Articles Posted in Immigration News

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On May 4, 2009, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) updated the count of H-1B petitions received and counted towards the 65,000 cap. USCIS has received 45,000 H-1B nonimmigrant visa petitions. USCIS has advised that they will continue to accept petitions until the cap is reached. Additionally, USCIS reported that they received 20,000 advanced degree H-1B petitions. Although the limit on advanced degree petitions is 20,000, past experience has tended to show that not all petitions received are approvable. Accordingly, qualifying applicants are still able to petition for an H-1B nonimmigrant visa either under the general cap, or as an applicant with an advanced degree. (i.e., U.S. Master’s degree)

If you have any questions surrounding the H-1B nonimmigrant visa program, please contact our office.

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The United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) announced on April 27, 2009 that they have made minor changes to the process of applying for a replacement Permanent Resident card. These changes apply to all applicants applying via paper form, including those applying because their previously issued card was never received and those who have cards with incorrect data due to a USCIS error. These changes do not apply to those applicants filing Form I-90 electronically, or those whose residence is located outside the United States.

One of the changes involves the submission of all supporting documentation at the time of applying (mailed along with a completed Form I-90). Prior to this change, applicants were asked to bring supporting documentation with them to their biometrics appointment.

Additionally, the Direct Mail address has been changed. The USCIS mailing address for completed Form I-90 was originally a Lockbox facility in Los Angeles, CA. Due to the closing of this facility the new USCIS Lockbox facility address for Form I-90 is in Phoenix, AZ. Applicants have been instructed to mail their applications to the addresses provided below:

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The United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) National Benefits Center (NBC) Liaison Committee has identified that there is a problem with the interface tool for the “Case Status Online.” Not only has this problem caused much delay in the recording of new receipt numbers in the system, it has hampered the updating of status information for those cases already in the online system. The Liaison Committee stated that the issue was not limited to NBC filings, and that the problem has been recurring. The NBC Liaison Committee did not provide a time estimate of when they expected the interface to be fixed.

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On Thursday, April 23, 2009, Assistant Senate Majority Leader Dick Durbin and Senator Chuck Grassley introduced the H-1B and L-1 Visa Reform Act. This bipartisan legislation would reform the current H-1B and L-1 guest worker programs to prevent abuse and fraud, and to protect American workers.

This legislation calls for a “good faith attempt” to solicit qualified American workers before hiring an H-1B guest worker. Accordingly, Employers would be prohibited from using H-1B visa holders to displace qualified American workers. Additionally, the bill calls for a prohibition against the blatantly discriminatory practice of “H-1B only” ads and would prohibit Employers from hiring additional guest workers if more than 50% of their workforce consisted of H-1B and L-1 visa holders.

To address the issues of fraud and abuse, the bill would allow the Department of Labor (DOL) to initiate investigations without a complaint and without the personal authorization of the DOL Secretary. In addition, the bill would allow the DOL to conduct random audits of companies that utilize the H-1B nonimmigrant visa program. Specifically, the bill calls for annual audits by the DOL for employers who employ a large number of guest-workers.

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On April 20, 2009, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) updated the count of H-1B petitions received and counted towards the 65,000 cap. USCIS has received 44,000 H-1B nonimmigrant visa petitions. USCIS has advised that they will continue to accept petitions until the cap is reached. Additionally, USCIS reported that they received 20,000 advanced degree H-1B petitions. Although the limit on advanced degree petitions is 20,000, past experience has tended to show that not all petitions received are approvable. Accordingly, qualifying applicants are still able to petition for an H-1B nonimmigrant visa either under the general cap, or as an applicant with an advanced degree. (i.e., U.S. Master’s degree)

If you have any questions surrounding the H-1B nonimmigrant visa program, please contact our office.

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It has come to our attention that many Permanent Labor Certification Applications are being denied by the Department of Labor (DOL) for several reasons, some of which could be avoided by having competent counsel.

It is important to have an Experienced Attorney who is familiar and thorough when completing and filing Permanent Labor Certification Applications. Many of the reasons for denial of labor certification are because of the failure to comply with Federal Regulations, failure to provide specific dates, misinterpreting statutory language, and the failure to comply with time period requirements.

When dealing with the complexity of Business Immigration Law it is recommended that you obtain the expertise of a skilled and knowledgeable Business Immigration Attorney, especially when dealing with the specificity of the PERM process.

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The Board of Alien Labor Certification Appeals (BALCA) recently upheld the final determination
of a Certifying Officer (CO) denying labor certification (LC) for an alien worker for the position of Chef.

In May of 2006, the CO issued an Audit Notification letter. The CO requested that the Employer submit its Notice of Filing, among other documents requested. The Employer responded by submitting two Job Postings. Subsequently, the CO denied the application in December of 2006 on several grounds. The majority of the deficiencies focused on the Notice of Filing. The CO provided that the Notice of Filing failed to (1) state that the Notice was being provided as a result of the filing of an application for permanent alien labor certification, (2) state that any person may provide documentary evidence bearing on the application to the CO, (3) provide the CO’s address, and (4) list the wage offered for the position. In January of 2007, the Employer requested reconsideration and review of the denial. The Employer put forth the argument that the requested documentation was submitted to the CO in the context of the audit, and therefore, only a substantial failure to provide documentation may justify a denial of the application. Subsequently, the CO issued a letter of reconsideration providing that the denial was proper under 20 C.F.R. 656.10(d). The CO then forwarded the case to BALCA. The Employer did submit an appellate brief in support of its position, stating that the standard of consideration of whether to deny an application is whether the Employer’s filings constituted substantial compliance with the requirements of the Code of Federal Regulations. The CO also filed a brief urging denial based on the importance of the Notice of Filing requirement and its contents.

Upon BALCA review, the language of the applicable Federal Regulation was analyzed. The regulation at 20 C.F.R. 656.10(d) provides that the Notice of Filing must (i) state the notice is being provide as a result of the filing of an application for permanent alien labor certification for the relevant job opportunity; (ii) state any person may provide documentary evidence bearing on the application to the CO of the Department of Labor (DOL); (iii) provide the address of the appropriate CO; and (iv) be provided between 30 and 180 days before filing the application. Additionally, if any application is filed under Sec. 656.17, the notice must contain the information required for advertisements by Sec. 656.17(f), must state the rate of pay (which must equal or exceed the prevailing wage entered by the SWA on the prevailing wage request form), and must contain the information required by paragraph (d)(3) of this section.
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Processing Time reports for all of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) Centers were released on April 16, 2009 with processing dates as of February 28, 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.

California Service Center

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As of April 3, 2009, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) indicated that U.S. employers should no longer be using outdated versions of Form I-9. The updated Form I-9 has been available in English and Spanish via the USCIS website since it was revised in February.

Instructions for completing Form I-9 have also been made available by the USCIS. Additionally, the USCIS has provided a 1-800 number that employers may use to order updated Form I-9 if they do not have online access.

If you need assistance in completing Form I-9, or are interested in conducting an in-house Form I-9 Audit, please contact our office for assistance.

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According to the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA), several United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) service centers have begun to issue Requests for Additional Evidence (RFEs) for all H-1B petitioning employers who did not include the TARP recipient funding page of Form I-129, Data Collection with their H-1B FY 2010 petitions.

Due to the passage of the Employ American Worker Act (EAWA), the USCIS is required to collect Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP) information on each H-1B petitioning employer. Due to the fact that Form I-129 was not re-designed and accessible to reflect this change in the visa program until a few days before the H-1B FY 2010 cap opened, submission of the newly designed Form I-129, Data Collection was not mandatory. The USCIS has indicated that if H-1B petitions were submitted without the TARP information, they would not be rejected. In conclusion, the USCIS has determined that in order to collect the required TARP information, they will need to issue RFEs. So far, practitioners who have received RFE’s requesting TARP information have reported that the USCIS has only requested the single page of Form I-129, Data Collection (page 13) which indicates whether the petitioner has received TARP funding or not.

As immigration law is already complex is nature, it is important to have an attorney experienced in the field, who is ready and willing to advise when changes occur. Contact the MVP Law Group if you have any further questions regarding EAWA and its effect on your company.

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