Immigration Visa Attorney Blog

The non-partisan National Foundation for American Policy said in a report this month it believes recent fee hikes by the United States for the H-1B and L-1 visas are in violation of commitments made under the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS).

Both H-1B and L-1 visas are temporary non-immigrant visas. H-1B allows U.S. companies to hire foreign workers in specialty fields while L-1 is used by foreign companies which plan to move existing employees to additional offices in the U.S.

Continue reading "H-1B & L-1 Visa Fee Increase by U.S. Violates GATS Commitment" »

The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services released the latest information for the H-1B visas today and the announcement reveals the Master's Cap has been reached.

As of Dec. 31 there have been 57,300 regular petitions received by the USICS out of a total cap number of 65,000.

As mentioned the Master's cap number is at its 20,000 visa limit.

Continue reading "January 4 Update for H-1B Cap-Subject Petitions - Cap Reached" »

As we approach the H-1B cap for the year, The United States Citizenship and
Immigration Services (USCIS) is looking for ways to handle the H-1b cap lottery in a more efficient way.

Prior to this year, employers had to file petitions even in cases where the numerical limitation had been reached in order to be considered for the lottery system which allocates the last available H-1B visas.

Continue reading "Columbus H-1B Attorney on CAP Registration System" »

In a letter this month to Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy, United States Citizenship and Immigration Services director Alejandro Mayorkas said that the EB-5 Regional Center Program may rely on jobs "indirectly created outside its geographic boundaries."

Continue reading " Investor Immigration Attorney on Job Creation - Update. " »

The recent failure of a piece of immigration law in Congress will have an impact on teens and young adults throughout the country, including places in the Midwest like Ohio and Michigan.

Last Saturday the United States Senate voted down legislation which would have given some illegal immigrants the opportunity to gain legal status.

Continue reading "Columbus Ohio Immigration Attorney: "Senate Says No to DREAM"" »

The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services has released the latest information for the H-1B petitions filed since the beginning of April.

As of Dec. 10 there have been 52,400 regular petition received by the USICS out of a total cap number of 65,000. That is an increase of 1,200 from the previous week's total.

The Master's cap number is at 19,100, or 900 shy of its 20,000 allotment. That number is up by 400 from Dec. 3.

Some estimates have the Master's H-1B cap being reached near Jan. 1, 2011. The regular cap could be reached soon after that date.

The USCIC began accepting applications since April 1 and will continue to do so until the caps are reached. Form-129 needs to be completed in its entirety in order for an applicant to have the best chance for approval.

Experienced counsel is recommended to help navigate the process with the least amount difficulty.

Audit activities in Columbus, Ohio and Troy, Michigan may have slowed down, but they are in full-force in other parts of the county. The Department of Labor announced this week that it will collect more than $750,000 in back wages and penalties from a computer company which violated H-1B provisions of the Immigration and Nationality Act.

Continue reading "H-1B Attorney Update on DOL Audits" »

Last week the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services released its latest information on H-1B visa petitions filed since April 1.

As of Dec. 3 the USCIS had received 51,200 regular petitions out of a total cap number of 65,000. That is approximately 800 more than were received at this time last year.

Continue reading "H-1B Update for Cap-Subject Petitions - December 3" »

Recently the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services announced it is introducing a standardized form to request a waiver of the processing fees associated with immigration benefits. The form, I-912, became available Nov. 23.

Continue reading "USCIS Introduces First Fee Waiver Form" »

On Nov. 19 the U.S. announced it would be making the visa application process for Indians more convenient.

The embassy in New Delhi, as well as the consulates-general located in Chennai, Hyderabad, Kolkata and Mumbai, will accept application from any part of the country, regardless of the address of the applicant. Interviews will also be conducted at the most convenient location for the applicant.

Also part of the change was a restructuring of the consulate districts.

Ambassador Timothy Roemer said the changes will make the embassy and consulates-general: "even better positioned to support and serve Indian visa applicants, as well as American citizens and businesses throughout India."

A recent decision by the Board of Alien Labor Certification Appeals reminds us
of the need for all documentation related to immigration certification and
subsequent appeals be submitted in a complete and timely fashion.

The company in question saw its 2007 Permanent Employment Certification for a software engineer denied on the grounds its online job posting did not publicize the accurate
prevailing wage determination (PWD). It then had an appeal denied, in part,
because the certifying officer would not consider an online newspaper ad it
had not included in the filing audit.

Continue reading ""BALCA Labor Certification Decision: Documentation Not Submitted With Application Cannot be Considered "" »

The Department of State released its December Visa Bulletin and once again the cutoff for category 2A has been moved up. The most recent Bulletin has the 2A cutoff placed at August 1 of 2010.

This is a two-month change from the November Bulletin, which had the 2A cutoff at June 1. This marks the 12th month the date has been moved in 2010, after beginning the calendar year at January 1 of 2006

The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) released its latest cap count last week.

As of November 12 there were 47,800 regular H-1B petitions listed as either approved or pending. The regular cap number is 65,000. There were 17,400 of the "Master's Exemption" petitions listed, in a category with a 20,000 cap.

H-1B allows employers to bring in foreign workers for specialty occupations including science and business-related field.

The USCIS has been accepting applications since April and will continue to do so until the caps are reached. When the caps are reached, applicants will have to wait until Fiscal Year 2011. All sections of Form-129 must be accurately completed in order for an applicant to give themselves the best chance for approval.

Recently the Department of Labor (DOL) released its "Foreign Labor Certification Report," covering the fiscal year ending in September of 2009. The 100-page report updates Labor's Office of Foreign Labor Certification, which handles Permanent and Temporary Nonimmigrant certification programs.

The report gives an overview of each program and detailed some statistics and a few areas where Labor feels it has improved.

Some highlights of the year as reported by the DOL:

-Labor said there was a "marked increase" in measures targeting integrity. Audits combined with an OFLC pilot program played a role. The National Processing Center in Atlanta received a new contract to help with supervision of recruitment cases.

Continue reading "Highlights From the Foreign Labor Certification Report" »

Nothing is certain when it comes to the long-term impact of the Republicans' strong showing in last week's midterm election. But prevailing opinion is that the GOP reclaiming control of the House of Representatives and narrowing its deficit in the Senate will mean less congressional attention paid to immigration issues related to business.

Continue reading "Outlook: GOP Victory Could Mean Immigration Reform Delays" »