Visa Lawyer Blog

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to reach the statutory limits, taking into account the fact that some of these petitions may be denied, revoked, or withdrawn.

Employers thinking of hiring visa workers have more flexibility this year to interview and choose the best candidates as visas will be open for at least 2 more months.

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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 is improbable that they will be able to add anything as challenging as an immigration overhaul. Moreover, there is lack of consensus among Republicans and Democrats and it seems they remain divided even within their own parties over how to fix it. Increase in unemployment rate too adds to its chaos as there are very less supporters available in Democrats, who are actually wavering on immigration reform. It is expected that the new appointed Chairman of the Senate Judiciary subcommittee on immigration, Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y. would take the point in pushing for passage of a new bill. Republicans are of the view that Obama administration needs to do a lot for such legislation.

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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. Premium processing will guarantee a 2 week processing as opposed to the lengthy regular process.

So who can use the new procedure?

USCIS will accept Premium Processing requests for Form I-140 Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker, involving EB-1 Aliens with Extraordinary Ability, EB-1 Outstanding Professors and Researchers, EB-2 Members of Professions with Advanced Degrees or Exceptional Ability not seeking a National Interest Waiver, EB-3 Professionals, EB-3 Skilled Workers, and EB-3 Workers other than Skilled Workers and Professionals.

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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, reunited with their families in San Diego about 10 a.m. Wednesday. They are working on hiring an attorney and will face an immigration judge in the near future to present their cases for legal residency.

The teens were among 21 suspected illegal immigrants detained at the Old Town trolley stop May 20 in a joint operation led by the U.S. Transportation Security Administration and Border Patrol.

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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, managed to pick off enough Republicans in the House and Senate to forestall a vote. Gibbs said that the White House would make an effort, though, to win the votes for a reform plan, for which President Obama reiterated his support.

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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 unused visas from these categories which were applied for EB-1 and EB-2 categories would no longer be helpful. So, EB-2 applicants from China and India could have an even longer wait to obtain green cards. As always, EB-1 category is doing well so far, but the number of applications is higher and it will be current for India and China during the month of July 2009, but will probably retrogress in August/September. The condition for EB-2 for country like India seems bad. Currently about 25,000 EB-2 cases (for India) are awaiting visa numbers. Like all other countries, India has a limit of 2,800 EB-2 numbers available per year plus any “fall across” and “fall down” numbers from EB-4, EB-5 and EB-1 visa numbers.

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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 is lesser than the prior count of 47,700, given as of May 22, 2009. There is no explanation too from USCIS for this decline in trend. Thus, this reduced number may reflect either withdrawals by employers, denials by the USCIS, duplicate filings, or an error in the prior cap counts.

As of this writing, both the Advanced Degree and Regular caps remain open. We will continue to provide updated H-1B cap count information.

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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 beneficiary may now file an Application for Adjustment of Status (Form I-485) and, if your beneficiary seeks employment status as an adjustment applicant, an Application for Employment Authorization (Form I-765) even if USCIS has not yet issued a final administrative decision regarding the I- 360 petition. Previously, the I-360 had to be adjudicated before the adjustment package could be filed.

The Court has invalidated USCIS’ bar against concurrent filings as an unreasonable

interpretation of the governing statute. Pursuant to an order dated June 11, 2009, USCIS is required to accept as properly filed adjustment of status applications (Form I-485) and employment authorization applications (Form I-765) from individuals who are beneficiaries of petitions for special immigrant visas (Form I-360), whether submitted concurrently with or subsequent to the visa petition, provided the applications meet USCIS’ valid filing requirements.

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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 comprehensive reform only to exclude key GOP members, on both sides of the dome, from the session that White House officials announced last Friday had to be rescheduled for the second time.

Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), a close friend of Bilbray’s despite their opposing positions on the issue, pledged to make comprehensive immigration reform happen before the end of the 111th Congress.

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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 used to invest in hiring more investigators. One recent trend is that business practices that were standard and went unchallenged previously, now are being viewed as “fraud.” Many companies must revise their practices to meet current standards. This does not mean that these practices of employers or businesses are necessarily fraudulent.

The biggest frustration for lawyers dealing with H1B’s are the unreasonable RFE’s being issued by the service since the April 1 filing. USCIS is making requests for photos of the premises, copies of contracts between all involved parties, and evidence of doing business including leases, licenses, and other proof. These requests are onerous for employers, as well as disruptive and harmful to both the employer and the employee when the H1B petition is often denied without valid justification.

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