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THE OH LAW FIRM
Dedicated Professionals in Immigration Law for
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Breaking News Archive XVI
Matthew Oh Attorney Reporting
(08/01/2007 - 03/31/2008)
|
The Oh Law Firm and its Lawyers
are not responsible for reliance by the reader on this information
as each individual situation may be unique and different. The
readers are advised to seek legal counsel from a qualified immigration
attorney. The information stated here is subject to change. |
The posting in the Breaking
News requires visitors' some level of knowledge of immigration
issues. Reading one posting without closely following previous
postings will result in reading it out of context. The laws, policies,
and practices of agencies are constantly changing and people should
be careful in reading old postings. People should not take the
news in this page as a legal advice. The purpose of Breaking
News is to feed into the immigrant communities up to the minute
news, especially inside information of agencies' decision
making. Just like any other news reporting, the life span
of the news can be very short. This is not a text book
or a law book. It is a "news report." This site will
welcome "only" those visitors who follow the news reports
everyday just like the subscribers of daily newspapers. The sole
purpose of this site is to serve the immigrant communities..
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Page[08/01/2008 - Present]/Archive XVII[03/31/2008
- 07/31/2008]Archive
XVI[08/01/2007 - 03/31/2008/Archive XV [04/30/2007 - 07/31/2007]/Archive XIV[06/15/2006 - 03/31/2007]Archive XIII [12/01/05 - 06/14/06]/ Archive XII [08/01/05
- 11/30/05]/Archive
XI [04/30/05 - 07/31/05
03/29/2008: Missed Legislative Opportunity to Cure OPT H-1B
Cap Predicament
- We reported late last year that 20 some Senate
leaders urged the Homeland Security Deparmtment to take an action
to extend the period of OPT from the current one year to 29 months
and for the purpose of change of status to a H-1B visa status,
the OPT students be considered in status during the H-1B cap
filing period. Thus far the DHS has failed to act on the recommendation.
Now we are facing a crisis for some of these OPT students to
submit FY 2009 H-1B change of status filing for their inability
to prove their nonimmigrant status valid through October 1, 2008.
- Without much public publicity, the Senator
from our State of Minnesota, Mr. Norm Coleman, introduced a legislative
bill in the Senate as early as February 14, 2008 that provides
the so-called cap-gap relief to these OPTs by considering such
OPTs in status before the beginning of the next fiscal year.
Had this bill been passed and signed, the country could have
avoided the current crisis.
- This bill is still pending before the Judiciary
Committee of the U.S. Senate. Even though this bill is too late
to give a relief to the OPTs for FY 2009 H-1B filing, we hope
that the Congress would support and pass the bill as soon as
possible. This bill also includes reinstatement of the employment-based
nonimmigrant visas such as H and L revalidated within the U.S.
The revalidattion of these visas within the U.S. has been terminated
for the last few years giving tremendous hardships on these foreign
workers who are critically needed, particularly under the circumstances
of increased security clearance and related visa processing delays
at the visa posts. We urge the leaders of the Senate Judiciary
Committee and for that matter, members of the Senate and House
as a whole to act on this bill when they return to the Hill on
Monday, March 31, 2008. This Action Act of 2008, S. 2653, also
needs the White House support and push. For the full text of
the bill, please click here.
- We want to take this opportunity to print
his statement on the Senate floor to call the community's attention
to the important issues involved:
- Mr. President, today, along with my distinguished
colleague from New Mexico, Senator Bingaman, I am introducing
legislation to restore and enhance our Nation's competitiveness
for international students, scholars, scientists, and exchange
visitors, and better facilitate legitimate business travel to
the U.S. In the immediate aftermath of the events of 9/11, it
was necessary to take the steps we did to improve and enhance
our Nation's security. But in the more than 6 years since 9/11,
these well-intentioned changes have had unintended consequences,
stifling legitimate academic and scientific exchange and international
business travel, and tarnishing our Nation's image around the
world. Three years ago, Senator Bingaman and I introduced a similar
bill designed to reverse the decline in the number of foreign
students studying at American colleges and universities. At that
time, international applications to U.S. graduate schools and
to English as a Second Language, ESL, programs were plummeting,
and visa delays were numbering in the thousands. Visa delays
were also negatively impacting the scientific and business communities,
resulting in billions of dollars of losses for the U.S. economy,
as scientific research, conferences, and business meetings had
to be canceled and shifted to overseas locations. Over the past
3 years, there have been improvements with visa issuance, and
it is the State Department's Bureau of Consular Affairs, particularly
Assistant Secretary Maura Harty, who deserves much of the credit.
I am pleased with their advancements to enhance consular staff;
adopt newer, more efficient technology; offer international students,
scholars, and exchange visitors preferential consideration when
scheduling in-person interview appointments; and extend security
clearance validity. The Department also has established a business
visa center to field inquiries from U.S. businesses and their
worldwide counterparts, although the center cannot expedite in-person
interview appointments or the processing of visa applications.
This is not to say that visa delays have disappeared entirely.
Delays do continue to occur, albeit not at the huge volume they
once were. Because of this, there is a lot of lingering uncertainty
about the process which generates a great deal of concern for
international students, scholars, exchange visitors, and business
travelers, and reinforces a perception that America is not a
welcoming place for international visitors. Indeed, serious concerns
remain regarding the U.S. position in the competition for international
talent, particularly among higher education, the scientific community,
and the private sector. Our competitiveness problem is not just
a visa problem--we cannot solve it simply by fixing the visa
problems that were created after 9/11. The U.S. now faces strong
competition for international students, scholars, scientists,
and exchange visitors. The United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand,
and the European Union all have coordinated, government-led strategic
plans in place for attracting international students and scholars
to their colleges and universities. Even our neighbor to the
north, Canada, plans to announce a strategic plan this year.
Meanwhile, traditional sending countries such as China and India
are expanding their own higher education offerings, both to retain
more of their own students and to attract international students.
In the face of this competition, the U.S. still struggles along
with piecemeal efforts, with each positive action seemingly cancelled
out by a negative action and persistent negative perceptions.
The results are worrisome. While international student enrollment
in the U.S. declined in both the 2003-2004 and 2004-2005 academic
years, and remained stagnant in 2005-2006, over the same period,
enrollment in the United Kingdom jumped more than 80,000, in
Australia and France more than 50,000, and in Germany and Japan
more than 20,000. In 2006, then-U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair
announced a goal of attracting an additional 100,000 international
students to Great Britain in the next 5 years. Although we have
started to see the enrollment numbers tick upwards slightly just
this past year--in Minnesota, 9,048 international students were
studying at colleges and universities last academic year, contributing
$186.4 million to the state's economy--it is still below the
peak level of 9,143 achieved in 2003-2004, so there is still
ground to make up for what was lost over the past 3 years to
ensure we regain our place as the most desired destination for
study and for research. Even if we return to pre-9/11 numbers,
we may find we have lost market share to competing nations. Why
should this matter to the U.S.? Recent public opinion polls taken
around the world show that the U.S. has fallen out of favor.
But these same polls also show that foreigners who have personally
visited the U.S. have a significantly more favorable opinion
than those who have never visited. International students and
scholars benefit greatly from their experiences in the U.S.,
not only from their studies and research, but also from living
in daily American life. They carry these experiences home, often
becoming ambassadors of goodwill and understanding. Many go on
to achieve leadership positions in their home countries in government,
business, or education. These exchanges also benefit American
students, researchers and business colleagues, who similarly
have the opportunity to learn about another culture in this globalized
world. Two expert commissions recently issued recommendations
citing international educational exchange as a critical form
of public diplomacy outreach. Last November, the Center for Strategic
and International Studies' Commission on Smart Power cited international
educational exchange as a key element for improving America's
declining standing and influence in the world. Just last month,
the Secure Borders and Open Doors Advisory Committee, a federal
advisory committee tasked by the Departments of Homeland Security
and State to provide recommendations on the Departments' missions
to protect not only America's security but also our economic
livelihood, ideals, image, and strategic relationships with the
world, cited the need for a proactive national strategy to mobilize
all the tools and assets at our disposal to attract international
students and scholars to the U.S. International students and
scholars are not only important for public diplomacy, they also
are essential for our Nation's global competitiveness. They make significant contributions to our economic
growth and innovation. According to recent National Science Board
data, nearly half of all graduate enrollments at U.S. colleges
and universities in the science and engineering fields are international
students. And these students often go on to positively impact
future research and technology output in this country. I strongly
support efforts to build up America's own supply of science and
technology talent, but we also must continue to actively attract
international talent to our shores if we are to retain our innovative
edge. It is a reality of our time that, at the high-skill level,
the temporary immigration system has become a conveyor belt of
talent into the permanent immigration system. Most foreign students
do want to go home after graduation, but some want to stay and
use the knowledge they have acquired at our universities. For
example, Ms. Indra Nooyi, the current CEO of PepsiCo, the world's
fourth largest food and beverage company, is herself a former
international student who received her master's degree from Yale
University's School of Management. So it is for all these important
reasons that Senator Bingaman and I once again introduce legislation
on this important issue: The American Competitiveness Through
International Openness Now, ACTION, Act of 2008. This year's
bill once again calls for the establishment of a strategic plan
for increasing the competitiveness of the U.S. in recruiting
international students, scholars and exchange visitors. The U.S.
can no longer sit back and rest on its laurels when engaging
in this global competition, especially when all of our competitors
clearly have stepped up their game. Our biggest problem is our
inability to marshal the efforts of all the relevant agencies
into one coherent effort. Too often, these agencies work in an
uncoordinated manner, or worse, at cross purposes. The PR blunder
cases, where one arm of our government sets up exchange programs
to attract people and another arm of the government detains them
at the border, is only the tip of the iceberg. Our legislation
would create a White House-chaired International Education Coordinating
Council to guide the work of the myriad agencies that affect
our competitiveness for international students and exchange visitors.
One of the most important provisions in the legislation would
remove the nonimmigrant intent requirement for international
students, the so-called 214(b) rule. This outdated requirement
that all applicants for student visas must intend to return home
after their studies makes no sense, especially when talent-starved
high-tech industries actively court international students upon
graduation. As I stated earlier, our ability to attract international
talent is essential to sustaining our competitive edge in the
world. Retaining such a requirement is simply out of step in
this day and age, especially when most of our competitors are
going out of their way to enact policies to make it easier for
international students to stay after graduation. The bill calls
for further improvement in the timeliness and efficiency of the
visa issuance process for those in the sciences. It directs the
Secretary of State to issue guidance to reduce the length of
time to issue visas to scientists to a maximum of 30 days, and
to provide a special review process for those cases that are
delayed more than 45 days. It also directs the Secretary of State
to review and update the Technology Alert List on a regular basis,
and to consult with academia and the private sector as part of
this review, to ensure the list reflects the current state of
technology. It also calls for expediting visa reviews for so-called
``Trusted Travelers'': easily identifiable, low-risk frequent
travelers who have a history of past visa approvals, haven't
violated their immigration status, and have provided their biometric
data, plus any additional information required, to the consulate.
This would both ease travel for these individuals and permit
consular resources to be focused on more important cases. There
is also a provision to also allow expedited visa reviews for
international students, scholars and exchange visitors who leave
the United States temporarily to visit their families or attend
conferences and require a new visa to return to the same program.
Today, these people can be stranded abroad for months without
being able to return to their programs. The legislation calls
for the reinstatement of domestic or stateside visa renewals
for those here on employment-based non-immigrant visas. This
practice was discontinued in 2004, because U.S. consulates abroad
were better equipped to collect the required biometric data from
the renewal applicant. Given today's available technology, we
should seek to reinstate this practice. This would help to alleviate
the volume of renewal applicants at our overseas consulates,
as well as help renewal applicants who often opt to forgo travel
overseas due to the uncertainty of timely and efficient processing
of their renewal applications. Finally, there has been much public
debate about driver's licenses and Real ID. In our well-intentioned
efforts to ensure that only persons in the U.S. legally are able
to acquire driver's licenses, we have unintentionally hamstrung
the ability of legal nonimmigrants to have licenses. Real ID's
unrealistic documentation and renewal requirements for international
students and scholars send yet another negative signal about
America's openness to them, and frankly ignore technical
advances which could provide both better assurances about
a person's legal status and licenses of a longer validity. Our
bill will correct this problem in a way that will strengthen,
not weaken, the integrity of driver's licenses. For all
of these reasons, our legislation is endorsed by NAFSA: Association
of International Educators, the world's largest professional
association advocating for international education and exchange
programs, by the National Foreign Trade Council, the Nation's
premier business organization dedicated to advancing global commerce,
and by USA Engage, a leading broad-based coalition of trade associations
promoting global economic engagement. The American way of life
owes its success and vitality to its historic ability to harness
the best in knowledge and ideas, not only those that are homegrown,
but also those that come from outside our borders. The longer
we wait to take action, the more we risk missing out on future
U.S. academic, business, and research success.
- On behalf of the foreign students and OPT,
we want to thank Senator Coleman from Minnesota for introducing
the important bill in the Congress.
03/28/2008: Administrative Relief for OPT H-1B Cap Applicants
Looming Up
- Report indicates
that the businesses and their lobby organizations have been adding
the last minute pressures on the White House to order such relief
at the level of the President. Unconfirmed sources indicate that
such relief may be forthcoming very shortly. Please stay tuned
to this website.
03/28/2008: Reminder of OFLC's Scheduled System Maintenance
and Potential Disruption of Online Filings Tomorrow, March 29,
2008
- The foreign labor certification system is
scheduled to undergo the online filing system maintenance tomorrow
and it is anticipated that there will be some disruption of online
filing of PERM applications. The information indicated that the
system that would be affected was the PERM application system.
We just hope that it would not affect the online labor condition
application system. Out of precaution, people may want to file
online applications today. There may be a huge surge of the labor
condition applications online filing on Monday, March 31, 2008.
- Today marks the third anniversary of the
online PERM filing system. We like to take this opportunity to
extend our contratulations to the leaders of the Office of Foreign
Labor Certification for the job well done and the success. Special
tribute should be directed to Dr. William Carlson, the head of
the National Program Services who endured some technical difficulties
at the initial stage of the program but has brought this online
filing system into a model for success and other government systems.
We hope to see an identical success with the USCIS online filing
and processing plan that has been pushing ahead under the Transformation
Program which is to be completed within the next year. The OFLC's
PERM Program may be taken as a successful model when the agency
brings the account system concept into the core of the online
filing system and reengineering. Heads-off to you, Dr. Carlson,
for your leadership!
03/28/2008: USCIS Releases March 15, 2008 USCIS Service
Centers and Local Offices Processing Time Report
- People should note that this report just
shows the cases which they just completed and cannot be taken
as a yard stick to project how much time their pending cases
will be taken in the future. Depending on specific situations
and developments such as July 2007 Visa Bulletin fiasco flood
of filings and incredibles surge of naturalization application
filings, the processing times for I-140 and I-485 during this
report period should not be taken as the basis to form an opinion
for the prediction of their cases in the future.
- With this in mind, we would like to look
at a few points in this report. The H-1B petitions generally
took over two and a half months across the board. As the FY 2009
H-1B cap flooding is at their door steps, though, it can affect
the H-1B processing times more or less negatively from April.
They report that they are in the process of hiring mroe resources,
but because of the namechecks and other procedures in federal
recruitment procedures, that cannot be realized over night. People
should be prepared for the upcoming changes in the processing
times. However, since H-1B premium processing services will not
be suspended during the period, people may still get the decisions
quick in emergencies via Premium Processing Services.
- For the I-140 petitions, Nebraska Service
Center apparently has not reached the July 2007 VB fiasco filings
in July and August, while the Texas Service Center has. The same
goes true with the EB-485 cases, even though the situation is
better than I-140 petitions. I-485 processing times have been
much shorter than I-140 petitions in general. For those whose
visa numbers will be available in the future, it is anticipated
that the processing times of I-485 applications may remain in
good shape as affected by the recent USCIS policy change on FBI
Name Check delays. We have noticed a number of EB-485 applications
that have been frozen for the name check problems for over three
years have been approved thanks to the policy change. Lots of
happy faces!
03/28/2008: Legislative Proposals for Reinforced Employment
Verification for All Workers (U.S. Citizens & Foreign Workers)
& Employer Sanction Enforcement Gathering Steam.
- The Immigration Policy Center reports on
March 27, 2008 that Congress returns on Monday from its two week
recess, and proposals regarding employment verification for all
workers foreign- and U.S.- born alike are gathering
steam. Several bills including the Shuler-Tancredo "SAVE
Act" (HR 4088) and the Johnson "New Employee Verification
Act of 2008" (HR 5515) include provisions to create a nationwide
mandatory electronic employment verification system (EEVS). In
the meantime, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) published
new proposed regulations to turn SSA "no-match" letters
a system SSA uses to correct errors in its database
into an immigration enforcement tool. These proposals are election
year antics. Both the employers and the foreign workers should
be on alert for this legislative movement and developing compliance
policy changes. Read on.
03/27/2008: USCIS Releases Today Questions and Answers #1: H-1B Petition Mailing
During Cap Season
- FY 2009 cap H-1B filers must read this Q&A.
Important.
03/27/2008: USCIS Issues Memorandum on 03/26/2008 to Withold Adjudication
and Review of Prior Denials of Certain Categories of Cases Involving
Association With or Provision of Material Support to Certain Terrorist
Organizations or Other Groups
03/26/2008: USCIS' February 13, 2008 Response (Recommendations) to the Ombudsman's
2007 Annual Report to Congress
- For detailed responses of USCIS as to what
actions the USCIS has taken, please click here.
03/26/2008: DOL Finds One NY Employer Owes $3,000,000 Backwage
to 156 H-1B Employees For H-1B Rule Violations
- An investigation by the department's Wage
and Hour Division found that 156 H-1B guest workers from the
Philippines, brought into the U.S. by APMI to be employed primarily
as physical therapists in hospitals and other medical facilities
in the New York metropolitan area, are owed almost $3 million
in back wages. The investigation revealed that APMI willfully
failed to pay required wages, filed lawsuits seeking penalties
against some H-1B employees for early cessation of employment,
failed to make required documents available for examination,
failed to maintain required documentation and used incorrect
prevailing wage rates on labor condition applications. Read on.
03/25/2008: Travel Advisory for Reentry Permit Applicant
Permanent Residents
- Effective March 5, 2008, the USCIS required
collection of biometrics for the permanent residents who filed
the I-131 Reentry Permit for their extended stay outside of the
U.S. for over six months or one year. The changed policy also
required payment of biometric collection fee of $80 for the Reentry
Permit Application effective March 5, 2008. However, due to a
short notice, there appear to be a number of the permanent residents
who filed the Reentry Permit Applications which have been received
on or after March 5, 2008 without payment of $80 biometric fees.
Despite the defective filings, these filers have been receiving
Receipt Notices from the Service Center. One pitfall of such
Receipt Notices is that unlike the previous policy that allowed
the applicants to depart from the U.S. upon filing (upon receipt),
the new policy does not allow the applicants to leave the country
unless they pay the biometric fees and complete the biometric
collection process at the USCIS Application Support Center. Accordingly,
those who filed the Reentry Permits within this time period without
payment of $80 biometric fees and left the country may face a
serious consequence down the road if they do not return within
six months or one year. According to the USCIS, they will not
allow the biometric collections at the visa posts abroad for
these applicants. The USCIS has been accepting such defective
Reentry Permit Applications and issuing the Receipt Notices because
internally the agency decided to take the certain period of time
as a grace period and when they received such defective filings,
rather than rejecting the filings, the agency had decided to
issue the Receipt Notices, followed by additional notices of
request for payment of $80 of biometric fees and upon the biometric
fees were received the agency intended to schedule the biometric
collection appointment for these applicants. According to the
USCIS, scheduling such biometric appointment takes approximately
three (3) weeks.
- This practice presents a serious problem
to those who filed the applications on or after March 5, 2008
without payment of biometric fees and either left the country
or booked the flight tickets to depart from the U.S within a
short period of time. Considering the fact that such purchase
of the tickets may not be refundable, they are experiencing a
confusion and hardship. For the reasons, the USCIS is advising
the Reentry Permit applicants to file the applications sufficiently
in advance of their planned trip. The heydays are gone when they
were able to depart from the U.S. one day after filing of the
application since all the rule required was applicant's physical
presence in the U.S. at the time of filing. This message is posted
to warn two points: (1)
Do not fail to enclose $80 biometric fee check when filing the
Reentry Permit. (2) Don't leave home (U.S.) without completing
the biometric collection. Plan overseas trip ahead of time. The USCIS permits expedite in emergencies
but the applicants are required to submit self-addressed and
prepaid overnight mailers when they file such request.
03/24/2008: CRS Updates U.S. Immigration Policy on Permanent
Admissions
03/24/2008: Official Federal Register Release of H-1B Cap Filing
Rule
03/22/2008: H-1B Filing for License Required Occupations:
USCIS Memorandum of March 21, 2008 Updates
AFM
- Under the H-1B regulation, those who apply
for certain occupations that mandate a license to practice for
H-1B are normally not eligible for the petition, such as public
school teachers, unless the petition accompanies such license.
On the other hand, the State Licensing Boards cannot issue a
license even if the aliens are qualified unless the aliens are
authorized for employment and possess a social security number.
Since a social security number cannot be issued unless the alien
is authorized to work, these aliens are trapped in "catch-22"
situation unless some type of relief is given by one of these
three government agencies. In order to untangle this logjam,
the legacy INS issued a policy to approve H-1B petition for one
year to allow such aliens to apply for a state license. Yesterday,
Mr. Donald Neufeld, Deputy Director of Domestic Operations of
USCIS issued a memrandum to update the Adjudicators' Field Manual
(AFM) to instruct the field (Service Centers) adjudicators to
approve such H-1B petitions for one year on the two conditions,
among others: The alien submits an evidence of pending license
application before the State Licensing Board and files as initial
evidence all the documents to establish that the aliens are eligible
for the license but for the employment authorization and social
security number requirement. Release of this memorandum and updating
of AFM are very timely for these professionals to file FY 2009
H-1B cap petitions on April 1, 2008. Hats-Off to USCIS!
03/22/2008: USCIS Update of AFM on Genetic Relationship-DNA Testing on March 19,
2008
03/21/2008: USCIS Revised Instructions of 03/21/2008: I-130 Filing
to Designated Chicago Lockbox
- USCIS publishing this announcement again
today to remind the stand-alone I-130 filers that I-130 filings
at the wrong address will be rejected. Important to remember.
03/21/2008: H-1B Cap Filing Rule Officially Scheduled to
be Published on Monday, 03/24/2008
- As predicted, this rule will be officially
published in the federal register on Monday, 03/24/2008 and will
take effect on the same day. The immigrant community should be
thankful to the USCIS for having released advance copy, announcement,
Q&A and other information day before yesterday to accomodate
the needs of the employers and the alien beneficiaries. Otherwise,
they would not have known how to handle the situation under the
stressful environment. This site wishes also extend our thanks
to the leaders of USCIS HQ for having taken a quick action to
help the employers and the professional aliens.
03/21/2008: Our Email Server Problem
- We are currently experiencing the email server
problem and our ohlaw@immigration-law.com email is not working
at this time. Please send email to matthewoh.attorney@gmail.com
until the problem is resolved. We
apologize for the inconvenience that may cause you.
03/21/2008: USCIS Advisory on Off-Office Hours Scheduling
of Naturalization Interviews
- If people receive a citizenship interview
notice in the mail scheduling it on Saturdays, Sundays, or off-office
hours, they should not ignore the interview schedule. It is not
a mistake, according to the USCIS. In order to meet the recently
announced processing times of naturalization applications, the
USCIS is scheduling the interviews even on Saturdays, Sundays,
and off-office hours during the weekdays. Please keep the interview
appointments!
03/20/2008: Amended State Department List of Immigrant and
Nonimmigrant Visa Classification Symbols
- This State Department's amended list of immigrant
and nonimmigrant classification shows the entire list of visa
symbols the visa posts use as of March 20, 2008. People may be
amazed by the number of symbols for immigrants and nonimmigrants.
Read on.
03/20/2008: New Special Immigrant Classification Bill Introduced
in the House for Certain U.S. Earned Ph.D Aliens
- On March 13, 2008, Rep. Kennedy in the House
introduced a bill (H.R. 5634) that provides a special immigrant
category for those aliens who earned a Ph.D. degree in the U.S.
from certain qualified U.S. Higher Education Institutions, which
is not subject to the annual numerical limit nor a labor certification
application for immigrant petition. Please stay tuned to this
website for the development of this bill.
03/19/2008: USCIS Monthly Newletter - March 2008
- This can be Dr. Emilio Gonzalez' last monthly
newsletter (?) as the Director of USCIS. We wish him well.
03/19/2008: Another H-1B Increase Bill Introduced in the
House by Rep. Giffords
- Rep. Giffords introduced H.R. 5630 on March 13, 2008 to adjust the
H-1B annual numerical limitation as follows:
- Regular Cap: 130,000 (FY 2008 and FY 2009)
and 180,000 (2010 through 2015) if demand exceeds 130,000.
- U.S. Master Degree in STEM (Science, Technology,
Engineering, and Mathematics) totally exempt from the annual
numerical limitation
- Foreign Master Degree in STEM eligible for
special 20,000 numbers..
- This bill has been referred to the House
Judiciary Committee. Wow!
03/19/2008: USCIS Questions & Answers for FY 2009 H-1B Cap
Filing
03/19/2008: USCIS Fact Sheet: Changes to the FY 2009 H-1B Cap
Filing
03/19/2008: Full Text Advance Copy of the H-1B Cap Filing Rule
03/19/2008: USCIS Announcement of H-1B Cap Filing
- "To ensure a fair and orderly distribution
of available H-1B visas, USCIS will deny or revoke multiple petitions
filed by an employer for the same H-1B worker and will not refund
the filing fees submitted with multiple or duplicative petitions.
This rule does not preclude related employers (such as a parent
company and its subsidiary) from filing petitions on behalf of
the same alien for different positions, based on a legitimate
business need. The interim final rule becomes effective upon
publication in the Federal Register."
- "Under current procedures, which
are not changed by this rule, once USCIS receives 20,000 petitions
for aliens with a U.S. masters degree or higher, all other
cases requesting the educational exemption are counted toward
the 65,000 cap. Once the 65,000 cap is reached for a fiscal year,
USCIS will announce that the cap has been filled and reject further
petitions subject to the cap."
- "This rule also stipulates that if
USCIS determines the number of H-1B petitions received meets
the cap within the first five business days of accepting
applications for the coming fiscal year, USCIS will apply a random
selection process among all H-1B petitions received during this
time period. If the 20,000 advanced degree limit is reached during
the first five business days, USCIS will randomly select from
those petitions ahead of conducting the random selection for
the 65,000 limit. Petitions subject to the 20,000 limit that
are not selected in that random selection will be considered
with the other H-1B petitions in the random selection for the
65,000 limit."
- "The rule further clarifies that
USCIS will deny petitions that incorrectly claim an exemption
from any H-1B numerical limits. Those filing fees will not be
returned."
03/19/2008: Today's Important Court Decision: Checking Citizen/National
in I-9 Constitutes a Permanent Bar from Admission to the U.S.
- Today, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the
8th Circuit handed down a decision that the alien who had check
marked the item on the form I-9 which asks "U.S. Citizen
or National" constitutes a misrepresenting as a U.S. citizen
that makes such alien permanently inadmissible to the U.S. and
not eligible for a waiver from removability or deportation under
Section 1182(a)(6)(C)(ii)(I) of Immigration & Nationality
Act. Until this decision, there was a greyline in certain situations,
but with this decision in place, people should pay closer attention
in filling out I-9 forms which any new employees including the
U.S. citizen employees must complete and sign under the penalty
of misrepresentation. See, David Rodriguez v. Michael B. Mukasey,
Attorney General, No. 06-3523, (8th Cir. Ct of Appeals, 03/19/2008).
We will set up the link to the full text of the decision as soon
as it becomes available.
03/19/2008: FY 2009 H-1B Cap Rule Resease Schedule
- There are tens of thousands of people who
are anxiously waiting for the release of this rule since this
rule will set forth the details of restrictions in the filing
procedures and requirement for FY 2009 H-1B cap petitions. The
OMB of the White House cleared the rule for release. However,
agencies have internal procedure to comply before the rules are
published in the federal register. Sometimes, the agencies release
advance copy to stakeholder entities or on the agencies website
or sometimes they release in the form of announcement on their
websites. Unless the USCIS take such steps, the earliest the
USCIS will publish this rule in the federal register for public
will be coming Friday, March 21 or Monday, March 24, 2008, at
the earliest. Please stay tuned to this website for the development
of this news. For some reasons, there is a tendency of the federal
agencies to publish the notices and rules on Fridays in a number
of cases. It is just mysterious.
03/18/2008: DHS Continue to Move for Expansion of Visa Waiver
Program
- As we reported earlier, the following countries
have been seeking the Visa Waiver Program: Greece (1.6%); Cyprus
(1.8%); Malta (2.7%); Estonia (4.0%); South Korea (4.4%);
Czech Republic (6.7%); Hungary (10.3%); Latvia
(11.8%); Slovakia (12.0%); Lithuania (12.9%); Bulgaria
(14.3%); Poland (25.2%); Romania (37.7%). DHS signed the VWP
agreement with Czech Republic on February 26, 2008; the same
agreements with Estonia and Latvia on March 12, 2008; and the
same agreements with slovakia, Hungary, and Lithuania. These
agreements require the candidate countries to develop eletronic
admission program, and upon completion of such electronic program,
these countries are expected to the current list of 27 VWP countries
before the end of this year. It is also expected that the DHS
may sign similar agreements with other candidates in the foregoing
list. Accordingly, by the end of the year, there will be a huge
number of visitors from increased numbers of VWP countries to
travel on the U.S. without a visa. As part of the expansion of
VWP, the USCBP has already drafted and submitted a proposed regulation
for VWP electronic admission procedures. For today's announcement
of agreements with Slovakia, Hungary, and Lithuania, please click here.
03/18/2008: State Department Cable Amending Foreign Affairs Manual Re: Proof
of U.S. Citizenship in Immigrant Visa Application Proceeding
- Proof of U.S. Citizenship
- a. Petitions
filed by U.S. citizens must be accompanied by primary evidence
of the petitioner's U.S. citizenship. The petitioner may meet
this requirement for primary evidence of citizenship by providing:
- (1) A birth certificate that was issued by
a civil authority and that establishes the petitioner's birth
in the United States;
- (2) A certificate of U.S. naturalization
or citizenship issued in the petitioner's name; or
- (3) An unexpired passport issued for full
validity to the petitioner as a citizen of the United States
(not as a noncitizen national); or
- (4) A Form FS-240, Report of Birth Abroad
of a Citizen of the United States of America, relating to the
petitioner.
- b. A petitioner
who is unable to obtain primary evidence of citizenship may submit
other forms of evidence; however, such a petition should be regarded
as "not clearly approvable" and forwarded to the USCIS
office with jurisdiction.
03/17/2008: OMB Cleared and Approved FY 2009 H-1B Cap Filing
Rule
- Good news. The OMB completed review of the
USCIS rule on the H-1B cap filing last Friday, March 14, 2008.
It is thus likely that the USCIS may publish this anxiously-awaited
rule soon. Please stay tuned to this website for the release
of this rule.
03/17/2008: Time for Employers to Join Bill Gates in His
Campaign for H-1B Cap Increase
- It is indeed ridiculous that the legislators
turn their face away from the suffering of U.S. businesses as
affected by the current annual cap of H-1B numbers. One wonders
what other evidence they need to prove the critical need of H-1B
workers other than the fact that the annual cap reached in one
day and whole annual cap ran out in one day last year and it
will repeat coming April 1, 2008. It is also ridiculous to see
the government agency is forced to conduct a "lottery"
in the administrative proceedings. Maybe some of the legislators
are in a sadism mental state to enjoy their U.S. businesses suffer
in pains. The issue is not suffering of foreign workers but suffering
of our own businesses and its devastating negative impact on
international competition and economy.
- Representative Lamar Smith of Texas has been
recognized as one of the legislators who took a very conservative
position when it came to the immigration issues. However, it
is amazing that he introduced a legislative bill that would raise
the annual H-1B cap numbers from 65,000 to 195,000. We are grateful
for his initiative and leadership on this issue. The businesses
should extend their support for this bill and contact en masse
their own legislative representatives in the House and the Senate
to let them know how much their businesses have been suffering
and are sharing the pains which Bill Gates lately testified before
a House committee.
03/16/2008: Cross Border Canadian Workers Tax Protocol
- On March 14, 2008, the President sent a message
to consent to the ratification of a tax protocol for the cross
border Canadian workers. The proposed Protocol would eliminate
withholding taxes on cross-border interest payments. In addition,
the proposed Protocol would coordinate the tax treatment of contributions
to, and other benefits of, pension funds for cross-border workers.
The proposed Protocol also includes provisions related to the
taxation of permanent establishments, so-called dual-resident
corporations, income derived through certain entities that are
considered fiscally transparent, and former U.S. citizens and
long-term residents. The proposed Protocol further strengthens
the existing Treaty's provisions that prevent the Treaty's inappropriate
use by third-country residents. The proposed Protocol also provides
for mandatory resolution of certain cases before the competent
authorities. Read on.
03/16/2008: House Judiciary Immigration Subcommittee Immigration
Bills Full Text
- H.R. 5060: Introduced on 02/04/2008: To amend the Immigration
and Nationality Act to allow athletes admitted as nonimmigrants
described in section 101(a)(15)(P) of such Act to renew their
period of authorized admission in 5-year increments. (P Nonimmigrant
Visa Extensions for Athletes). Sponsored by Rep. Linda Sanchez
(CA): "Section 214(a)(2)(B) of the Immigration and Nationality
Act (8 U.S.C. 1184(a)(2)(B)) is amended by striking `for an additional
period of up to 5 years.' and inserting `in 5-year increments."
- H.R. 5569: Introduced on 03/10/2008: To extend for 5 years
the EB-5 regional center pilot program (Investment Immigration).
Sponsored by Rep. Zoe Lofgren (CA). Sponsored by Rep. Zoe Lofgren
(CA)
- H.R. 5570: Introduced on 03/10/2008: To amend the Immigration
and Nationality Act to eliminate the sunset in the special immigrant
non-minister religious worker visa program.(Special Immigraton
for Religious Workers). Sponsored by Zoe Lofgren (CA)
- H.R. 5571: Introduced on 03/10/2008; To extend for 5 years
the program relating to waiver of the foreign country residence
requirement with respect to international medical graduates.(NIW
for IMGs). Sponsored by Zoe Lofgren (CA).
03/15/2008: H.R. 5652 "SUSTAIN ACT' Introduced in
the House on 03/14/2008 to Increase H-1B Cap in FY 2008 and FY
2009 to 195,000
- Yesterday, Congressman from Texas, Lamar
Smith, introduced this bill on the floor in the House to increase
the H-1B cap numbers for FY 2008 and FY 2009 from 65,000/year
to 195,000. This bill was then referred to the Judiciary Committee
of the House for action. Please stay tuned to this website for
the development of this legislative bill.
- Caveat: This bill will take time for the action
on the House floor as well as the Senate action. Consequently,
it will not affect the April 1, 2008 FY 2009 H-1B cap filing.
Employers will continue to prepare and file the petitions timely
on April 1, 2008. However, should the bill pass both the House
and the Senate before the start of FY 2009 (10/01/2008), FY 2008
and FY 2009 additional cap numbers are likely to be made available
in the future. This bill is expected to face a steep opposition
in the House and particularly in the Senate. Senator Durbin (D,
IL) and Senator Grssley (R. IA) have been the strongest opponents
for such bills in the past.
03/14/2008: Statement by USCIS Director Emilio T. Gonzalez
on Processing of Naturalization Applications
- Natualization now takes from 14 months to
16 months rather than upto 18 months. Read on.
03/14/2008: April Visa Bulletin Reposted
03/14/2008: USCIS Publishes "Processing Worksheet for
FY09 H-1B Filings"
- This is a basic checklist for the FY 2009 H-1B cap filers.
It covers only limited questions, but is handy to check in the
filers' final touch of the H-1B petition packet before they ship
it out. Please check it out.
03/14/2008: Iraqi and Afghani Translators SI Category Visa
Availability in April 2008
- The State Department reports that the NVC
has already scheduled over 450 SI Special Immigrant Translator
cases for interview in FY 2008. Accordingly, it predicts that
the FY 2008 annual cap of 500 will be reached within April or
so. Any legislation on this special immigrant category can change
the situation, and the state department is expected to update
the situation, should such legislation pass the Congress.
03/14/2008: CBP Advisory for Easter Season Mexican Land
Border Travelers to the U.S. at San Ysidro, California
03/13/2008: April 2008 Visa Bulletin
03/13/2008: USCIS Director Emilio Gonzalez to Resign
- DHS Secretary confirms that Dr. Gonzalez
will leave the USCIS as of April 18, 2008. It is unclear who
will be nominated by the President to take this position. Whoever
the replacement will be, it is going to be a short-lived leader
of USCIS considering the fact that the new administration is
scheduled to take office coming January 2009. As Bush Administration
ends its era, more and more politically appointed leaders of
the federal agencies are expected to jump the ship.
03/13/2008: DHS Signs VISA Waiver Program Agreements with
Estonia and Latvia
- These agreements require the two countries
compliance with certain conditions which will lead to the visa
waiver program countries. Similar agreement was signed on 02/26/2008
with Czech government. Read on.
03/12/2008: Bill Gates Testimony 03/12/2008 Before the
Committee on Science and Technology United States House of Representatives
- Bravo, Mr. Gates. The Congress and the White
House should listen to voice demanding (1) to extend the students'
OPT period to 29 months; (2) to create a streamlined path to
permanent resident status for highly skilled workers; (3) to
raise highly skilled workers visa numbers; (4) to significantly
raise employment-based immigrant quota; (5) to remove the per-country
limits in the current immigration statute.
03/12/2008: USCIS Q&A of Somalian TPS and EAD Extension
03/12/2008: Federal Register Notice of Somalian TPS Designation Extension
- The designation of Somalia for TPS has been
extended for 18 months through September 17, 2009, from its current
expiration date of March 17, 2008. This Notice also sets forth
procedures necessary for nationals of Somalia (or aliens having
no nationality who last habitually resided in Somalia) with TPS
to re-register and to apply for an extension of their EADs for
the additional 18-month period. Re-registration is limited to
persons who have previously registered for TPS under the designation
of Somalia and whose applications have been granted or remain
pending. Certain nationals of Somalia (or aliens having no nationality
who last habitually resided in Somalia) who have not previously
applied for TPS may be eligible to apply under the late initial
registration provisions. This Notice automatically extends the
validity of EADs issued under the TPS designation of Somalia
for 6 months, through September 17, 2008 and
explains how TPS beneficiaries and their employers may determine
which EADs are automatically extended. DHS will issue new EADs
with the September 17, 2009 expiration date to eligible TPS beneficiaries
who timely re-register and apply for an EAD. The extension of
the TPS designation of Somalia is effective March 18, 2008 and
will remain in effect through September 17, 2009. The 60-day
re-registration period begins March 12, 2008 and will remain
in effect until May 12, 2008. To facilitate processing of applications,
applicants are strongly encouraged to file as soon as possible
after the start of the 60-day re-registration period beginning
on March 12, 2008.
03/12/2008: Today's House Judiciary Immigration Subcommittee
Mark Up
- H.R. 5060: Introduced on 02/04/2008: To amend the Immigration
and Nationality Act to allow athletes admitted as nonimmigrants
described in section 101(a)(15)(P) of such Act to renew their
period of authorized admission in 5-year increments. (P Nonimmigrant
Visa Extensions for Athletes). Sponsored by Rep. Linda Sanchez
(CA): "Section 214(a)(2)(B) of the Immigration and Nationality
Act (8 U.S.C. 1184(a)(2)(B)) is amended by striking `for an additional
period of up to 5 years.' and inserting `in 5-year increments."
- H.R. 5569: Introduced on 03/10/2008: To extend for 5 years
the EB-5 regional center pilot program (Investment Immigration).
Sponsored by Rep. Zoe Lofgren (CA). Sponsored by Rep. Zoe Lofgren
(CA)
- H.R. 5570: Introduced on 03/10/2008: To amend the Immigration
and Nationality Act to eliminate the sunset in the special immigrant
non-minister religious worker visa program.(Special Immigraton
for Religious Workers). Sponsored by Zoe Lofgren (CA)
- H.R. 5571: Introduced on 03/10/2008; To extend for 5 years
the program relating to waiver of the foreign country residence
requirement with respect to international medical graduates.(NIW
for IMGs). Sponsored by Zoe Lofgren (CA).
- The current law for non-minister religious
worker immigration is schedueld to sunset at the end of this
fiscal year unless the H.R. 5570 passes the Congress. For the
specifics of the bills and progress of legislation process, please
stay tuned to this website.
03/12/2008: State of Nonimmigrant Visa Processing as Reflected
in Testimony of Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Visa Service
onf 02/07/2008
- Ths testimony gives a glimps on the state
of nonimmigrant visa processing of State Department including
2007 statistics of processng of student visas and other visas.
Read on.
03/11/2008: Status of Job Openings and Need for Skilled
Workers by U.S. Employers
- According to the March 2008 search of National
Foundation for American Study brief, the strategic U.S. businesses
are experiencing a serious shortage of needed skilled workers.
The study shows the following illustrations:
- The S&P 500 companies with the most job
openings as of January 2008 are Microsoft (4005), Northrup Grumman(3925),
Lockheed Martin (3901), General Electric (3078), Countrywide
Financial (2415), JPMorganChase (2164),
Tenet Healthcare (2050), United Health Group (1927), Raytheon
(1694), IBM (1670), Computer Sciences Corp.(1666), Cintas (1664),
L-3 Communications (1618), Bank of America (1600), U.S. Bancorp
(1562) and Cisco Systems (1504). These are openings for jobs
in the United States requiring a B.A., professional degree or
higher.
- For other details, please click here.
03/11/2008: Tomorrow's House Judiciary Immigration Subcommittee
Mark Up
- H.R.____, to To extend for 5 years the program
relating to waiver of the foreign country residence requirement
with respect to international medical graduates.
H.R. ___, To extend for 5 years the EB-5 regional center pilot
program.
H.R. ___, The Religious Worker Visa Extension Act of 2008.
H.R. 4080, To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to establish
a separate nonimmigrant classification for fashion models.
H.R. 5060, To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to allow
athletes admitted as nonimmigrants described in section
101(a)(15)(P) of such Act to renew their period of authorized
admission in 5-year increments.
- Please stay tuned to this website for the
details of tomorrow's hearing.
03/11/2008: We Urge Media and Community to Participate in
Campaign Against Point System Immigration Reform
- The nightmarish memory is still fresh and
vivid about last year's compromise immigration reform bill that
accomodated the immigration restrictionists' agenda to adopt
"point system" as a way to retrict and control the
immigration in this country. We strongly opposed and vigorously
campaigned last year against the point system and we were happy
to see that the CIR failed because of the point system. This
point system was worked out by the immigration restrictionists
including its think tank Heritage Foundation. Under the disguise,
the point system was intended not only to restrict the total
number of immigrants but also, more importantly, attempted to
give the restrictionists the power to pick and choose the type
of immigrants that would be allowed to immigrate to this country.
They attempted to shake the fundamental foundation of this nation
which the forefathers of the nation had laid out in the Constitution
placing the highest value on the family unification and color-blind
immigration system. As the nation is slowly moving into a stage
to select the new leaders of the country, there is a sign that
these restrictionists are sharpening their knife to bring legislative
bills that incorporate the point system again. We urge every
one to participate in the campaign to educate the media, public,
and other participants in the political process on the truth
underlying this proposal.
03/10/2008: USCIS Announces 18-Month Extension of TPS for Somalia & Automatic EAD Extension
through September 2008
03/10/2008: USCIS Update: Revised Biometric Changes For
Re-entry Permits and Refugee Travel Documents
- USCIS has today released the update of the
announcement which was initially released on 03/05/2008. Read on.
03/09/2008: FY 2009 H-1B Cap Filing and Ongoing Rule-Making
on Filing Procedure
- It appears that the USCIS was initially planning
to initiate a rule-making process to launch an account system
and mandatory electronic filing procedure for the H-1B cap cases.
It is reflected in the agency's rule making priority statement
that USCIS is restructuring its entire business processes to
implement new procedures for the filing, processing, and adjudication
of all benefit applications and petitions. USCIS is moving toward
complete electronic filing and adjudication of benefits to streamline
processing, modernize adjudications, and facilitate efficient
and effective data collection and reporting. USCIS will be issuing
a rulemaking action "New Electronic Account, Adjudication,
and Reporting System; New Procedures for Filing and Processing
of Fiscal Year 2007 H-1B Petitions Subject to Annual Cap"
as part of this business restructuring process. The electronic
filing forms were reported on our Breaking News site earlier.
- However, the USCIS might have changed its
initial plan considering the fact that the actual title of the
rule making has benn changed (?) from "New Electronic
Account, Adjudication, and Reporting System; New Procedures for
Filing and Processing of Fiscal Year 2007 H-1B Petitions Subject
to Annual Cap" to "Petitions Filed on Behalf
of H-1B Temporary Workers Subject to the Annual Numerical Limitation
" in the final version that is currently under review
by the OMB since February 22, 2008. Additionally, the format
of the rule has been changed from a proposed rule to an interim
rule which will take effect upon release. The rule was submitted
to the OMB on Febraury 22, 2008 and probably it may not be completed
until around March 23, 2008. Should this happen, the new rule
will not give the April 1, 2008 cap filers a lot of time to understand
and follow the procedures. At this point, no details have been
disclosed other than a few points which we reported earlier on
this site. Accordingly, the April 1, 2008 filers should keep
a close eye on the upcoming release of the rule in federal register
probably in about two weeks.
- Agencies sometimes publish an announcement
outlining the text of the rule before they are actually published
in the federal register. It is submitted that this rule should
fit into one of such categories considering the fact that the
stakeholders of the rule may not have a sufficient time to review
and comply with the rule as it may be published close to the
date when the legal proceedings will take place on April 1, 2008.
For the reasons, we urge the USCIS to release such announcement
as soon as possible so that the employers will be better prepared
to file the FY 2009 H-1B cap cases without confusion. Employers
may have to endure a stress from the filing in rush at the end
of the month even without any new rules.
03/07/2008: USCIS-Community Organizations Stakeholder Meeting
(Q&A) of February 26, 2008
- This meeting is mostly focused on the local
district related issues or non-employment-based proceeding issues.
Read on.
03/07/2008: Open Letter to Dr. William Carlson, Chief of
Office of Foreign Labor Certification
- Dear Dr. Carlson, with reference to your
agency's federal register notice that the non-electronic filing
of PERM applications must be filed with the Atlanta National
Processing Center effective June 1, 2008 as part of your centralization
process, the employers have a serious question as to which Certifying
Officer and which National Processing Center address the employers
should start printing in their internal notice posting here on
to file on or after June 1, 2008. The same goes with the employers
that are scheduling to file electronically on or after June 1,
2008. We have noticed that for the last few months, the PERM
applications have been certified by yourself rather than the
Chicago or Atlanta National Processing Centers. It thus appears
that the electronic PERM applications have already been centralized
in this regard, albeit for the transitional period. Since most
of the required recruitment must be conducted by the employers
starting next two or three weeks to file on or after June 1,
2008, the employers need your guidance as soon as possible. We
urge you to post the guidance by updating PERM FAQ on the OFLC
website rather than other intermediaries that tend to delay release
of some information for a period of time for their justifiable
internal reasons from their end. In light of the urgency for
the June filers, your prompt update of FAQ Rounds on this issue
in the next two or three weeks may indeed be needed for the employers.
This is particularly important in that your agency has been denying
PERM applications when the employers printed a wrong NPC name
and address in the internal notice posting. We trust that you
will set a transitional period during when the employers would
be allowed to print the current jurisdiction address in the internal
notice posting. Thank you.
03/06/2008: OFLC H-2B FAQs Round II of March 6, 2008
03/05/2008: Text of Testimony of DHS Secretary Chertoff Before
House Immigration Subcommittee on 03/05/2008
- There was a DHS oversight hearing today before
the House Immigration Subcommittee that called the DHS Secretary
to testify the current status and efforts of the Department.
Please read on.
03/05/2008: Reentry Permit and Refugee Travel Document Application
Procedure Change: Biometrics Scheduling with ASC Required Effective
Today
- USCIS has just announced today that effective
03/05/2008, those who apply for Renentry Permit or Refugee Travel
Document must take fingerprint at the local ASC. Please read
the announcement.
03/05/2008: OFLC Announces Centralization of Non-Electronic
Filing PERM at Atlanta NPC and Temporary Labor Programs at Chicago
Effective 06/01/2008
- The Office of Foreign Labor Certification
released a federal register notice to announce the centralization
of non-electronic filing permanent labor certification program
at Atlanta National Processing Center and all the nonelectronic
filing temporary labor certification programs at Chicago National
Processing Center effective June 1, 2008. When the application
is filed non-electronically, there will be a 15-day grace period
but effective June 15, 2008, any applications which were received
by the wrong NPC will be rejected and returned. For the addresses
and other details, please read the announcement.
- OFLC disclosed its plan earlier to centralize
even electronic filing labor certification applications in the
summer of 2008. It is likely that the OFLC may announce launch
of such electronic filing centralization separately in the future.
Please stay tuned to this website for the development of this
news.
03/04/2008: DHS Secretary Chertoff Explains and Justifies Recent USCIS
Name Check Policy Change in a Meeting with Bloggers 03/03/2008
- It is indeed unreal how things are changing
quickly since the USCIS changed the name check policy. People
are receiving en masse I-485 applications including those twhose
485s have been held up for years and years! It is like a dream.
We thank the DHS and USCIS leaders for their courage and tough
decision to help the immigrants. We salute to these leaders.
The following is the explanation of the Homeland Security Department
Secretary on the background of the decision:
- Question:
Mr. Secretary, you had, at the very beginning, laid out some
great progress that's been made in terms of preventing bad people
from getting in. And part of the Homeland Security mission, which
is a challenging one, is that while you are responsible for protecting
against bad things, you're also responsible for facilitating
good things. And be that the flow of people, in this case, USCIS
is responsible for that for the department. They've begun a $3.5
billion transformation. And I'm hoping you could speak to that
in two ways. What's your concept of success in that, in terms
of the national security part of it, the operational excellence
part of it, and customer service part of it?
- Secretary Chertoff: Three -- two main things. One is, we have to move
from a paper-based system to a totally electronically-based system.
We still have too much paper, and it's hard to track, it's hard
to manage, and it takes a lot of time. The second piece is, I
want to rebuild -- re-engineer the system in a couple of ways.
One is, and the most urgent, is to deal with the background check
problem. It just takes way too long for the Bureau to complete
background checks for a small but a significant number of people.
The majority of people -- you know, if the name doesn't pop up
on anything in the -- it's pretty quick. But for a small number
-- but still significant, and certainly to the individual, significant
-- if their name crops up and it's an older case, and it's in
a file somewhere, someone has got to hunt it down. And to be
perfectly honest, that is not a top-priority job for an agent,
is to go through an old paper record sitting in a warehouse.
Looking forward as we go electronically, and as the Bureau goes
electronically, that problem will diminish. But looking backwards
we have to re-engineer the system to be a little tougher. And
one of the things we did, for example, with the green cards was
we said, for background checks that took longer than six months,
we would give you a green card, and then if it turned out the
background check later revealed a problem, we would take the
green card away. Now why did we do that -- because I got criticized,
Oh, you're sacrificing national security. Here's
why. First of all, if you haven't been -- if it's going to take
longer than six months, it's clear that you're not on a Terrorist
Watch List, you haven't been convicted of a crime, you haven't
been indicted for a crime. In other words, most of the major
things you would worry about -- it's a very easy thing to determine
whether you've had a problem or not. What you're not going to
get in that six months is the guy whose name came up in a file
somewhere. And the vast majority of those are benign mentions.
Secondly, you're here. If you're going to do something bad, you're
still here legally. The green card -- it's not like we're bringing
you in from overseas. So if you think about it logically, the
risk of giving you the green card with the understanding that
it can be pulled away if something turns up, it's a minimal risk.
It's a minimal, marginal risk. Whereas the customer service value
of giving someone the green card is high. That's an example of
trying to be more cost-benefit in the system.
03/03/2008: USCIS Pending Application Cases Per Type at January 31, 2008
- I-140: 150,292
- I-485: 813,238
- I-765 EAD:
165,596
- I-130 Family
Petition: 1,331,114
- I-90 Green
Card Renewal: 169,350
[Footnote: Initial Receipts data only reflects the number of
applications that USCIS was able to fee receipt and/or data enter
into a case processing system. Applications currently held in
USCIS mailroom facilities but not processed to the point of recognition
as Initial Receipts are deemed frontlog cases. These frontlog
cases are also not reflected in Pending figures.]
03/03/2008: Naturalization Pending Cases at January 31,
2008
- The number of pending N-400 cases reached
1,051,186 in January 2008.
03/02/2008: Politics and Power: Immigration, Latino Voters,
and the Texas Primary on 03/04/2008
- In the past few years, the immigration reform
legislation move has been shaped in the form of "comprehensive"
immigration reform to accomodate the illegal immigration issues
involving mostly from estimate 13 million to 20 million illegal
immigrants who provide critical work forces in certain part of
this country's economy. For this reason, the immigration reform
legislation is, for good or for bad reasons, tied to the voices
of over 40 million strong Latino voters' voice, power, and influence
in the political processes at all levels. As we reported repeatedly,
because of the dynamics of 2008 national election process, there
is no prospect whatsoever for any comprehensive immigrative bill
to pass the Congress and the Presient to sign it into law this
year. However, the Latino voters' voice, power, and influence
in the current primary and election process will be critical
for the fate of the upcoming comprehensive immigration reform
legislation in 2009. The nation is now closely watching on the
potential impact of these ethnic forces in the Texas primary
which is scheduled on Tuesday, March 4, 2008 to see which presidential
candidates of both parties will win majority of electoral delegates,
but the immigrant community is watching closely this primary
because of its impact on the fate of future of the comprehensive
immigration reform legislation. We ask the readers to read IPC News Release on this topic to learn how
their future can be affected by the Tuesday's Texas primary.
03/02/2008: USCIS Implements New Poverty Guidelines for 2008 "Effective"
March 1, 2008
- Family based immigration beneficiary must
submit the petitioner's affidavit of support (I-864) to obtain
their I-485. The same is true with the immigrant visa applications.
The family immigration sponsor or co-sponsor or joint sponsor
must submit this form along with the proof of their income that
meets the poverty guidelines which are updated annually. Unless
this minimum income is established or waived, the immigrant cannot
obtain I-485 applications. The poverty guideline was issued by
the federal HHS earlier this year but has not taken effect in
the immigration proceeding until the USCIS customize the poverty
guidelines (125%) into I-864P format and enforce it. The USCIS
has just announced that the new income guidelines are enforced
as of March 1, 2008 and the previous guidelines and required
income level are not acceptable.
03/01/2008: GAO Reported Congress on 02/28/2008 Issues Involving
Expansion of Visa Waiver Program Countries
- Until recently, U.S. law required that a
country may be considered for admission into the Visa Waiver
Program if the refusal rate for its nationals business
and tourism visas was less than 3 percent in the prior
fiscal year. The executive branch has supported more flexible
criteria for admission, and, in August 2007, Congress passed
legislation that provides DHS with the authority to admit countries
with refusal rates between 3 percent and 10 percent, if
the countries meet certain conditions. For example, countries
must meet all mandated Visa Waiver Program security requirements
and cooperate with the United States on counterterrorism initiatives.
Before DHS can exercise this new authority, the legislation requires
that the department complete certain actions aimed at enhancing
security of the Visa Waiver Program. Before DHS can expand the
program to countries with refusal rates between 3 percent and
10 percent, it must also certify that an electronic travel authorization
system is fully operational. This system would require nationals
from visa waiver countries to provide the United States with
biographical information before boarding a U.S.-bound flight
to determine the eligibility of, and whether there exists a law
enforcement or security risk in permitting, the foreign national
to travel to the United States under the program. As of Feb.
21, 2008, DHS had not announced its plans for this authorization
system. In addition, Congress also required the implementation
of a biometric exit system at U.S. airports. If this is not in
place by mid-2009, the flexibility DHS could have obtained to
admit countries with refusal rates between 3 percent and 10 percent
will be suspended until it is in place. A biometric air exit
system utilizes biometric identifiers such as digital fingerprint
scans rather than paper documents and biographic information
to verify the departure of foreign nationals from the United
States. As of Feb. 21, 2008, DHS had not announced plans for
a biometric exit system.
- In 2007, almost 13 million citizens from
27 countries entered the United States under the Visa Waiver
Program. The program was created to promote the effective use
of government resources and to facilitate international travel
without jeopardizing U.S. national security. The United States
last expanded the Visa Waiver Programs membership in 1999
with the addition of Portugal, Singapore, and Uruguay; since
then, other countries have expressed a desire to become members.
In recent years, Members of Congress have introduced bills calling
for the expansion of the program. In February 2005, President
Bush announced that DHS and State would develop a strategy, or
Road Map Initiative, to clarify the statutory requirements
for designation as a participating country. According to DHS,
some of the countries seeking admission to the program are U.S.
partners in the war in Iraq and have high expectations that they
will join the program due to their close economic, political,
and military ties to the United States.
- In July 2006, GAO reported that DHS and State
were consulting with Road Map countries seeking admission
into the Visa Waiver ProgramBulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic,
Estonia, Greece, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Romania,
Slovakia, and South Korea. In September 2007, State nominated
Greece for admission into the program, and DHS is currently reviewing
this nomination to assess the impact of Greeces participation
on U.S. security, law enforcement, and illegal immigration interests.
In fiscal year 2006, Greece was one of three countries (along
with Cyprus and Malta) with a refusal rate below 3 percent. Three
other Road Map countries have refusal rates between
3 and 10 percent, while seven others have rates above 10 percent.
Visa Refusal Rates for Short-Term Tourist and Business Visitors
of Countries Seeking to Join the Visa Waiver Program, Fiscal
Year 2007: Greece (1.6%); Cyprus (1.8%); Malta (2.7%); Estonia
(4.0%); South Korea (4.4%); Czech Republic (6.7%); Hungary (10.3%);
Latvia (11.8%); Slovakia (12.0%); Lithuania (12.9%); Bulgaria
(14.3%); Poland (25.2%); Romania (37.7%).
- In this testimony of February 28, 2008, however,
the GAO expressed its reservation for the DHS current plan to
expand the countries of Visa Waiver Program on the ground that
an air exit system that facilitates the development of overstay
rate data is important to managing potential risks in expanding
the Visa Waiver Program, but DHSs planned methodology for
meeting the 97 percent provision so it can move forward
with program expansion will not demonstrate improvements in the
air exit system or help the department identify overstays or
develop overstay rates. For the details, please read the full
text of the testimony.
02/29/2008: HHS Proposed Designation of Medically Underserved Populations and Health Professional
Shortage Areas
- This proposed rule would revise and consolidate
the criteria and processes for designating medically underserved
populations (MUPs) and health professional shortage areas (HPSAs),
designations that are used in a wide variety of Federal government
programs including the international medical graduates' national
interest waiver and state sponsorship for permanent resident
applications. These revisions are intended to improve the way
underserved areas and populations are designated, by incorporating
up-to-date measures of health status and access barriers, eliminating
inconsistencies and duplication of effort between the two existing
processes. These revisions are intended to reduce the effort
and data burden on States and communities by simplifying and
automating the designation process as much as possible while
maximizing the use of technology. No changes are proposed at
this time with respect to the criteria for designating dental
and mental health HPSAs. Podiatric, vision care, pharmacy, and
veterinary care HPSAs, which are no longer in use, would be abolished
under the proposed rule.
02/29/2009: 2008 Adverse Effect Wage Rates for H-2A Temporary
Labor Certification Proceedings
- Alabama ........................................
$8.53
Arizona .......................................... 8.70
Arkansas ....................................... 8.41
California ....................................... 9.72
Colorado ....................................... 9.42
Connecticut ................................... 9.70
Delaware ....................................... 9.70
Florida ........................................... 8.82
Georgia ......................................... 8.53
Hawaii ........................................... 10.86
Idaho ............................................. 8.74
Illinois ............................................ 9.90
Indiana .......................................... 9.90
Iowa .............................................. 10.44
Kansas .......................................... 9.90
Kentucky ....................................... 9.13
Louisiana ...................................... 8.41
Maine ............................................ 9.70
Maryland ....................................... 9.70
Massachusetts .............................. 9.70
Michigan ....................................... 10.01
Minnesota ..................................... 10.01
Mississippi .................................... 8.41
Missouri ........................................ 10.44
Montana ........................................ 8.74
Nebraska ...................................... 9.90
Nevada ......................................... 9.42
New Hampshire ............................ 9.70
New Jersey ................................... 9.70
New Mexico .................................. 8.70
New York ...................................... 9.70
North Carolina .............................. 8.85
North Dakota ................................ 9.90
Ohio .............................................. 9.90
Oklahoma ..................................... 9.02
Oregon .......................................... 9.94
Pennsylvania ................................ 9.70
Rhode Island ................................ 9.70
South Carolina .............................. 8.53
South Dakota ................................ 9.90
Tennessee .................................... 9.13
Texas ............................................ 9.02
Utah .............................................. 9.42
Vermont ........................................ 9.70
Virginia .......................................... 8.85
Washington ................................... 9.94
West Virginia ................................ 9.13
Wisconsin ..................................... 10.01
Wyoming ....................................... 8.74
02/28/2008: CompeteAmerica Letter to House Speaker, Madame
Pelosi, for Employment-Based Legislation
- In the current political environment, the
immigration legislation remains a backburner despite the suffering
of the U.S. businesses for the shortage of talented foreign workers.
As the Presidential party primary moves close to the nomination
of the each party's Presidential candiate, this type of lobbying
will constitute an overture to the upcoming increased voices
from the immigrants and employers to pressure the Congress to
act. Read on.
- It is particularly disheartening that the
Secretary of Homeland Security Department fails to act to fix
the problem of U.S. school graduates facing a serious problem
in the FY 2009 H-1B petitions despite a strong urge of the bi-partisan
Senate leaders to fix the problem. Earlier, there was a report
that the Secretary was considering the administrative fix of
the employment based immigration issues within the given laws,
but the businesses have yet to see any action on the part of
the Secretary to fix such problem beyond the enforcement issues.
02/28/2008: USCIS Questions and Answers: Background Check Policy Update 02/28/2008
02/28/2008: FBI Name Check Backlogs Eligible for 485 Adjudication
in Service Centers
- According to the withdrawn USCIS FAQ on FBI
Name Check Backlog I-485 case new adjudication policy after 180
days of name check request, they estimated the total eligible
485 cases at 46,000 or something. Now, according to the AILA
Q&A with the USCIS HQ Service Center Operation office on
February 20, 2008, the Service Centers located approximatlely
10,000 cases that were waiting name checks only and they estimated
that there would be additional 15,000 cases that would fit the
new policy. There is no specific timeline announced, but there
are some indications that these cases may be adjudicated from
one month to approximately three or four months. It appears that
the USCIS is mindful of the potential EB visa number retrogression
and may want to adjudicate these cases as soon as possible.
02/27/2008: USCIS Updates FY 2009 H-1B Cap Filing Hints
- Those who intend to file the FY 2009 H-1B
petitions should read carefully the following updates of filing
hints:
- For the additional helpful information, please
visit out Questions
and Discussions site. The USCIS will also publish the Interim
Rule on the cap filing as soon as the OMB approves it. Please
stay tuned to this website.
02/26/2008: OFLC Has Just Released FY 2007 PERM Statistics
More than 85,100 PERM cases
certified during FY 2007
Foreign workers representing
176 countries certified for permanent
work in the U.S.
Nearly 6 out of 10 PERM cases
certified for small employers
(less than 250 workers)
Top states: California (20,222),
New York (8,843), New Jersey
(6,594), Texas (6,534), and
Florida (5,128)
Top countries: India (24,573),
China (6,846), Mexico (6,442),
South Korea (5,159), Canada
(4,837)
Top employers:
Microsoft Corporation
Cognizant Technologies
Oracle USA, Incorporated
Intel Corporation
Ernst & Young, LLP
Motorola Incorporated
- Lots of very interesting detailed statistics
and information. Please read the full text.
02/26/2008: USCIS Ongoing Rule-Making Priorities and Selective
Priority Agenda
- USCIS is releasing the semi-annual rule-making
agenda two times a year - Fall and Spring of each fiscal year.
The following are the priorities for current semi-annual rule-making
agenda. Readers will notice that these rules have been and will
be published within this period as stated in this statement:
- National Security
- USCIS has an essential role in supporting
DHS's Strategic Goal to ensure the security and integrity of
the immigration system by making certain that immigrants and
nonimmigrants comply with the laws and security mandates to prevent
those who seek to exploit our immigration benefits or engage
in illegal activities from obtaining lawful status in this country.
To further our national security objectives, USCIS is pursuing
regulatory initiatives that will disallow the granting of immigration
benefits while an applicant has an ongoing investigation. These
regulatory initiatives include the following:
- "Designation of Acceptable Documents
for Employment Verification ("I-9 Reduction Rule").
This rulemaking action will reduce the number of documents acceptable
for Employment Verification, or Form I-9, purposes. The current
employment verification process uses a very dated list of acceptable
documents and a revised Form I-9 has been approved. However,
the entire list of documents needs to be shortened and the Form
I-9 reissued in conjunction with a shorter list of more highly
secure documents.
- "Special Immigrant and Nonimmigrant
Religious Workers." This final rule amends USCIS regulations
regarding the special immigrant and nonimmigrant religious worker
visa classifications. This rule clarifies several substantive
and procedural issues that have arisen since the religious worker
category was created, and provides new definitions that describe
more clearly the regulatory requirements, as well as add specific
evidentiary requirements for petitioning employers and prospective
religious workers. This rule also addresses concerns about the
integrity of the religious worker program by establishing a petition
requirement for religious organizations seeking to classify an
alien as an immigrant or nonimmigrant religious worker. Finally,
this rule includes an on-site inspection requirement for religious
organizations to ensure the legitimacy of petitioner organizations
and employment offers made by such organizations.
- Customer Service
- USCIS strives to provide efficient, courteous,
accurate and responsive services to those who seek and qualify
for admission into our country as well as providing seamless,
transparent and dedicated customer support services within the
agency. To improve our customer service goals, USCIS is pursuing
regulatory initiatives that will make immigration procedures
consistent with new laws, improve interpretive services, standardize
adjudication and filing procedures, and modernize application
processing to facilitate effective data collection and reporting.
- These regulatory initiatives include:
- "Petition to Classify Alien as Immediate
Relative of a U.S. Citizen or as a Preference Immigrant; Self-Petitioning
for Certain Battered or Abused Alien Spouses and Children."
This rulemaking action would implement provisions of the Battered
Immigrant Women Protection Act of 2000 and the Violence Against
Women and Department of Justice Reauthorization Act of 2005.
Those provisions amend the Immigration and Naturalization Act
provisions that allow battered spouses, children and parents
of U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents to petition for
immigrant classification without the assistance or consent of
the abuser.
- USCIS also is restructuring its entire
business processes to implement new procedures for the filing,
processing, and adjudication of all benefit applications and
petitions. USCIS is moving toward complete electronic filing
and adjudication of benefits to streamline processing, modernize
adjudications, and facilitate efficient and effective data collection
and reporting. USCIS will be issuing a rulemaking action "New
Electronic Account, Adjudication, and Reporting System; New
Procedures for Filing and Processing of Fiscal Year 2007 H-1B
Petitions Subject to Annual Cap" as part of this business
restructuring process.
- Interesting Long-Term Agenda:
- I-140 Premium Processing Timeframe Change:
Plans to change the premium processing
time from 15 calendar days to 15 business days and adds additional
circumstances that will stop the premium processing clock. This
rule also clarifies that for e-filed petitions and applications,
the 15 business day processing period begins when U.S. Citizenship
and Immigration Services receives the initial required supporting
documentation to adjudicate the case at the Service Center with
jurisdiction over that case. This interim rule also addresses
public comments received in connection with the first interim
rule.
- Electronic Signature: Planned acceptance of electronic signatures on applications
and petitions for immigration and naturalization benefits. The
change is necessary to allow the Department to begin accepting
electronically filed applications and petitions as required by
law. By accepting electronically filed applications and petitions,
the Department expects to streamline its information collection
process, improve customer service, and move towards fulfilling
the mandates of the Government Paperwork Elimination Act.
- Suspension of I-140/I-485 Concurrent Filing:
Plans to propose suspension of the
current I-485 concurrent filing rule. Approximate agenda to publish
this "proposed" rule will be November 2008. Since it
is planning to make this rule through "proposed rule,"
the suspension may not materialize until mid or late 2009.
- This selective rule-making agenda is somewhat
belatedly posted to give the readers some understanding of ongoing
USCIS policy and procedure changes and some perspectives on the
likely future changes. Finalization of EAD time limitation removal
will be on the way as well.
02/25/2008: Somalia TPS Designation Extension & Automatic
Employment Authorization Extension Under OMB Review
- The designation renewal will be published
in the federal register as a notice. Please stay tuned.
02/25/2008: OMB Under Review Again USCIS Rule on Petitions
Filed on Behalf of H-1B Temporary Workers Subject to the Annual
Numerical Limitation
- USCIS resubmitted this rule for OMB review
last Friday. The rule is expected to be published in the form
of Interim Final Rule rather than Proposed Rule. As the clock
is ticking towards April 1 when the FY 2009 H-1B cap will be
received and probably the cap may reach the same day, the H-1B
employers are anxious to learn what restrictions the USCIS will
impose on the cap filing, such as multiple filing, etc. Additionally,
this regulation will announce availability of premium processing
and efiling of the H-1B cap filings. Premium processing and efiling
are likely suspended but people should wait and see. The rule
may also announce the filing jurisdictions for different types
of H-1B cap and cap-exempt cases, particularly during the cap
filing period. Please stay tuned to this website for the release
of this Interim Rule.
02/24/2008: Employers Beware, Justice Department Announced
Tougher Enforcement of Employment Authorization Verification Violation,
Hiring Employment Unauthorized Aliens, and Discrimination Violations
with Steep Increased Civil Penalty
- Yesterday, the Attorney General announced
that a regulation will be published early next week which will
take effect on March 27, 2008. Under the new rule, civil fines
will increase by as much as $5,000. Under the new rule and applicable
law, civil penalties for violations of the Immigration and Nationality
Act are adjusted for inflation. Because these penalties were
last adjusted in 1999, the average adjustment is approximately
25 percent. Under the specific rounding mechanism of the law,
the minimum penalty for knowing employment of an unauthorized
alien increases by $100, from $275 to $375. Some of the higher
civil penalties are increased by $1,000; for example, the maximum
penalty for a first violation increases from $2,200 to $3,200.
The biggest increase under the rounding mechanism raises the
maximum civil penalty for multiple violations from the current
$11,000 to $16,000. These penalties are assessed on a per-alien
basis; thus, if an employer knowingly employed, or continued
to employ, five unauthorized aliens, that could result in five
fines.
- Under the Immigration and Nationality Act,
employers who violate employment eligibility requirements are
subject to civil monetary penalties. Employers may be fined under
the Act for knowingly employing unauthorized aliens or for other
violations, including failure to comply with the requirements
relating to employment eligibility verification forms, wrongful
discrimination against job applicants or employees on the basis
of nationality or citizenship, and immigration-related document
fraud. For each of these violations, the employer has the right
to a hearing before an administrative law judge in the Executive
Office for Immigration Review.
02/23/2008: USCIS Case Status Inquiry Guidance
- This publication gives a guidance for case
status inquiry per different types of applications and petitions.
For instance, unlike other inquiries, it states that if you filed
a Form I-765, EAD application, and it has been longer than 90
days since youfiled and you haven't gotten an update from us
within the last 60 days, and have not seen any public notice
that adresses yourcase type, it advises to call custoer services
immediately and not to wait the extra 30 days. For this link,
please visit our home page in the future.
02/23/2008: USCIS February 15, 2008 Processing Times
- Please note that this report does not reflect
"future waiting time" for future-dated cases. For instance,
for I-140 petitions, TSC is adjudicating the cases which they
received approximtely 8 months back. It does not mean that any
cases which were filed post to the dates showin in this report
will be adjudicated in 8 months. The same is true with NSC. NSC
is processing most of the I-140 petitions which they received
from 12 months to 14 months back. However, considering the huge
number of backlogs (more than 145,000), movement of processing
dates can be much slower than the calendar dates unless the USCIS
takes certain special steps of action, such as reinstatement
of premium processing services. Accordingly, those who filed
I-140 and whose H-1B six-year approaches six-year limit but who
are not eligible for one-year increment extension may consider
an action to take trips outside of the U.S. for certain period
of time to recapture the times outside of the U.S. and delay
the time of reach of their H-1B six-year limit by recapturing
the overseas times. This special action may be needed for those
who filed I-140 petition only lately and are approaching the
H-1B six-year limit.
02/22/2008: H-1B Cap Filing Rule-Making Delayed
- This proposed rule appears to have failed
to obtain the approval from the OMB on 02/21/2008. It is likely
that the USCIS may resubmit the rule-making with revisions. This
may cause some delays for the FY 2009 H-1B cap filers to learn
the details of restrictions the USCIS intends to impose for FY
2009 H-1B filing procedure and requirement. Please stay tuned.
02/21/2008: Special Notice
- People should not send fax
inquiries to the Service Centers for their pending EB-485 applications.
Under the current procedure, they are required to go through
the Customer Service lines.
02/20/2008: USCIS Proposed Rule on Petitions Filed on Behalf
of H-1B Temporary Workers Subject to the Annual Numerical Limitation
- The USCIS submitted this proposed rule to
the OMB on February 15, 2008 for review and approval. This rule
is expect to lay out the details on its restriction for multiple
filings and other matters. Please stay tuned to this website
for development of this rule.
02/20/2008: USCIS February Monthly Newsletter Released 02/20/2008
02/19/2008: Stand-Alone I-130 Filing Procedure Change Effective
Today
- The USCIS has just announced that effective immediately all the
stand alone I-130 must, repeat, must be filed at the following
Chicago Lock Boxes depending on either Vermont or California
Service Centers. Even through the petitions are filed at the
Chicago Lock Box, the cases will be adjudicated by either VSC
or CSC depending on the residence.
- Petitioners who reside in Alaska,
Arizona, California, Colorado, Guam, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois,
Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana,
Nebraska, Nevada, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah,
Washington, Wisconsin or Wyoming must file their stand-alone
Form I-130s with the Lockbox using the following address:
USCIS
P.O. Box 804625
Chicago, IL 60680-1029
Petitioners who reside in Alabama, Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware,
Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts,
Mississippi, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York,
North Carolina, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island,
South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, U.S. Virgin
Islands, West Virginia or District of Columbia must file their
stand-alone Form I-130 with the Lockbox using the following address:
USCIS
P.O. Box 804616
Chicago, IL 60680-1029
- This jurisdiction change is mandatory.
02/19/2009: USCIS Receipting All "Current"
- USCIS has announced today that all the frontlog receipting
processing times are current and there is no longer any backlog.
This includes Chicago Lock Box as well.
02/15/2008: DHS Announced Resignation of Ombudsman Prakash Khatri
02/15/2008: USCIS Announcement of Consolidation of Biometrics
Appointment and Collection for Concurrently Filed I-485 and EAD
Application
- USCIS has announced that effective today
USCIS will collect biometrics for both forms in one visit to
the ASC, ensuring that each application is processed in a timely
manner. Also, customers will only need to submit one biometrics
fee ($80) with the I-485.The biometrics collection for the Form
I-485 and a concurrent Form I-765 is being consolidated in order
to improve customer service and make the most of agency resources.
Previously, customers received a biometrics appointment from
the ASC for the I-485, but were required to submit any necessary
biometrics for an I-765 directly to the service center with jurisdiction
over their case. For the full text, please click here.
02/15/2008: Proposed Foreign Labor Certification Applications
Filing Fees
- The U.S. Department of Labor is planning
the following filing fee charges for the permanent and temporary
labor certification applications, which will be reflected in
its legislation to authorize collection of filing fees:
- PERM Permanent Labor Certification Application:
$650
- H-2A Temporary Agricultural Worker Labor
Certification Application: $100
minimum with additional charge
of $10 per
worker covered in each proceeding upto maximum charge of $1,000 per
application
- H-2B Temporary Non-Agricultural Worker
Labor Certification Application: $125 minimum with
additional charge of $50 per worker covered in each application.
- For other details for forthcoming changes,
please stay tuned to this website.
02/15/2008: ECFMG Introduces ECFMG Medical School Web Portal
for International Medical Schools
- ECFMG has initiated the ECFMG Medical School
Web Portal (EMSWP) which allows international medical schools
to have access to a free, web-based program that enables them
to verify the status of their students and graduates who have
applied to ECFMG for the United States Medical Licensing Examination(tm)
(USMLE(tm)). ECFMG requires that international medical schools
verify the status of their students who apply to ECFMG for USMLE
exams. Prior to the launch of EMSWP, ECFMG verified student status
through a paper Certification Statement, completed by the student
and his/her medical school for each USMLE application. Now, for
a student whose medical school participates in EMSWP, a paper
Certification Statement is no longer required for each exam application;
instead, the student and his/her medical school will complete
a paper Certification of Identification Form. Once it is accepted
by ECFMG, the Certification of Identification Form remains valid
for all exam applications submitted during the following five-year
period. During this period, the student will be able to complete
the exam application process entirely on-line using ECFMG's Interactive
Web Application (IWA), and the medical school will verify the
student's status on-line using EMSWP in response to each exam
application. For students from non-participating schools, ECFMG
will continue to require a completed Certification Statement
for each exam application. Students will be able to determine
if their medical school participates in EMSWP and obtain the
appropriate form (Certification of Identification Form or Certification
Statement) after completing the on-line part of the exam application
using IWA. For additional details, please visit www.ecfmg.org.
02/14/2008: DHS Inspector General Congressional Testimony of
02/13/2008: One of the Congressional Close Oversight Needed Areas
for DHS - USCIS Backlog
- The Inspector General of DHS testified before
the Congress yesterday. One of the recommendations which he asked
the Congress to keep a close eye on over the next twelve months
as the country prepares for a national election and transitions
to a new administration was USCIS Backlog of Immigrant Application.
He testifies that a key factor in this effort will be the progress
CIS makes in modernizing its information technology systems.
CIS has developed a number of plans to modernize its systems,
but none of them have been implemented fully. Until USCIS improves
IT management and operations, the USCIS will not be in a position
to either effectively manage existing workloads or handle the
potentially dramatic increase in immigration benefits processing
workloads that could result from proposed immigration reform
legislation. Hmm.................................................
02/14/2008: USCIS Clarification of Denial vs. Rejection
of EAD Renewal Application Filed Earlier Than 120 Days Prior to
Expiration of EAD
- We posted this message on 02/04/2008 and
raised this issue. The AILA has just reported that the USCIS
clarified its message that the premature filing would be "rejected"
rather than "denied." What this means is that the filers
will at least save the filing fees.
02/14/2008: Holiday Reminder: Monday, 02/18/2008, Washington's
Birthday
- Monday is a legal holiday for the federal
government which is observed. Just reminder!
02/14/2008: Advisory for People in Palau in Pacific Oceans: Their Status Under
U.S. Immigration & Nationality Act
02/14/2008: Advisory for People in Micronesia and Marshall Islands: Their Status
Under U.S. Immigration & Nationality Act
- USCIS released this helpful and information
information for the people in these terrotories on 02/13/2008
regarding their status under the U.S. immigration and nationality
laws.
02/14/2008: House Subcommittee Hearing on Status of Visas
& Policies on Foreign Students and Scholars on February 7,
2008
- The House had this important hearing that can have an impact on the employment-based
immigration issues relating to the STEM foreign graduates in
research and higher learning institutions. It is suggested that
the EB immigrants in STEM to review the testimonies of witnesses
in this hearing.
- Under the current political environment and
a long pause in the employment-based immigration legislation
issues in the Hill, this is indeed an important news in that
at least the Congress is giving attention to the predicament
the research and higher learning institutions are facing owing
to the failure of the do-nothing Congress and the Administration
to act on the matter.
02/14/2008: Chicago Lockbox I-130 Receipting Update as
of 02/13/2008: February 3, 2008
02/13/2008: SWA Access to E-Verify Employment Verification
and Required Memorandum of Understanding
- The Department of Labor has been working
with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Social
Security Administration to provide State Workforce Agencies (SWAs)
with access to the E-Verify employment eligibility verification
system. SWAs are required to verify the employment eligibility
of all referrals to H-2A job orders (see Training and Employment
Guidance Letter 11-07, ch. 1, TEGL 11-07). The Memorandum of
Understanding (MOU) is now available to enable SWAs to access
E-Verify. The MOU must be submitted to DHS by the SWA in ord