Immigration News

April 2, 2013

USCIS Revises Public Hours of National Customer Service Center

The USCIS National Customer Service Center (NCSC) is introducing new public hours of operation for their toll-free number at 800-375-5283. Effective immediately, USCIS will eliminate Saturday hours of operation. Beginning April 1, the NCSC will be open from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday through Friday, in all four time zones in the contiguous United States. This adjustment will allow USCIS to better serve customers during peak contact hours and respond more quickly to customer needs.

As always, customers can check the status of their case, change their address, or submit an e-request 24 hours a day by visiting www.uscis.gov. In the coming months, USCIS plans to launch a number of additional customer service enhancements to further improve the quality of their customer service.

To summarize, the USCIS NCSC will be reducing their call in hours on their live customer service line, Monday through Friday by two hours and eliminating Saturday hours.

April 1, 2013

Updated Service Center Processing Times

by Kellie N. Lego

Processing Time reports for all of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) Service Centers were released on 3/22/13 with processing dates as of 1/31/13.

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

March 29, 2013

MVP LAW GROUP – Immigration Q&A Forum, Friday, March 29, 2013

by Kellie N. Lego

MVP Law Group, P.A. makes available the information and materials in this forum for informational purposes only. The information is general in nature and does not constitute legal advice or any contractual obligations. Further, the use of this site, and the sending or receipt of this information, does not create an attorney-client relationship between us. Therefore, your communication with us through this forum will not be considered as privileged or confidential.

Question #1 – H-1B Nonimmigrant Work Visa

Are applicants with Master Degree’s given preference when filing for an H-1B under the yearly Cap?

March 25, 2013

MVP “Immigration Q & A Forum” – This Friday, March 29, 2013

by Kellie N. Lego

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, DREAMers, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, priority dates, the monthly visa bulletin, adjustment applications, etc., please contact us by submitting your question/comment/viewpoint in our comment box provided on our H-1B Visa Lawyer Blog.

Our next “Q & A Forum” will take place this Friday, March 29, 2013. Act now and submit your questions!

March 21, 2013

DACA Statistics – USCIS Update through 3/14/13

by Kellie N. Lego

These USCIS statistics on DACA cases from 8/15/12 to 3/14/13 show a total of 453,589 DACA requests accepted for processing, 442,041 biometric services appointments scheduled, and 245,493 requests approved.

The data also shows the number of accepted requests from the top ten countries of origin and the top ten states of residence. Mexico was the top county of origin with 338,334 received to date. California was the top state of residence with 128,412 received to date.

View the (.PDF) USCIS Report, “Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals Process (March, 2013)“

March 19, 2013

Immigration Reform – President meets with Religious Community

by Kellie N. Lego

President Obama and members of his senior staff met last Friday (3/8/13) with a diverse group of religious leaders from across America. I have included the list of participants below. The White House meeting was held to update these leaders on the progress of immigration reform and to give them a chance to voice their concerns. The discussions were off-the-record; however, it was reported the discussions involved “Family-based Immigration”, “Path to Citizenship”, LGBT rights and many others. One participant, Dieter Uchtdorf from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints stated, “We were a very small group, and so everyone had a chance to say their piece”. Uchtdorf also stated, “The President was very warm and friendly, and seemed interested in what we had to say.”

MVP Law Group realizes that humanity is a hard thing to legislate! We feel the President is on the right path by including as many perspectives as possible in the discussion.

Participants in the meeting included:

March 15, 2013

H1B CAP NEWS: USCIS Announcement Regarding Premium Processing for H-1B Cap-Subject Petitions

by Kellie N. Lego

The filing period for H-1B petitions subject to the fiscal year (FY) 2014 numerical cap begins on April 1, 2013. USCIS anticipates that it may receive more than 65,000 cap-subject H-1B petitions and more than 20,000 petitions filed on behalf of individuals with a U.S. master’s degree or higher between April 1, 2013, and April 5, 2013. This could be the first time since April 2008 that the H-1B cap will require a lottery.

USCIS provides premium processing service for certain employment-based petitions and guarantees a 15-calendar-day processing time. Due to the historic premium processing receipt levels, combined with the possibility that the H-1B cap will be met in the first 5 business days of the filing season, USCIS has temporarily adjusted its current premium processing practice. To facilitate the prioritized data entry of cap-subject petitions requesting premium processing, and in accordance with 8 CFR 103.7(e)(3)(ii), USCIS is announcing that premium processing for cap-subject H-1B petitions, including H-1B petitions seeking an exemption from the fiscal year cap for individuals who have earned a U.S. master’s degree or higher, will begin on April 15, 2013.

USCIS will continue to accept Form I-907, Request for Premium Processing Service, with fee, concurrently with the Form I-129, Petition for Nonimmigrant Worker, during the time period that premium processing is unavailable – from April 1 to April 14, 2013. Petitioners may also upgrade a pending H-1B cap petition to premium processing once a receipt notice is issued. All requests for premium processing received between April 1, 2013, and April 14, 2013, will be adjudicated when premium processing begins on April 15, 2013.

March 15, 2013

MVP LAW GROUP – Immigration Q&A Forum, Friday, March 15, 2013

by Kellie N. Lego

MVP Law Group, P.A. makes available the information and materials in this forum for informational purposes only. The information is general in nature and does not constitute legal advice or any contractual obligations. Further, the use of this site, and the sending or receipt of this information, does not create an attorney-client relationship between us. Therefore, your communication with us through this forum will not be considered as privileged or confidential.

Question #1 – General

What jobs are considered STEM occupations?

March 12, 2013

Undocumented Immigrants – five details you need to know

by Kellie N. Lego

Various proposals for Immigration Reform have included a “Pathway to Citizenship” for the estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants already living in this country. There are many misconceptions about this group; we call “undocumented immigrants”!

I recently read an article entitled, “5 need-to-know facts about undocumented immigrants“. I have included the five questions from the article below. Think about how you would answer these questions before you read the article. I think you will be surprised by the answers that the article provides. The questions and answers were based on research conducted by the Pew Research Hispanic Center. Hopefully, we can all learn something from this Q&A.

MVP Law Group would like our blog readers to email us with your own questions or comments about Immigration Reform. We may include them in future blog posts on the subject! Remember, MVP Law Group always invites Immigration related questions for our bimonthly Immigration Q&A Forum!

March 11, 2013

MVP “Immigration Q & A Forum” – This Friday, March 15, 2013

by Kellie N. Lego

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, DREAMers, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, priority dates, the monthly visa bulletin, adjustment applications, etc., please contact us by submitting your question/comment/viewpoint in our comment box provided on our H-1B Visa Lawyer Blog.

Our next “Q & A Forum” will take place this Friday, March 15, 2013. Act now and submit your questions!