The U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) recently published a notice of an update for procedures for State Workforce Agencies (“SWA”) and ETA National Processing Centers to process H-2B labor certification applications in non-agricultural occupations. The H-2B nonimmigrant classification allows temporary non-agricultural workers to come to the U.S. to meet seasonal,…
Clients are calling my office in the past week or so, reporting receipt of H1B receipts. A few days later same clients report getting same receipts for the same case. Other clients report receipts issued on the 5th or 6th of April, what is going on here? The USCIS announced…
Are you stressed enough with the H1B craziness, well here is another update. I just learned today that 20,000 H1B numbers reserved for person’s with advanced degrees may be gone by the end of this week, more or less by Thursday afternoon. As you know the 65,000 general cap was…
We just learned today that the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement has changed its name to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The Bureau of Customs and Border Protection has changed its name to U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Both changes took effect 3/31/07. I have stopped keeping track of…
So what is the update with the H1B Lottery? We have received advance notice from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) that on April 12, 2007 it conducted the computer-generated random selection process to determine which H-1B petitions, subject to the congressionally mandated H-1B cap for the 2008 fiscal year…
When the Senate returned from the spring recess on April 10, 2007, Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) welcomed his colleagues back with remarks that highlighted the pressing need for comprehensive immigration reform. Unfortunately, and despite commitment from leaders in both parties to make immigration a priority, the Senate has yet…
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…