News

Various Updates from USCIS

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (”USCIS”) has provided some updates and insight into their operations and future plans during the annual AILA conference: Premium Processing for I-140.  Some I-140s which were previously eligible for premium processing may be made again eligible.  Expected this summer. H-1B Application Process to be Redesigned.  USCIS is working on reengineering the [...]

By |2010-01-01T17:14:26-05:00June 25th, 2009|H-1B, News|

PERM Processing Statistics

The Department of Labor (”DOL”) has released some numbers about their pace of PERM processing. There are about 58,000 applications currently pending of which 54% are under final review, 38% are in audits, 6% are on appeal and the remaining 2% are subject to  employment verification checks or othe. DOL also reported that cases which are under [...]

By |2009-06-25T09:49:31-04:00June 25th, 2009|News|

Updates from Department of Labor

The Department of Labor (”DOL”) has provided some updates on their operations and processing during the annual AILA conference. DOL Priorities DOL is working on (1) increasing the amount of supervised recruitment from the Atlanta National Processing Center by October 1, 2009; (2) centralizing the processing of all prevailing wage determinations; and (3) centralizing all help desk [...]

By |2009-06-25T09:40:28-04:00June 25th, 2009|News|

EB-5 Job Creation and Full-Time Employees

In a Memorandum dated June 17, 2009, Donald Neufeld, the Acting Associate Director for Domestic Operations, has provided some guidance on the employment-based fifth preference (EB-5) green card category reserved for entrepreneurs willing to invest a substantial capital into the U.S. and create at least 10 full-time jobs. About EB-5 Section 203(b)(5) of the Immigration and Nationality [...]

By |2009-06-25T09:33:41-04:00June 25th, 2009|News|

Rules for Rescheduling Biometrics Appointments for Reentry Permit Applications

Our firm has developed an unique expertise in processing expedited reentry permit and travel document applications.  Such applications are processed by the Nebraska Service Center (”NSC”) and in our experience, if the expedited processing request is granted, the biometric appointment may be scheduled in as little as 10-14 days.   However, even with these expedited processing [...]

By |2009-06-18T11:40:35-04:00June 18th, 2009|News|

Reactions to the “Grim” Visa Number Predictions

We wrote last week about the “grim” predictions by Charles Oppenheim (who is with the Department of State) about the future of the visa numbers for green card employment-based preference categories.  We have received many comments and reactions from readers and clients and we share many of the concerns raised following Mr. Oppenheim’s comments. We read [...]

By |2017-05-20T21:49:30-04:00June 17th, 2009|News|

FY2010 H-1B Numbers Update (June 12, 2009)

USCIS released updated information on the numbers of cap-subject H-1Bs filed since April 1.  As of Friday, June 12, USCIS has received approximately 44,400 H-1B petitions counting toward the 65,000 cap.   USCIS will continue to accept petitions subject to the general cap.   Additionally, USCIS has received approximately 20,000 petitions for aliens with advanced degrees; however, [...]

By |2010-01-01T17:14:26-05:00June 16th, 2009|H-1B, News|

Visa Bulletin and Visa Number Predictions and Availability Comments – Bad News for EB India and China

During the annual AILA conference, Mr. Charles Oppenheim of the Department of State Visa Office (he is the person who is largely involved in the movement of visa numbers) provided some thoughts and predictions on the movement of visa numbers for the remainder of the fiscal year 2009 (FY2009 the end of which is September [...]

By |2017-05-20T21:49:30-04:00June 11th, 2009|News|

July 2009 Visa Bulletin – No Change Except EB-2 China Retrogression

The July 2009 Visa Bulletin was released today.  Unfortunately, as expected, the only change is the EB-2 China category which changed from February 15, 2005 to January 1, 2000.  All other categories remain unchanged.  Here is a summary of the July 2009 Visa Bulletin: EB-1 remains current across the board. EB-2 remains unchanged for all categories except [...]

By |2009-06-09T10:54:26-04:00June 9th, 2009|News|

Green Card Card Production Delays

We have been informed by USCIS that some legal permanent residency (”green card”) applicants may experience an eight-week delay in receiving their green card.    The stated reason is that USCIS is upgrading its card production equipment. For applicants who need to obtain evidence of their permanent residency, the local USCIS offices can issue temporary Form I-551 [...]

By |2009-06-04T10:23:03-04:00June 4th, 2009|News|

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