H1B Visa Lawyer Blog

December 23, 2013

Immigration Q&A Forum – Originally posted 7/20/12

This blog entry was originally posted on 7/20/12. We here at the MVP Law Group would like to wish every one of our blog readers, Happy Holidays!

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

December 20, 2013

MVP LAW GROUP – Immigration Q&A Forum, Friday, December 20, 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 – Employment Based Immigration – Green Card

How long before my H-1B visa ends should I apply for EB-2 Green Card category? Can I apply in the 5th or the 6th year of my H1B?

December 19, 2013

January INFOPASS Availability is limited for WAS and BAL field offices

by Kellie N. Lego

INFOPASS availability will be limited for the first half of January, 2014 for both USCIS’s Washington and Baltimore field offices. The Washington Field Office (WAS) will be installing a software upgrade and the Baltimore Field Office (BAL) will be moving to a new location in Baltimore, MD.

Washington Field Office*

At WAS, there will be no appointments available January 6 or 8, and curtailed appointment allotments, ranging from 36 to 75 per day, available January 2, 3, 7, and 9. (Note that the first Wednesday of each month is a WAS training day, such that January 8 would not have had INFOPASS appointments allotted in any event.) Beginning January 10, WAS will maintain allotments of 100 INFOPASS appointments per day.

December 18, 2013

BALCA on Documenting Recruitment from the Employer’s Website

by Kellie N. Lego

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 “Computer & Information Systems Manager.”

After receiving & reviewing an Employer’s Application for Permanent Labor Certification, the CO issued an Audit notification. Once the Employer responded to the Audit, the CO denied certification of the application for failing “to respond to the audit notification within the required time.”

The Employer sent a reconsideration request to the CO. In its argument, the Employer submitted its audit response documentation that included a copy of its job posting from its website with an unreadable handwritten note displaying the dates of posting. In addition, the recruitment report signed by the Company’s President was submitted. In the report, the time frame for the job posting on the employer’s website was listed as November 30 to December 30, 2008.

December 17, 2013

Administrative Appeals Office (AAO) Processing Times – 11/1/13

by Kellie N. Lego

Administrative Appeals Office (AAO) Processing Times were released with processing dates as of 11/1/13.

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

Administrative Appeals Office

December 16, 2013

MVP “Immigration Q & A Forum” – This Friday, December 20, 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, December 20, 2013. Act now and submit your questions!

December 13, 2013

Visa Bulletin – January 2014

by Kellie N. Lego

The Department of State has released its latest Visa Bulletin.

Click here to view the January 2014 Visa Bulletin

As projected by the U.S. Department of State, the January 2014 Visa Bulletin shows the EB2 date for nationals from India remains at 11/15/04; EB3 date for nationals from India remains at 9/1/03; movement in EB2 for Chinese Nationals at 12/8/08; movement in EB3 for Chinese Nationals at 4/1/12; and movement in EB3, WW at 4/1/12; and the F2A category is no longer current, it remains at 9/8/2013, this category is reserved exclusively for Spouses and unmarried children (under the age of 21) of green card holders (LPRs).

December 12, 2013

AILA and AIC Staff and Members joined together to Fast for Immigration Reform

by Kellie N. Lego

On December 10th, Staff and Members of both the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) and the American Immigration Council (AIC) joined together to fast (no food) for 24 hours to support the need for Immigration Reform. AILA is using this event to show its support for the group “Fast4Families” which has been fasting for more than 20 days to push congress to pass Immigration Reform in this country! AILA Executive Director Crystal Williams stated, “I joined this fast for one simple reason: because our country needs House leadership to bring immigration reform legislation up for a vote.”

Source of Information:

– AILA InfoNet Doc. No. 13121040 (posted 12/10/13): AILA and AIC Staff are Joined by over 150 AILA Members in Fast for Immigration Reform

December 11, 2013

FY2014 Cap for U Visas is filled

by Kellie N. Lego

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) released a News Alert (12/11/13) stating that the statutory maximum of 10,000 U nonimmigrant petitions (U Visas) for FY2014 has been reached. This is the 5th year in a row that this maximum cap has been reached before the end of the fiscal year. USCIS will continue to accept U visa petitions! USCIS will process them in the order received at the beginning of FY2015, which starts October 1, 2014, at that point the U Visa cap of 10,000 will open again.

The U nonimmigrant status (U Visa) is set aside for victims of crimes who have suffered substantial mental or physical abuse and are willing to assist law enforcement and government officials in the investigation or prosecution of the criminal activity. Note that a U-Visa petition requires certification of assistance from law enforcement.

Source of Information:

December 10, 2013

H-2B Cap Count UPDATE – 11/29/13

by Kellie N. Lego

The H-2B non-agricultural temporary worker program allows U.S. employers to bring foreign nationals to the United States to fill temporary non-agricultural jobs.

The H-2B cap limit for the first half of FY 2014 (October 1 – March 31) is 33,000. As of the last count (11/29/13); 9,079 beneficiaries have been approved and 1,901 are pending for a total of 10,980.

The H-2B cap limit for second half of FY 2014 (April 1 – September 30) is 33,000. As of the last count (11/29/13); 0 beneficiaries have been approved and 0 are pending for a total of 0.