U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) launched a bold new audit initiative on July 1, 2009 to combat the problem of hiring of an illegal workforce. On July 1, 652 businesses nationwide were served with Audit Notifications indicating that ICE would be inspecting their hiring records (Form I-9) to determine…
H1B Visa Lawyer Blog
REMINDER – File LCAs with the new iCert System beginning 7/1/09!
Effective July 1, 2009, all users of the Old LCA system must begin using the new iCert system located on the U.S. Department of Labor Employment & Training Administration website to file LCAs.
LATEST UPDATE – FY 2010 H-1B Cap Count
On June 24, 2009, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) updated the count of H-1B petitions received and counted towards the 65,000 cap. As of June 19, 2009, 44,500 H-1B cap subject nonimmigrant visa petitions have been filed. USCIS has advised that they will continue to accept petitions…
USCIS will resume Premium Processing for Form I-140, Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker beginning June 29, 2009
The United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) has announced that effective June 29, 2009, it will resume the premium processing service for Form I-140, Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker. The following categories are eligible for premium processing: EB-1 Aliens with Extraordinary Ability EB-1 Outstanding Professors and Researchers EB-2 Member…
Updated Service Centers Processing Times
Processing Time reports for all of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) Centers were released on June 15, 2009 with processing dates as of April 30, 2009. If you filed a petition with one of the Service Centers, please review the links below to determine the applicable processing time…
USCIS ordered to accept concurrently-filed Religious Worker I-360 and I-485 applications
Last week, a Washington District Court ordered the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) to begin accepting concurrently-filed I-360 and I-485 petitions. The District court ordered that the bar against concurrent filings on behalf of religious workers, as set forth in 8 C.F.R. § 245.2(a)(2)(i)(B), was an impermissible construction…
Legislation to Protect Orphans, Widows and Widowers Introduced by Senators Menendez (D-NJ), Gillibrand (D-NY), and Leahy (D-VT)
On Thursday, June 11, 2009, Senators Robert Menendez, Kirsten Gillibrand and Patrick Leahy introduced the Orphans, Widows and Widowers Protection Act (S. 1427). This legislation would provide essential immigration protections for those impacted by the death of a sponsoring relative. The legislation imposes specific requirements that must be followed for…
LATEST UPDATE – FY 2010 H-1B Cap Count
On June 11, 2009, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) updated the count of H-1B petitions received and counted towards the 65,000 cap. As of June 5, 2009, 44,400 H-1B cap subject nonimmigrant visa petitions have been filed. USCIS has advised that they will continue to accept petitions…
July 2009 Visa Bulletin
The Department of State has released its latest Visa Bulletin. The July 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 July…
USCIS Experiencing Production Delays
The United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) has announced that they are experiencing delays in the production of permanent residence cards.The Service is in the process of updating its card production equipment. As of May 29, 2009, the Service announced that recipients may experience up to an eight (8)…