OUTSIDE THE BOX THINKING, DELIVERING CUTTING EDGE SOLUTIONS!

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 Vice President, Mergers & Acquisitions.”

After receiving & reviewing an Employer’s Application for Permanent Labor Certification, the CO informed the Employer that he would need to oversee their PERM recruitment. As part of the process, the CO sent the employer separate instructions for its advertisement and recruitment report. In the instructions for the recruitment report, he requested the Employer to “state the names, addresses and provide resumes (other than those sent to the employer by the CO) of the U.S. workers who applied for the job opportunity.

A few months later, the Employer presented the outcomes of its PERM recruitment in its recruitment report. The Employer indicated they had received 70 applications from U.S. Workers; and 7 applications from non-U.S. workers. Out of the 70 U.S. candidates, only three of the candidates were interviewed for the position. Based on the interviews, the Employer decided none of the applicants were qualified because they lacked the required critical experience and skills. In the recruitment report, the Employer identified the name of each applicant and provided the reason each candidate was disqualified. However, in the actual report, the Employer did not state the addresses of the applicants. In the report, they wrote a note to the CO that specified the following, “The resumes of the applicants who responded directly to JP Morgan Chase are attached to this report. Please note that the resumes, which are part of this recruitment report, include the name and address of each applicant.”

Processing Time reports for all of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) Service Centers were released on 8/20/13 with processing dates as of 6/30/13.

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

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, August 30, 2013. Act now and submit your questions!

Immigration Policy Center Releases Updated State-by-State Fact Sheets!

The Immigration Policy Center (IPC) has released all fifty states, the District of Columbia and the United States (Overall), for a total of fifty-two updated fact sheets with accompanying info graphics. These fact sheets highlight the demographic and economic impact of Immigrants, Asians and Latinos in each state. The Immigration Policy Center (IPC) is the research and policy division of the American Immigration Council (AIC).

As Washington D.C. debates Comprehensive Immigration Reform, we thought that it would be an appropriate time to provide some statistics on the Immigrant population in the United States as provided by this IPC research. Once a week we will be posting a blog with information on four states at a time. This week we will highlight; West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming and the United States*.

These USCIS statistics on DACA cases from 8/15/12 to 7/31/13 show a total of 552,918 DACA requests accepted for processing, 540,821 biometric services appointments scheduled, and 430,236 requests approved.

The data also shows the number of accepted and approved requests from the top countries of origin and the top states of residence. Mexico was the top county of origin with 421,649 received to date and 329,833 approved. California was the top state of residence with 157,182 received to date and 127,207 approved.

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

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Office of Immigration Statistics has released a report entitled, “Estimates of the Legal Permanent Resident Population in 2012.” This report uses estimates of the legal permanent resident (LPR) population living in the United States as of January 1, 2012. An LPR is any person not a citizen of the United States, who is residing in the U.S. under legally recognized and lawfully recorded permanent residence as an immigrant, also known as a “Green Card Holder.” The estimates are shown for the total LPR population, and the LPR population eligible to apply to naturalize by country of birth, state of residence, and the year LPR status was obtained.

Data for the estimates was obtained primarily from administrative records of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). An estimated 13.3 million LPRs lived in the United States as of January 1, 2012, and 8.8 million of them were eligible to become U.S. citizens. The majority (61 percent) obtained LPR status in 2000 or later.

Source of Information:

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 second half of FY 2013 (April 1 – September 30) is 33,000. As of the last count (8/9/13); 27,168 beneficiaries have been approved and 1,170 are pending for a total of 28,338.

The H-2B cap limit for first half of FY 2014 (October 1 – March 31) is 33,000. As of the last count (8/9/13); 678 beneficiaries have been approved and 652 are pending for a total of 1,330.

The Board of Alien Labor Certification Appeals (BALCA) recently overturned the decision of a Certifying Officer (CO) to deny labor certification for the position of “Software Engineer.”

After obtaining & examining an Employer’s Application for Permanent Labor Certification, the CO issued an Audit notification ordering the Employer to submit its Prevailing Wage Determination (PWD) and other requested documentation. The Employer replied to the Audit by providing the PWD as well as the other documents.

The CO denied the labor certification stating the prevailing wage on the ETA form 9089 did not match the one listed on the PWD. He cited a violation of PERM Regulations 656.10(c) (1), 656.40 AND 656.41. In addition, the Employer’s Notice of Filing did not contain the job requirements or duties as listed on the ETA Form 9089. The Employer requested a reconsideration of the denial stating the prevailing wage inconsistency was an unintentional harmless error. The Employer also believed all of its audit response materials were compliant with PERM regulations.

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 Visa

I am currently on H1B status with my employer and my future employer has filed a H1B. Can I start working for the other employer without an approval?

Administrative Appeals Office (AAO) Processing Times were released with processing dates as of August 12, 2013.

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

Administrative Appeals Office

Contact Information