The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will be holding a webinar on Thursday, April 26, 2018 between 2:00 to 3:00 pm (Eastern). This event will include a discussion of USCIS’ online tools and services. Do not worry if you miss this webinar, there are three more planned for a total of four events, each with the same content.
Event Information:
To register for this session:
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, April 27, 2018. Act now and submit your questions!
The Board of Alien Labor Certification Appeals (BALCA) recently affirmed the decision of a Certifying Officer (CO) to deny labor certification for the position of “Nursery Manager.”
After reviewing an Employer’s Application for Permanent Labor Certification, the CO issued an Audit notification. He wanted the Employer to submit a copy of the State Workforce Agency’s (SWA) Prevailing Wage Determination (PWD). The Employer submitted a PWD from “The Survey Group” along with a letter from this company that provided a job description which was similar to the Nursery Manager’s position, specifically, the position was titled – Nursery Technician.
The CO then informed the Employer that they would need to conduct supervised recruitment. The CO ordered the company “to obtain an updated PWD from the National Prevailing Wage Center.” The CO asserted the PWD listed on the Employer’s 9089 Form was no longer valid. As part of its response to the Supervised Recruitment, the Employer insisted that the CO did not have the authority to instruct them to obtain a new PWD. The Employer also sent a draft advertisement that included the original PWD. The CO issued a Draft Advertisement Correction because “the wage offer was lower than the current prevailing wage.” He directed them to send a new advertisement with a PWD that was equal to or surpassed the current PWD.
The Administrative Appeals Office (AAO) provides an updated ‘processing times’ in table form, with information on FY2018 quarterly completions; January to March 2018. These figures indicate the time that it takes from the date the case is received at AAO coming from the Service Center or District Office to completion.
AAO Processing Times were released with processing dates as of 4/17/18. If you filed an appeal, please review the link below to determine the applicable processing time associated with your particular case.
Note: Starting with the January 2017 Administrative Appeals Office (AAO) Processing Times Report, the AAO has changed how it presents processing time data. The AAO will now provide, by form type, the total number of case completions for the fiscal year quarter and the percentage completed within 180 days, cases completed divided by their projected case goal.
USCIS now has a web page listing names and descriptions of common immigration scams that they have found. This is not a complete list of immigration scams but it gives you a good idea of what is happening and to keep your eyes open!
List of Common Immigration Scams:
The American Immigration Council (AIC) has released all fifty states and the District of Columbia, for a total of fifty-one updated state-by-state fact sheets highlighting immigration data and facts. These fact sheets highlight the demographic and economic impact of Immigrants in each state.
With national immigration policy being discussed, we thought that it would be a good time to provide some statistics on the Immigrant population in the United States as provided by this AIC research. Once a week we will be posting a blog with information on three states at a time. This week we will highlight; Massachusetts, Michigan & Minnesota.
The AIC has compiled research which shows that Immigrants are an essential part of each of these states’ economy, labor force and tax base. As our economy continues to grow, Immigrants and their children are a growing economic and political force as consumers, taxpayers and entrepreneurs. As United States economic continues to grow, immigrants and their children will continue to play a key role in shaping the economic and political future of each of these states.
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 – Citizenship
If I have been a Green Card Holder for 8 years, am I eligible to Apply for Citizenship?
The monthly Visa Bulletin has changed. The bulletin now summarizes the availability of immigrant numbers during the reported month for: “Application Final Action Dates” (consistent with prior Visa Bulletins) and “Dates for Filing Applications,” indicating when immigrant visa applicants should be notified to assemble and submit required documentation to the National Visa Center using Consular Processing (outside of the US) or file on their own with USCIS Form I-485 (within the US).
On April 3rd, USCIS released a news alert announcing that on April 2nd, USCIS will start destroying Permanent Resident Cards, Employment Authorization Cards and Travel Documents returned to USCIS as undeliverable after 60 days. The intended recipients have 60 business days to correct their address and receive the corrected documents. USCIS reminds applicants that they should be reporting a change of address within 10 days of relocation. The USCIS web page, Change of Address Information has the information you need on address change.
Source of Information:
USCIS.gov, 4/3/18, News Alert:
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) have announced that they reached the H-1B cap of 65,000 for fiscal year (FY) 2019. USCIS has also received more than 20,000 H-1B petitions filed on behalf of persons exempt from the cap under the advanced degree exemption (master’s cap). USCIS will reject and return filing fees for all unselected cap-subject petitions that are not prohibited multiple filings. Remember, USCIS will continue to accept and process H-1B petitions that are otherwise exempt from the cap.
For more information please read the USCIS news release, “USCIS Reaches FY 2019 H-1B Cap“.
Source of Information:
H1B Visa Lawyer Blog