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…
President Barack Obama is expected to meet with congressional leaders of both parties today to begin laying the groundwork for sweeping immigration legislation, even though its passage this year is considered very unlikely. With lawmakers already plunged into lots of ongoing issues, administration officials and many in Congress say it…
After all the grim news about the Visa Bulletin delays we reported, I have some good news this Tuesday morning. USCIS announced today that effective June 29, 2009, it will resume Premium Processing Service for Form I-140 petitions. I-140 form is used in all Permanent residency applications based on employment.…
Some more news to report from our local community. Three teenagers who were detained by immigration officials at a trolley station and sent to Mexico last month have been allowed to return to the United States on what is known as humanitarian parole. The students, ages 15, 16 and 17,…
White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said there are not enough votes for the Obama administration to achieve its desired immigration reform, and change in the system as we know it today. The plan was derailed when conservative activists, who claimed the program would have constituted “amnesty” for illegal immigrants,…
The U.S. Dept. of State has estimated that all 140,000 employment-based immigrant visa numbers will be used this fiscal year (October 1, 2008 through September 30, 2009). This is a statistical projection based upon the utilization of Green Cards so far. Because of greater usage in EB-4 and EB-5, the…
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…
In a recent decision, RUIZ-DIAZ v. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, the court ruled that Petitioners who filed or will file a Petition for Special Immigrant Religious Worker Visa (Form I-360) with United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) on behalf of individual beneficiaries are hereby notified that you or your…
Rep. Brian Bilbray (R-Calif.) accused the White House on Saturday of playing politics with immigration reform, after President Obama delayed meeting with congressional leaders to discuss the topic this upcoming week. The longtime anti-illegal-immigration lawmaker questioned the administration’s motives in setting up a bipartisan meeting with members of Congress on…
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…