Visa Lawyer Blog

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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to reach the statutory limits, taking into account the fact that some of these petitions may be denied, revoked, or withdrawn.

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As we move closer to an Immigration reform, even government officials agree that such major change is very necessary. Here are some remarks by Secretary Napolitano on Immigration Reform at the Center for American Progress:

Over the past year, as this Administration has pursued more effective strategies within the current laws, the picture of how exactly those laws need to be changed has become clearer than ever before. In the past ten months, we have made tough choices, and implemented significant reforms within the current legal framework—but they are not enough to create the system that we want or that we need. If we are truly going to fix a broken system, Congress will have to act.

When it comes to immigration, I took an oath as Secretary of Homeland Security to secure the nation by enforcing the law and managing legal flows across the border. Let me be clear: to do this job as effectively as possible, DHS needs immigration reform.

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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.

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So you all heard by now about Lou Dobb’s dramatic departure from CNN. He said on air:

Over the past six months, it’s become increasingly clear that strong winds of change have begun buffeting this country and affecting all of us. And some leaders in media, politics and business have been urging me to go beyond the role here at CNN and to engage in constructive problem-solving, as well as to contribute positively to a better understanding of the great issues of our day. And to continue to do so in the most honest and direct language possible.

Whether he felt that the Immigration reform debate will become a major topic in the next year, and his attempts to stop it will fail, or the rise in the pro immigration movement. Whatever it was, we are happy to see him go. Let the voices for Immigration reform take charge and make 2010 the year such change will happen. Good bye Lou!

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Today is Veterans day, and I wanted to send warm wards of support to our Veterans and the active duty men and women fighting for our country day and night.

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AILA provided a very important update from the State Department, we wish to share with our readers.

The Department of State has issued comprehensive new policy guidance on the use of DNA testing in the visa application process. This new guidance is set forth in a new set of extensive Notes to 9 FAM 42.44.

In this new guidance, the State Department declares DNA technology to be the only acceptable non-documentary method for proving a biological relationship. The preferred specimen collection technique for DNA testing is by buccal (cheek or mouth cavity) swab.

According to the Department, DNA testing is expensive, complex and time consuming and thus should be recommended only if no other credible proof of the claimed relationship exists. Consular officers should treat DNA testing as a last resort: all other possible methods for confirming the existence of a biological relationship must be exhausted before recommending this course of action. Even then, DNA testing may only be recommended, but never required by the consular officer.

Consular officers may recommend DNA testing solely to prove a relationship; they may never recommend DNA testing in an attempt to disprove a relationship. Only DNA test results reporting a 99.5 percent or greater degree of certainty as proof of a biological relationship between a parent and child may be accepted in visa cases.

The Department clarifies that consular officers adjudicating Form I-130 Alien Relative petitions are not authorized to approve the petition if DNA test results are the sole evidence of the claimed biological relationship. Such cases are not “clearly approvable” per the provisions of 9 FAM 42.41 N4.2-3; accordingly, they must be forwarded to USCIS for adjudication. Parenthetically, USCIS is authorized to approve I-130 petitions supported solely on DNA testing.

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The House of Representatives on Saturday night passed a sweeping health care bill by a vote of 220-215. In the next few weeks, this bill will be analyzed and there will be various summaries online regarding this important piece of legislation. I would like to focus on the Immigration related matters in the Bill.

The Congressional Hispanic Caucus staunchly oppose including a provision that would bar undocumented workers from using their own money to buy health insurance policies available through the exchange.

The measure is already included in the Senate Finance Committee’s version of the bill and is backed by the White House. Some conservative House Democrats have also indicated their support for the Senate language.

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Most applicants that are married less than 2 years to a US citizen must file form I-751 to remove the conditions. The Immigration Marriage Fraud Amendments of 1986 (IMFA) contained a requirement to file a Petition for Removal of Condition during the 90-day period preceding the second anniversary of the noncitizen’s acquisition of resident status.

The petition is to be filed jointly by the U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident spouse and the conditional resident (CR). IMFA also allowed for a waiver of the joint-filing requirement based on specified grounds if the joint petition could not be filed. The IMFA was modified in 1990 (IMMACT90), and broadened the grounds for filing a waiver of the joint-filing requirement.

Currently a conditional resident can obtain a waiver of the joint-filing requirement and can show that he or she qualifies on one of three distinct bases: (1) extreme hardship to the CR if removed; (2) a good-faith marriage that has been terminated (by means of divorce); or (3) a good-faith marriage during which the CR or child suffered battery or extreme cruelty at the hands of the spouse. The CR files the waiver on Form I-751.

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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.

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So is the economic downturn over already, if you look at the recent H1B filings it may well be the case. United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has updated its periodic count of FY2010 H-1B cap filings, revealing that there has been a significant increase in the rate of filings during the month of October 2009. USCIS has stated that it has received a sufficient number of petitions to use all of the available 20,000 H-1B numbers that are reserved for individuals with advanced degrees from U.S. colleges or universities, which means that the “advanced degree” H-1B cap for FY2010 has been reached. H-1Bs for individuals with advanced degrees from U.S. colleges or universities can still be filed, but those petitions will now count toward the general H-1B cap of 65,000.

Around 6,200 cap-subject H-1B petitions were filed in October 2009. This is a significant number, especially when compared to the only 1,500 filings received by USCIS in September 2009. In total, as of October 25, 2009, approximately 52,800 H-1B petitions that count against the congressionally-mandated 65,000 limit have been received by USCIS. This leaves only around 12,000 H-1B cap numbers for FY2010, without taking into account the 6,800 H-1B cap numbers that are reserved for nationals of Chile and Singapore. If all 6,800 of these “reserved” numbers are removed from the 65,000 cap along with the 52,800 H-1B cap petitions already received, there are only around 5,400 FY2010 H-1B cap numbers remaining.

As a practical matter, USCIS will likely accept well more than 5,400 additional cap cases in FY2010, as the number of cases USCIS will accept anticipates that a certain number of filings will be withdrawn or denied. Additionally, nowhere near the full 6,800 Chile/Singapore numbers have historically been actually used by nationals of Chile or Singapore. Thus, most of those numbers are applied by USCIS to the general 65,000 cap.

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