Processing Time reports for all of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) Service Centers were released on January 15, 2010 with processing dates as of November 30, 2009.
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 particular case.
FYI – The American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) has reported a glitch in the issuance of Advance Parole Documents during the first part of January 2010. The date of issuance on the documents is noted as January 1990 instead of 2010.
USCIS has identified all of the cases in which the wrong date was issued, and will issue revised forms as soon as the software issue is corrected.
***No further action will be necessary to receive a corrected document***
$450 flat fee (no admin fee) for filing both EAD and Advance Parole per applicant
OR
$200 + $50(admin fee) if filing either EAD or Advance Parole separately
Effective January 21, 2010, the Department of Labor’s iCERT online system will be updated to allow the submission of electronic prevailing wage determination requests. This electronic process will allow Employers and/or their Designated Representatives to submit and obtain prevailing wage determinations (PWD) for use in the H-1B, H-1B1 (Chile/Singapore), H-1C, H-2B, E-3 (Australia), and permanent labor certification programs through the iCERT portal.
Until January 21, 2010, all prevailing wage determination requests must continue to be submitted by U.S. Mail or comparable physical delivery service to the Washington, D.C. address listed below.
BACKGROUND – On December 19, 2008, the Department published a Final Rule addressing the Labor Certification Process and Enforcement for Temporary Employment in Occupations Other Than Agriculture or Registered Nursing in the United States (H-2B Workers), and Other Technical Changes. The Final Rule implemented a federalized process for obtaining PWD requests for use in the H-2B temporary nonagricultural labor certification program directly from the Employment and Training Administration’s (ETA) appropriate National Processing Center (NPC)–which was designated as the Chicago NPC.
The United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) recently updated their list of Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) approved schools .
The schools listed have all been certified to participate in the program. The program allows foreign students interested in obtaining an education in the United States to complete a visa petition, pay the required fee, and attend a U.S. College or University. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) created a web based system called the Student Exchange Visitor System (SEVIS) which maintains information on the foreign students accepted into the program. The SEVIS monitors the students for the duration of their approved stay, as required by the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act (IIRAIRA) of 1996.
Interested Foreign students: There is a process in obtaining a student visa, but it is not a difficult one. The student must first obtain Form I-20 from the U.S. College or University from which he/she intends to enroll, pay the required visa fee (Form I-901) and contact a local U.S. Consulate/Embassy to schedule an interview. At the interview, the student must have Form I-20, proof of payment of Form I-901, financial support documentation, and a completed visa application. The SEVP procedures differ among U.S. Consulates/Embassies; contact your U.S. Consulate/Embassy NOW to determine its particular procedure on applying for a visa before planning for the interview.
The Administrative Appeals Office (AAO) Processing Times were released on December 31, 2009 with processing dates as of December 2, 2009
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 received sufficient H-1B petitions to reach the statutory cap of 65,000 for FY2010.
New H-1B Petitions filed after December 21, 2009 seeking an employment start date in FY2010 will be rejected by USCIS. Furthermore, the Service will apply a computer-generated random selection process to all petitions that were eligible and received on December 21, 2009.
Stay posted for H-1B filing specials for the FY2011 H-1B CAP!
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 15, 2009, 64,200 H-1B cap subject non-immigrant visa petitions have been filed with the USCIS.
USCIS will continue to accept both cap-subject petitions and advanced degree petitions until a sufficient number of H-1B petitions have been received to reach the statutory limits, taking into account the fact that some of these petitions may be denied, revoked, or withdrawn.
Processing Time reports for all of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) Service Centers were released on December 16, 2009 with processing dates as of October 31, 2009.
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 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 10, 2009, 62,500 H-1B cap subject non-immigrant visa petitions have been filed with the USCIS.
USCIS will continue to accept both cap-subject petitions and advanced degree petitions until a sufficient number of H-1B petitions have been received to reach the statutory limits, taking into account the fact that some of these petitions may be denied, revoked, or withdrawn.
H1B Visa Lawyer Blog