Articles Posted in Immigration News

by

On November 15th, the House of Representatives passed legislation to aid US service members who marry foreigners.

The bill was created in response to the case of Hotaru Ferschke, a Japanese woman, who married an US marine that was killed in Iraq. Since she was not a US citizen, Ferschke could not immigrate to the US in order to raise their son. The bill passed would prevent foreigners married to US service members from having to consummate their marriage in order to qualify for US citizenship. Hotaru and Michael Ferschke were married over the phone in July 2008, learned Ferschke was pregnant shortly after he deployed from Okinawa and a month later he was killed in Baghdad. Hotaru was denied paperwork for legal immigration to the US because the Department of Homeland Security stated their marriage wasn’t in accordance with US law.
Many senators and representatives are working to get the bill passed in both houses, the bill’s sponsor Rep. John J. Duncan (R-TN) said, “any person looking at this case can see that this loophole is tragic and deserved to be closed.” It’s still unclear when the bill will make it to the senate.

by

Peri Software Solutions Inc and its owner, Saravanan Periasamy, were ordered on December 7 to pay $638,449 in back wages with interest to 67 workers for violating provisions of the Immigration Nationality Act by the US Department of Labor related to the H1-B visa.

Peri Software Solutions was additionally ordered to pay $126,778 in civil money penalties with interest for failure to provide, “notice of the filing of labor condition applications at each place where any H1-B worker was to be employed” as well as filing lawsuits against workers who ended their employment early. As a result of the violations, the company is prohibited from participating in the H1-B for one year.

Deputy administrator of the department’s Wage and Hour Division, Nancy Leppink says, “Peri Software not only took advantage of these workers by not properly compensating them, it also violated the part of the law that provides the greatest protection to the American workforce.”

by

The Department of State has released its latest Visa Bulletin.

Click here to view the January 2011 Visa Bulletin.

The January 2011 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.

Continue reading

by

On November 5, the Department of Homeland Security released a Privacy Impact Assessment for the “Immigration Benefits Background Check Systems.” Every applicant seeking immigration benefits is required to undergo background checks administered by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). Each applicant’s check includes cross-references against systems within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) and the Department of Justice (DOJ). The information collected through the background checks is gathered by five main technology electric systems. The new Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA) released by Homeland Security will replace any previous publications on planned background related systems and is part of an effort by USCIS to streamline the process, reducing the risk of an invasion into applicant’s privacy.

The background check is a way for USCIS to determine the applicant’s legitimacy for the benefit. The applicant must go through four background checks: a FBI fingerprint, the US-VISIT’s Automated Biometric Identification System (IDENT) fingerprint, the FBI name check, and the TECS name check. An applicant can choose to decline to provide information under the Privacy Act Notice but doing so will result in the denial of the immigration benefit requested.

In investigating the current background check procedures, the Privacy Impact Assessment found that with all the technologies used, many outdated and overly complex, it’s likely one will fail. USCIS has also put into practice increasing measures to restrict access to the systems to authorized personnel only, preventing the misuse of any data. In addition, to reduce the unnecessary duplication of data, USCIS is developing a more centralized system as a part of their “Transformation Initiate.”

Continue reading

by

The Board of Alien Labor Certification Appeals (BALCA) recently vacated and remanded the final determination of a Certifying Officer (CO) denying labor certification for an alien worker for the position of “Controls Engineer.”

The application was accepted on October 2, 2009 and on the application where additional recruitment efforts required were suppose to be reported, the Employer cited the posting on its web site and use of a referral program as well as a private employment firm. The dates listed for posting were “06/26/09 to Ongoing.” The application was denied by the CO citing the Employer failed to fill out a section, rendering the whole application incomplete. The Employer then asked for a review but also wanted the chance to change and correct information on the new application. The revised application stated that the end of the posting on the website and referral program was “07/30/09.” The application was redirected to Appeals where the CO argued under 20 C.F.R. § 656.11(a) that an application revised after July 17, 2007 cannot be accepted.

PERM regulation 20 C.F.R. § 656.17(a) controls and it provides that any incomplete application will be denied. However, the BOARD found that the Employer did not submit an “incomplete” application, the Employer simply did not fill out the section in the format instructed, mm/dd/yyyy. Further, BALCA found that there was no precedent to suggest that filling out “ongoing” in the answer field was incorrect.

Continue reading

by

The Justice Department settled with Hoover Inc. on November 10, after allegations that the company had been implementing discriminatory employment practices such as imposing excessive procedures for permanent residents going through the I-9 process.

The investigation into Hoover Inc. revealed that the company was requiring all legal permanent residents to reproduce new green cards after theirs had expired while US citizen employees were not required to submit any documentation. Under the Immigration and Nationality Act, employees are prohibited from treating a permanent resident employee any differently than any US citizen.

The terms of the settlement between the Justice Department and Hoover Inc. included Hoover Inc. paying $10,200 in civil liberties as well as requiring the company to begin training its human resource personnel about nondiscriminatory practices. Follow up reports are required to be sent the Department of Justice for one year.

by

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 3rd, 2010, 51,200 H-1B Regular CAP subject non-immigrant visa petitions have been filed with the USCIS towards the 65,000 cap.

As of December 3rd, 2010, 18,700 H-1B Masters Degree CAP subject non-immigrant visa petitions have been filed with the USCIS towards the 20,000 cap.

Continue reading

by

The Board of Alien Labor Certification Appeals (BALCA) recently vacated and remanded the final determination of a Certifying Officer (CO) denying labor certification (LC) for an alien worker for the position of “Purchasing Manager.”

The CO originally denied the application on the grounds that the Employer failed to provide evidence of its State Workforce Agency (SWA) job posting subsequent to an audit. The Employer stated that a screenshot of the Oklahoma Job Link Website was in fact submitted. The request for review was sent to the Appeals Board by the CO. In an appellate brief, the Employer continued to argue that the SWA job posting was included in the original audit while the CO stood by its original position that it was not.

Accordingly, the BOARD reversed the decision of the CO, finding that the Employers SWA job posting was clearly included in the audit response. The application was sent back to the CO for issuance of a labor certification.

by

The Administrative Appeals Office (AAO) Processing Times were released with processing dates as of December 1, 2010.

If you filed an appeal, please review the links below to determine the applicable processing time associated with your particular case.

Administrative Appeals Office

Continue reading

by

Long’s Human Resource Service signed an agreement on November 10, becoming the first Alabama business to be an IMAGE partner with the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The IMAGE program, also known as the ICE Mutual agreement between Government and Employers, was launched in 2007 to helps employer’s better follow the language and regulations of the law by providing them with the necessary information and tools.

To become an IMAGE partner, a company must undergo a rigorous process that includes in-depth training and investigation into its hiring practices. Employers are provided with the screening tools necessary to prevent illegal workers from being hired. The IMAGE program works to combat that weakness that illegal workers create both within the company and the government by using fraudulent documents to gain employment and commit identity theft against US workers. Companies who sign the IMAGE partnership are agreeing to use the best hiring methods, train and hold their staff to the highest standards, and use the screening tools for all employee applicants offered by the federal government. IMAGE partner companies also process I-9 forms, use the E-Verify system, maintain employee records and comply with all employment laws in order to improve their business as well as meet the standards of the program.

Contact Information
1177 Annapolis Rd #70
Odenton, MD 21113
Toll Free: 1-800-447-0796Local: 240-390-0600Fax: 240-390-0603

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Please do not include any confidential or sensitive information in a contact form, text message, or voicemail. The contact form sends information by non-encrypted email, which is not secure. Submitting a contact form, sending a text message, making a phone call, or leaving a voicemail does not create an attorney-client relationship.

Copyright © 2025, MVP Law Group, P.A.
JUSTIA Law Firm Blog Design