheim’s [...]
A few minutes ago USCIS announced that as of December 21, 2009, it has received sufficient petitions to reach the statutory cap for FY2010. USCIS has also received more than 20,000 H-1B petitions on behalf of persons exempt from the cap under the advanced degree exemption. No New FY2010 Cap-Subject H-1B Filings Accepted USCIS will reject all [...]
USCIS released updated information on the numbers of cap-subject H-1Bs filed since April 1. As of December 17, 2009, USCIS has received approximately 64,200 H-1B petitions counting toward the 65,000 cap. The updated count means that as of December 17, 2009, there were 800 H-1B visas left under this year’s H-1B quota and USCIS will [...]
The Department of State has announced that it will deploy the DS-160 fully web-based nonimmigrant visa application form worldwide. DS-160 has been used so far successfully in 24 consular posts and will be expanded to cover all consular posts by April 30, 2010. About DS-160 The DS-160 application form combines all information previously collected on the DS-156, [...]
The January 2010 Visa Bulletin was just released by the State Department. The fourth visa bulletin for the fiscal year 2010 and the first for the calendar 2010 does not bring much movement. For many categories, the only forward movement is in the 1-2 months range. Here is a summary of the January 2010 Visa [...]
USCIS released updated information on the numbers of cap-subject H-1Bs filed since April 1. As of December 10, 2009, USCIS has received approximately 62,500 H-1B petitions counting toward the 65,000 cap (an increase of 1,000 in the past three days). The updated count means that as of December 10, 2009, there were 2,500 H-1B visas [...]