An Elizabeth, NJ woman, Maritza Chavez, advertised herself to the general public as an Immigration Lawyer. Chavez created a company to help immigrants obtain U.S. citizenship. After a thorough investigation, it was made clear that Chavez was not a Lawyer and her company only helped her to take money from…
H1B Visa Lawyer Blog
USCIS Launches Redesigned Interactive Voice Response System
On February 1st, the USCIS launched a newly redesigned Interactive Voice Response (IVR) system. When calling the USCIS toll-free National Customer Service Center (1-800-375-5283), you will hear a new series of interactive messages to help streamline your access to immigration information, case status, and customer service representatives. This system redesign…
H-2B Cap Count UPDATE – 1/24/14
The H-2B non-agricultural temporary worker program allows U.S. employers to bring foreign nationals to the United States to fill temporary non-agricultural jobs. The H-2B cap limit for the first half of FY 2014 (October 1 – March 31) is 33,000. As of the last count (1/24/14); 19,253 beneficiaries have been…
BALCA Acknowledges Due Process Concerns But Upholds PERM Denial
The Board of Alien Labor Certification Appeals (BALCA) recently affirmed the decision of a Certifying Officer (CO) to deny labor certification for the position of “Instructional Coordinator: Computer Cluster.” After receiving & reviewing an Employer’s Application for Permanent Labor Certification, the CO issued an Audit notification. Once the Employer responded,…
MVP LAW GROUP – Immigration Q&A Forum, Friday, January 31, 2014
MVP Law Group, P.A. makes available the information and materials in this forum for informational purposes only. The information is general in nature and does not constitute legal advice or any contractual obligations. Further, the use of this site, and the sending or receipt of this information, does not create…
SOTU 2014 and Immigration Reform
The President had many great things to say yesterday (1/28/14) during his State of the Union (SOTU) 2014 address to Congress and the American people! The two main things President Obama stated concerning Immigration were: (1) that it will grow the economy and reduce the deficit; and (2) the U.S.…
H-1B (FY2015) Season is quickly approaching, projecting another short season!
The Fiscal Year 2015 H-1B season is quickly approaching and has been projected to be yet another short season. Each Fiscal Year (FY), which starts on October 1, 65,000 H-1B visas become available for what is referred to as the “General Cap,” and 20,000 H-1B visas become available for what…
BALCA on Presumption of Delivery of DOL Mail
The Board of Alien Labor Certification Appeals (BALCA) recently overturned the decision of a Certifying Officer (CO) to deny labor certification for the position of “Maid.” After receiving & reviewing an Employer’s Application for Permanent Labor Certification, the CO denied certification. He cited the Employer’s failure to “make a selection…
MVP “Immigration Q & A Forum” – This Friday, January 31, 2014
We wanted to find a new way to engage our reader base. Every other Friday, we will post the ten (10) best/most frequently asked questions received during the week from our h1bvisalawyerblog, Facebook, and Twitter readers. We will answer those questions and provide the Q&A on our H-1B Visa Lawyer…
Updated Service Center Processing Times
Processing Time reports for all of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) Service Centers were released on 1/21/14 with processing dates as of 11/30/13. If you filed a petition with one of the Service Centers, please review the links below to determine the applicable processing time associated with your…