After several years of investigations and further scrutiny, the R1 visa is back in the Premium Processing category under certain strict conditions. Only those petitioners who have successfully passed an on-site inspection are eligible to use Premium Processing Service. Premium Processing Service is only available for R-1 nonimmigrant religious worker…
U.S. Department of Labor has implemented a new integrated online system – known as the iCert Portal – through which employers can submit applications for permanent labor certification, labor condition applications (LCAs) and other applications for immigration-related DOL programs. In addition, the agency will introduce new editions of Form ETA-9089,…
The recent steps taken by Obama Administration to zero in on employers with I-9 gross violation, I would like to suggest the employers few measures which I’ve gleaned from assisting employers survive such audits over the years: – Employers has to make sure that each new hire completes Section 1…
USCIS has announced that the H1B cap count continues to inch forward, with an approximate count of 45,000 as of July 3, 2009. This is a slight increase over the last count. As of this writing, both the advanced-degree and regular caps remain open for FY2010. We will continue to…
Employers are receiving ample H-1B RFE in FY 2009-10. This is a major concern for the IT consulting and staffing companies. The problem of the unanswerable RFE generally stems from an H1B petition that was filed without awareness of the current USCIS expectations and adjudication standards. Petitioner has to submit…
We just updated our readers a few days ago about the new I-9 form, when the recent notice from the government came out. Federal officials Wednesday notified more than 650 businesses around the country, including nearly 50 in Los Angeles, that their records will be audited as part of a…
As of June 19, 2009, approximately 44,500 H-1B cap-subject petitions and approximately 20,000 petitions qualifying for the advanced degree cap exemption had been filed. USCIS will continue to accept both cap-subject petitions and advanced degree petitions until a sufficient number of H-1B petitions have been received to reach the statutory…
USCIS kept on updating the total number of cases received for H-1B for FY 2009-10. However, the recent USCIS H-1B cap count indicates decline in number of cases than what had been previously reported. The updated count reports the receipt of 44,400 ‘Regular’ cap cases, by June 12, 2009 which…
Last week I attended the Annual Immigration Lawyers conference in Las Vegas. During the conference, government officials spent some time to update the attendees of the most recent information and upcoming changes. It seems that the collection of the $500 fraud fee for new H1B or L-1 petitions is being…
The Department of Labor published a final rule, effective on June 29, 2009, that suspends the H-2A final rule published on December 18, 2009. DOL is republishing and reinstating regulations in place on January 16, 2009, for 9 months, after which the Department will either have engaged in further rulemaking…