Articles Posted in Work Visas

Effective December 21, 2009, the Nursing Relief for Disadvantaged Areas Reauthorization Act will sunset. The Nursing Relief for Disadvantage Areas Act (NRDAA) established the H-1C Program in 1999 to reduce the shortage of qualified nurses in health professional shortage areas. The Program was reauthorized until December 20, 2009 under the Nursing Relief for Disadvantage Areas Reauthorization Act of 2005 which became effective in December 20, 2006.

Under the H-1C Program, eligible hospitals filed attestations with the Department of Labor’s, Employment and Training Administration (ETA) to support nonimmigrant worker petitions filed with the Department of Homeland Security’s U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Absent further legislative action, Congress has not elected to reinstate the H-1C Program and will no longer accept H-1C Attestations on Form ETA 9081 for foreign nurse positions effective December 21, 2009. The hospitals utilizing the H-1C Program may continue to file applications with the Department of Labor through its other programs including the H-1B Program and the PERM Program, as appropriate.

Please note that nurses still have other visa options, like the H1B visa as well as Permanent Residency.

With predictions that the H1B cap will be reached any day now, employers and employees are rushing to beat the cap. United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that, as of December 4th, it had received approximately 61,100 H-1B petitions counting toward the congressionally-mandated 65,000 limit. Additionally, USCIS has approved sufficient H-1B petitions for foreign nationals with advanced degrees to meet the exemption of 20,000 from the fiscal year 2010 cap. Any H-1B petition filed on behalf of a foreign national with an advanced degree will now count toward the general H-1B cap of 65,000.

So why are they still accepting cases? Well not all filed H1B petitions will be approved so the final count will not be known until USCIS will clear all denials. We will keep you posted.

This update is provided by AILA and we are happy to share. At the New York CLE on December 1, 2009, USCIS representatives discussed H-1B usage. Without revealing the exact number of H-1B petitions have been received, nor providing an estimate of the number of H-1B visas remaining, USCIS indicated that there has been an “uptick” in receipts in the last two weeks, including approximately 2000 received in the days before Thanksgiving.

USCIS also confirmed that demand for visas under the Chile and Singapore provisions has been very small this year. USCIS has, for several years, estimated the demand for Chile/Singapore visas, and has set aside that estimated number. The remaining number of visas that are set aside for Chile and Singapore (from maximums of 1,400 for nationals of Chile and 5,400 for nationals of Singapore) are returned to the “general” H-1B pool, and USCIS accepts petitions up to a number that includes an estimate of the number of Chile and Singapore visas that will go unused.

Thus, though the Chile/Singapore set aside reduces initially the H-1B cap from 65,000 to 58,200, in reality, some number of thousand unused Chile/Singapore visas are added back in, bringing the number of H-1B visas generally available well above 58,200. That is why, according to the latest H-1B cap count, the number, 58,900, exceeds 58,200. Nevertheless, because of the apparent increase in demand, applicants should not delay preparing and filing H-1B petitions and should be aware that the cap could be reached at any moment if the increase in demand continues. We will keep you posted.

So this may be the last week of H1B visa filings, as of November 27, 2009, approximately 58,900 H-1B cap-subject petitions had been filed. USCIS has approved sufficient H-1B petitions for aliens with advanced degrees to meet the exemption of 20,000 from the fiscal year 2010 cap. Any H-1B petitions filed on behalf of an alien with an advanced degree will now count toward the general H-1B cap of 65,000. 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 limits, taking into account the fact that some of these petitions may be denied, revoked, or withdrawn.

Here are some tips from the Vermont Service Center. VSC will accept I-539 applications to change status to I status for representatives of foreign press, radio, film, or other foreign information media. The I visa is generally issued at a U.S. consulate with a contract or job letter from a foreign media organization and the applicant’s appropriate credentials.

To adjudicate an application to change status to I, VSC requires the following:
* An explanation for why the applicant did not apply for an I information media visa at a U.S. Consulate abroad;
* College transcripts evidencing journalism classes, establishing that the applicant is qualified for the I visa (NOTE: the Foreign Affairs Manual only requires proof of credential issued by a professional journalistic association, if available in home country);
* Letter from employer including employer’s name, applicant’s job title, duties, and annual salary (note below for specifics);
* Outline of the applicant’s employment history for the last four years, including:
o The title of all positions held during the time frame
o The duration of employment for each position
VSC provided the following profession-specific instructions:

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Crazy times with the H1B visa these days. As we are nearing the end of 2009, with H1B visa numbers open from April, it seems that the end is near. Recent cap update indicates that 1300 visas were approved last week. So far 56,900 visas were filed, leaving us with 8,100 to fight for. But remember that 6,800 out of the 8100 is reserved for Chile-Singapore nationals coming to the United States to work temporarily. So we are essentially left with 1,300 visas. If this continues by December 8th or so we will reach the cap.

What to do? If you have a job offer, print this post and show it to your employer. Maybe that will get them moving. Remember LCA processing will take more than a week, and with recent Memo from USCIS once can file even without an approved LCA.

So Happy Thanksgiving to all of you, and looking forward to an exciting December!!!

As our economy is heading towards recovery, we must recognize the role of small businesses and Entrepreneurs in taking the lead and keeping us optimistic. Investments in small businesses are especially significant to the national interest of the United States. The Small Business Administration (SBA) estimates that 99 percent of the firms in the United States are small businesses, and small firms have generated 60 to 80 percent of the net new jobs annually over the past decade.

Perry Marshall, the SEO expert, released an excellent article today about the value of Entrepreneurs in our society. Very inspiring:

Have you ever….

The most recent update from the USCIS is showing again a steady approval rate. The jump we saw in October was just due to a more current update of the approval, nit an increase in filing according to the USCIS. If this pace will continue we will see visas all through early 2010, but I may be wrong here…

Ao here is is the update from USCIS:

As of November 6, 2009, approximately 54,700 H-1B cap-subject petitions had been filed. USCIS has approved sufficient H1-B petitions for aliens with advanced degrees to meet the exemption of 20,000 from the fiscal year 2010 cap. Any H1-B petitions filed on behalf of an alien with an advanced degree will now count toward the general H1-B cap of 65,000. 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 limits, taking into account the fact that some of these petitions may be denied, revoked, or withdrawn.

In response to the major delays with Labor Condition Applications (LCA’s), the USCIS announced a temporary policy and procedural change regarding H1B petition filings. Effective November 5, 2009, H1B cases can be filed prior to the certification of the required Labor Condition Application (LCA). This change was necessitated by delays in LCA processing through the Department of Labor (DOL).

Here is how the new process will work. USCIS will begin to accept H-1B petitions filed with uncertified LCAs for a 120-day period, commencing November 5, 2009 and through March 4, 2010. However, USCIS will only accept such H-1B petitions if they are filed at least 7 calendar days after the LCAs were filed with DOL and include evidence of these filings. The only acceptable evidence of filing is a copy of DOL’s email giving notice of receipt of the LCA.

Petitioners who seek to take advantage of this temporary flexibility in the normal filing procedures for H-1B petitions must wait until they receive a request for evidence (RFE) before they submit the DOL-certified LCA to USCIS in support of the H-1B petition. USCIS will give petitioners a period of 30 calendar days within which they must send in a DOL certified LCA in response to the RFE. We welcome this new procedure and hope that it will expedite current H1B processing.

USCIS recently issued a Memo that amends Adjudicator’s Field Manual on General Form I-140 Issues. Many issues are covered, but one of particular interest to our PERM readers is the Labor Certification Validity for Labor Certifications with an Ending Validity Date that Falls on a Saturday, Sunday or Federal Legal Holiday.

DOL has established a 180-day validity period for approved labor certifications. See 20 CFR 656.30(b). An approved labor certification must be filed in support of a Form 1-140 petition during the labor certification’s validity period. DOL has not published any guidance regarding the treatment of labor certifications that effectively have a validity period of less than 180 days due to an ending validity date that falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or a federal legal holiday.

USCIS will accept the filing of 1-140 petitions where the supporting labor certification validity period ends on a Saturday, Sunday or federal legal holiday on the next business day, i.e., the next day that is not a Saturday, Sunday or federal legal holiday. This action is most consistent with existing USCIS regulations, which allow cut-off dates for the filing of petitions and applications that fall on a Saturday, Sunday or federal legal holiday to be extended until the next business day. See 8 CFR 1.1 (h). This procedure provides petitioning employers the benefit of the full 180 day validity period for approved labor certifications established by DOL.