These are hectic days for immigration lawyers and clients alike. I get call all day long from worried clients wanting to know the status of their H1B visa petition. It is hard to beleive that the fate of one’s future in America will be decided by a lottery drawing. U.S.…
“This is unbelievable, this is not happening” says Jacob Sapochnick, an immigration attorney based in San Diego, California. Thousands of employers, visa applicants and their family members couldn’t agree more. Attorney Sapochnick was describing the federal government’s Scary-tight restrictions on visas released each year to highly skilled foreign workers needed…
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (“CIS”) announced on April 3, 2007 that it has received enough H-1B petitions to meet the congressionally mandated cap for fiscal year 2008 (“FY2008”). CIS will use a random selection process (described below) for all cap-subject filings received by April 3, 2007. CIS will reject…
I have been filing PERM Labor Certification cases from the early days the system was introduced a couple of years ago. As you may know, the PERM filing is free. As part of the roll-out of its proposed fiscal 2008 budget, the Department of Labor announced that it will be…
Visa Bulletin Department of State released the Visa Bulletin for March 2007, which reflects retrogression in the family-based third preference category for Mexico and the Philippines. Also, little forward movement is expected in the employment-based third preference category in the near future. Definitions Visa numbers: The U.S. government makes only…
USCIS proposed fee increases averaging 66% and in return is promising 20% processing time improvements by the end of 2009. It seems very unreasonable to me as many of our clients will find it more difficult to apply for benefits. I understand that fees go up, but 66%, this is…
The J-1 visa is an exchange-visitor visa for persons coming to the U.S. as a student, scholar, trainee, teacher, professor, research assistant, or medical graduate to participate in a training, research or study program approved by the Department of State. Given that there are no limits on the number of…
As most of our readers of you are aware, there is an annual cap on the number of new H-1Bs that USCIS can approve. The cap opens up each year on October 1, the start of the government’s fiscal year. However, because H-1B petitions can be filed 6 months in…
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