The Department of Labor (DOL) has informed a liaison of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) that they will continue to keep the old Labor Condition Application (LCA) system operable for a specified time. The reasons behind allowing the old LCA system to remain operational through June 30, 2009 are…
The Department of State has released its latest Visa Bulletin. The June 2009 visa bulletin still shows employment based third preference (EB-3) visas as oversubscribed while the employment based second preference (EB-2) is current for all areas of chargeability except for China and India. Click here to view the June…
On May 4, 2009, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) updated the count of H-1B petitions received and counted towards the 65,000 cap. USCIS has received 45,000 H-1B nonimmigrant visa petitions. USCIS has advised that they will continue to accept petitions until the cap is reached. Additionally, USCIS…
On Thursday, April 23, 2009, Assistant Senate Majority Leader Dick Durbin and Senator Chuck Grassley introduced the H-1B and L-1 Visa Reform Act. This bipartisan legislation would reform the current H-1B and L-1 guest worker programs to prevent abuse and fraud, and to protect American workers. This legislation calls for…
On April 20, 2009, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) updated the count of H-1B petitions received and counted towards the 65,000 cap. USCIS has received 44,000 H-1B nonimmigrant visa petitions. USCIS has advised that they will continue to accept petitions until the cap is reached. Additionally, USCIS…
According to the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA), several United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) service centers have begun to issue Requests for Additional Evidence (RFEs) for all H-1B petitioning employers who did not include the TARP recipient funding page of Form I-129, Data Collection with their H-1B FY…
On April 10, 2009, the Department of Labor (DOL) released new information and materials on the New iCert System which covers the H-1B, H-1B1, and E-3 visa programs. The New iCert system will be implemented beginning April 15, 2009. According to the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) the New iCert…
Regular Petitions Subject to Cap As of April 9, 2009, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) have received approximately 42, 000 H-1B nonimmigrant petitions counting toward the congressionally mandated 65,000 cap. The USCIS has indicated that they will continue to accept H-1B petitions subject to the cap. Advanced…
The Commission on Graduates of Foreign Nursing Schools (CGFNS) International is an internationally recognized authority on credentials evaluations and verification pertaining to the education, registration, and licensure of nurses and health care professionals worldwide. CGFNS International is a leader in the industry with extensive knowledge of the profession and over…
Many employers have been questioning whether the regulation governing the “lottery” system will apply to this year’s H-1B cap. The United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) has provided that the lottery will apply this year. In accordance with the regulation, the USCIS randomly selects the number of petition’s necessary…