The U.S. Department of State (DOS) has issued the Visa Bulletin for May 2009, which announced EB3 unavailability for all countries of chargeability. The EB2 cutoff dates for China and India had been February 15, 2005 and February 15, 2004, respectively, and have not changed for May 2009. The EB3…
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced March 12, 2009 that the Immigrant Investor Pilot Program has been extended through September 30, 2009 due to yesterday’s signing of the “Fiscal 2009 Omnibus Appropriations Bill,” H.R. 1105. As a result of the extension of the EB5 Pilot Program, USCIS will continue…
As with the predictions about the economy that things will get worse, the Visa Bulletin for April 2009 delivers some bad news, especially for EB3 visa applicants. EB3 category shows a movement backwards of almost 2 years. Why is this happening. Here what the State Department had to say: Despite…
That was a close call for the EB5 program. The House passed legislation that would extend the regional center program. Included in the Fiscal 2009 Omnibus Appropriations bill (H.R. 1105), the law would extend the program only until September 30, 2009. This action means that Congress would need to address…
This report was released by the American Immigration Lawyers Association today. AILA’s Business Committee has prepared this list of Frequently Asked Questions about the H-1B provisions of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA or the “Stimulus Bill”) and its impact on H-1B employers. Some of the FAQs…
Good news for those in the Green Card process mess. Beginning March 2, 2009, USCIS will accept Form I-907 (Request for Premium Processing Service) for alien worker petitions filed on behalf of alien beneficiaries who, as of the date of filing the Form I-907: Are the beneficiary of a Form…
The Nursing Relief Act of 2009 has been introduced into the House of Representatives as bill HR 1001. The bill is a very good one for nurses and US patients. Unfortunately, we are a little skeptical that such a bill can survive the legislation process because of the economic crisis…
Nothing exciting about the March Visa Bulletin. The EB2 cutoff dates for India and China continued to move forward. There is also some forward movement in EB3 for China and Mexico. EB2 category remains current for all countries except for India and China, which show forward movement again, with cutoff…
The Labor Department has released its projections for when it will phase in the new versions of the LCA Form ETA 9035 and the PERM Form ETA 9089. The Deptartment of Labor indicates that its implementation timing for the new LCA Form ETA-9035 is: – It will begin receiving the…
The effective date of the new I-9 form has been delayed for 60 days, until April 3, 2009. It was originally scheduled to take effect on February 2. The comment period on the new form now runs until March 4, 2009. USCIS published an interim final rule, “Documents Acceptable for…