The Administrative Appeals Office (AAO) Processing Times were released with processing dates as of January 1, 2011.
If you filed an appeal, please review the links below to determine the applicable processing time associated with your particular case.
The United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) has updated the count of H-1B petitions received and counted towards the 65,000 cap.
As of December 31st, 2010, 57,300 H-1B Regular CAP subject non-immigrant visa petitions have been filed with the USCIS towards the 65,000 cap.
As of December 31st, 2010, 20,000 H-1B Masters Degree CAP subject non-immigrant visa petitions have been filed with the USCIS towards the 20,000 cap. THE H-1B MASTERS CAP HAS BEEN REACHED!
MVP “Q & A Forum” – This Friday, January 7th, 2011
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 Blog.
If you have a burning question, are seeking assistance with a difficult immigration related case, wish to discuss your views on Comprehensive Immigration Reform, AZ SB1070, priority dates, or the debate focused on Ending Birthright Citizenship, please contact us by submitting your question/comment/viewpoint in our comment box provided on our H-1B Visa Lawyer Blog.
Hua Huang, manager of China Buffet/Mongolian Grill in Missouri plead guilty to harboring, transporting, and hiring illegal aliens in addition to conspiracy to commit visa fraud on December 10.
It was discovered during the investigation that between January 2009 and August 2010, Huang regularly employed illegal workers from Mexico and China. During that time Huang obtained fake identification for the illegal workers and tried to arrange marriages for them in order to secure visas. Huang’s sentencing is set for March 2011.
On December 10, two local El Paso businesses signed up to become IMAGE (ICE Mutual Agreement between Government and Employers) partners. The IMAGE program was started in 2006 by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to minimize the number of unauthorized workers being hired, reduce fraud, and create a more secure workplace. To qualify as an IMAGE partner, a business must first meet certain criteria such as: assessing their hiring practices to uncover weaknesses that could potentially be exploited, enrolling in employment eligibility verification programs, training employees on how to use the new IMAGE screening tools and practices, as well as undergoing a Form I-9 audit by ICE.
After being audited last year, Tony Marquez of Jobe Materials, LP became an advocate for the IMAGE program and says, “I feel that by being audited by ICE, and having my employees trained through the E-Verify online system to determine the authenticity of new employee documentation, I will be a more vigilant employer and a guardian of immigration laws.” For more information or to learn how to become an IMAGE partner, visit http://www.ice.gov/image/.
Tara Ammons Cohen, a Washington state resident, is set to be deported back to Mexico due to an investigation into her citizenship. Cohen was adopted by US citizen parents when she was a baby and believes she is an American citizen. Legally, Cohen is not an American citizen because when she was adopted from Mexico at 4 months old; her adoptive parents never secured her citizenship. Cohen is very scared at the possibility of being deported to Mexico, as she doesn’t speak any Spanish and Mexico is a very unfamiliar place to her. Being deported would also mean that Cohen would leave her husband and three children behind in the US. The investigation into her citizenship began after she pleaded guilty and served time for drug trafficking. Cohen plans to keep fighting her deportation even it means going all the way to the Supreme Court.
A Corpus Christi business became a member of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) “ICE Mutual Agreement between Government and Employers’ (IMAGE) program on December 10.
The IMAGE program was launched in 2006 and actively pursues partnering with businesses in hopes of minimizing the number of unauthorized workers being hired and reducing fraud. Undocumented workers that are hired create vulnerabilities in the system because they provide falsified documents and identities to gain benefits.
In order for a business to qualify as an IMAGE partner they must first meet a few requirements such as: assessing their hiring practices to uncover weaknesses that could potentially be exploited, enrolling in employment eligibility verification programs, training employees on how to use the new IMAGE screening tools and practices, as well as undergoing a Form I-9 audit by ICE. Previously this year, 6 businesses in the Houston area signed up to become IMAGE partners. Once becoming an IMAGE partner, ICE provides free training to all employers on Form I-9 and how to detect fraudulent documents. Companies interested in the IMAGE program or those who would like more information visit http://www.ice.gov/image/.
On December 6, 2010 Global Entry, a US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) initiative, at Washington-Dulles International Airport exceeded 75,000 users. The program was created in hopes of speeding up processing at international airports for “pre-approved trusted travelers.”
Global Entry was launched at Dulles on June 6, 2008, where there are currently 14 self-help kiosks which assist the pre-approved travelers in avoiding long lines and completing their session in less than a minute. Average processing times for all the Global Entry kiosks is approximately 56 seconds compared to a wait of 60 minutes for a regular traveler going through primary inspection. Partaking in the Global Entry program is voluntary and there are a few requirements such as: possessing a US passport or permanent resident card, paying a $100 application fee, submitting an online application and attending an interview with a CBP official.
For more information on how to apply to the Global Entry program, visit www.globalentry.gov.
After an investigation by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Office of Homeland Security (HSI) Sophia Manuel and Alfonso Baldonado Jr. were sentenced in a forced labor conspiracy on December 10.
It was uncovered during the investigation that Manuel and Baldonado Jr., owners of Quality Staffing Services Corporation, were forcing 39 Filipino nationals to work in country clubs and hotels around Southeast Florida. The pair first made the Filipino nationals pay up-front recruitment fees, which they knew they didn’t have so the Filipino nationals were already in debt. Then, when they no longer wanted to work, Manuel and Baldonado threatened to arrest and deport them. The nonpayment of debts is very serious in the Philippines and the two knew they could use that against the workers to stay. Manuel was sentenced to 78 months in prison not only for her crimes against the Filipino nationals but she also admitted to making false statements on a form filed with the US Department of Labor. Baldonado was sentenced to 51 months in prison.
Following an extensive investigation led by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Office of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), and the Social Security Administration (SSA) Marino and Nicole Sandoval, owners of El Balazo restaurants, were charged in a criminal information filed last month with a variety of tax and immigration violations.
The investigation revealed they were harboring illegal aliens for financial gain, had employed at least 10 unauthorized aliens at their restaurants, reported false Social Security numbers, evaded taxes, and filed inaccurate tax returns. The Sandoval’s were able to hide the fact they underrepresented the restaurants sales on their tax returns and illegally paid their unauthorized workers with payroll checks and cash. Marino Sandoval’s brother, Francisco also pleaded guilty to charges of harboring illegal aliens and failure to pay taxes. The Sandoval’s are set to appear in court on January 31, 2011, but until then they are out on a $100,000 bond.
During the 2010 fiscal year, criminal charges have been filed on 180 owners, employers, managers and/or supervisors following investigations conducted by ICE.
H1B Visa Lawyer Blog