Latest News, Blogs, and Other Thoughts on Immigration

A new Visa Pilot Program has been proposed to simplify visa processing at U.S. consulates in 3 out of the 4 BRIC countries--Brazil, India & China. The program's goal is to increase tourism and business travel to the U.S. for individuals from these countries. Specific benchmarks for the program include:

The November 2011 Visa Bulletin includes the following information:

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced today that it has received a sufficient number of H-1B petitions to reach the statutory cap for fiscal year (FY) 2011. USCIS is notifying the public that yesterday, Jan. 26, 2011, is the final receipt date for new H-1B specialty occupation petitions requesting an employment start date in FY2011.

There is some confusion surrounding a release from the U.S. Consulate in Mumbai on its web site regarding the February 2011 Immigrant Visa numbers. The consulate’s web site shows that EB-2 numbers for India are current. See http://mumbai.usconsulate.gov/cut_off...

This is incorrect as EB-2 numbers for India are not current. In fact, EB-2 numbers for India have not moved at all since January. The EB-2 priority date for India remains as May 8, 2006—the same date as in January 2011.

On January 5, 2011, some civics test answers will change due to the recent Federal elections.
If you take the test ON or AFTER January 5, 2011:
Answer civics test questions 20, 23, and 47 using the answers below.

US Department of Labor seeks nearly $1.9 million in back wages and penalties from Newark, NJ, computer consulting company following investigation.
Company could face a 2-year debarment from participating in H-1B program

Each year, 50,000 immigrant visas are made available through a Diversity Visa Lottery to people who are natives of countries (typically a person’s country of birth) with low rates of immigration to the United States. The State Department’s National Visa Center holds the lottery every year, and chooses winners randomly from all qualified entries.
Entries for this year’s Diversity Visa Lottery, for fiscal year 2012, must be submitted electronically between noon, Eastern Daylight Time, Tuesday, October 5, 2010, and noon, Eastern Standard Time, Wednesday, November 3, 2010.
A lottery applicant who is selected in the Diversity Visa Lottery will be given the opportunity to then apply for permanent residence on his/her own behalf and on behalf of his/her spouse and any unmarried children under the age of 21. If permanent residence is granted (i.e., the issuance of a “green card”) to a lottery winner, then the lottery winner will be authorized to live and work permanently in the United States.
A lottery applicant must possess either a high school diploma or two years of qualifying work experience within the past five years.
Please note that spouses can each file a lottery application if they each meet the eligibility requirements independently. If one spouse is selected, both will be eligible for green cards, as will all of their minor children.
Applicants currently possessing H or L visas need not worry about concurrently stating immigrant and nonimmigrant intent. Applicants currently possessing other types of visas should review this issue carefully before applying for the lottery.
Natives of the following countries are not eligible to apply for permanent resident visas through the Diversity Visa Lottery: Brazil, Canada, China (mainland-born), Columbia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, India, Jamaica, Mexico, Pakistan, Peru, Philippines, Poland, South Korea, United Kingdom (except Northern Ireland) and its dependent territories, and Vietnam. Persons born in Hong Kong SAR, Macau SAR, and Taiwan are eligible.
Please check out www.dvlottery.state.gov,for additional information on the Diversity Visa Lottery as well as the Lottery Entry Form that can be completed online.

On August 13, 2010, President Barack Obama signed into law a border enforcement funding bill, H.R. 6080, that would offset certain border security costs by raising fees for certain H-1B and L petitions. The bill was passed in the House of Representatives by voice vote on August 10, and was passed in the Senate by unanimous consent on August 12. Many believe the new fees are targeted towards a perceived misuse of H-1B and L-1 visas by Indian IT companies.

A group of IT staffing firms and associations has filed a lawsuit challenging a memo issued in January 2010 by Donald T. Neufeld, Associate Director of Service Center Operations for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), that provided guidance on determining employer-employee relationships for H-1B purposes.

The Department of State has published an interim final rule, effective June 4, 2010, that raises from $131 to $140 the fee charged for processing an application for most non-petition-based nonimmigrant visas (Machine-Readable Visas or MRVs) and adult Border Crossing Cards (BCCs). The rule also provides new tiers of the application fee for certain categories of petition-based nonimmigrant visas and treaty trader and investor visas (all of which are also MRVs). Finally, the rule increases the $13 BCC fee charged to Mexican citizen minors who apply in Mexico, and whose parent or guardian already has a BCC or is applying for one, by raising that fee to $14 by virtue of a congressionally mandated surcharge that went into effect in 2009.

The rule reopens the comment period on these fees for an additional 60 days. Written comments must be received by July 19, 2010. The Department will consider any further comments, and whether to make changes to the rule in response to them, before publishing a final rule.

The DOL recently released information that shows they are currently adjudicating PERM filings filed in August 2009.

CIS recently announced plans to issue a proposed rule to streamline the H-1B cap petition process in an effort to efficiently manage the intake of H-1B cap petitions.

It looks lke the H-1B cap will be open for many months again this fiscal year. As of April 8th, CIS reported receipt of 13,500 Regular Cap H-1Bs and 5,600 Master's Exemption H-1Bs. See:

On March 3, 2010, the Alliance of Business Immigration Lawyers (ABIL), of which Serotte Reich Wilson, LLP is a member, met with Alejandro Mayorkas, Director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), and several members of his leadership team. ABIL said it believes that employment-based immigration reforms should encompass changes in both nonimmigrant and immigrant visa categories so that the U.S. becomes the most attractive global destination for highly skilled and essential workers.

On March 19, 2010, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced revised filing instructions and addresses for applicants filing an Application for Travel Document (Form I-131), which is used to apply for a travel document, reentry permit, or advance parole. The agency said the change of filing location is part of an overall effort to transition the intake of some USCIS forms from local offices and Service Centers to USCIS Lockbox facilities.

The Department of State's April 2010 Visa Bulletin, section D, contains information on "frequently misunderstood points." Topics include the reasons behind fluctuations in demand for visa numbers; per-country limits; and oversubscription.

A few minutes ago USCIS announced that as of December 21, 2009, it has received sufficient petitions to reach the statutory cap for FY2010. USCIS has also received more than 20,000 H-1B petitions on behalf of persons exempt from the cap under the advanced degree exemption.

The Department of State has released the October 2009 Visa Bulletin which is the first bulletin of the new fiscal year and which bulletin makes EB-3 visa numbers available, although not with the cut-off dates as many EB-3 applicants have hoped for. Additionally, EB-2 notes small forward movement while EB-5 is now unavailable due to the expiration of the EB-5 Pilot program.

The Department of State (DOS) has released information and predictions that paint a grim picture for the movement of priority dates for the next few fiscal years. The speculation is partiuclarly bleak for Indian and Chinese nationals.

On April 27, 2009 USCIS updated the count of H-1B petitions received and counted towards the H-1B cap on the USCIS website.