OUTSIDE THE BOX THINKING, DELIVERING CUTTING EDGE SOLUTIONS!

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Administrative Appeals Office (AAO) Processing Times were released with processing dates as of 10/10/17. If you filed an appeal, please review the link below to determine the applicable processing time associated with your particular case.

Administrative Appeals Office

Starting with the January 2017 Administrative Appeals Office (AAO) Processing Times Report, the AAO has changed how it presents processing time data. The AAO will now provide, by form type, the total number of case completions for the fiscal year quarter and the percentage completed within 180 days, cases completed divided by their projected case goal. For further details please review the USCIS Web Page, “Administrative Appeals Office“.

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UPDATE

Due to a technical issue, the DV-2019 entry period that began on October 3 has been closed. Entries submitted during October 3-10 are not valid and have been excluded from the system; they will not count as a duplicate entry. The technical issue has been resolved and a new full entry period will begin at noon, U.S. Eastern Daylight Time on Wednesday October 18, 2017 and will run until noon Eastern Standard Time on Wednesday November 22, 2017. Only entries submitted during this period will be accepted and considered for selection in the lottery. Please throw away any confirmation number or other documentation that you have if you submitted an entry during Oct. 3-10.

Link: Electronic Diversity Visa Lottery

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The Department of State has released its latest Visa Bulletin.

Click the link to view the November 2017 Visa Bulletin

The monthly Visa Bulletin has changed. The bulletin now summarizes the availability of immigrant numbers during the reported month for: “Application Final Action Dates” (consistent with prior Visa Bulletins) and “Dates for Filing Applications,” indicating when immigrant visa applicants should be notified to assemble and submit required documentation to the National Visa Center using Consular Processing (outside of the US) or file on their own with USCIS Form I-485 (within the US).

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MVP Law Group, P.A. makes available the information and materials in this forum for informational purposes only. The information is general in nature and does not constitute legal advice or any contractual obligations. Further, the use of this site, and the sending or receipt of this information, does not create an attorney-client relationship between us. Therefore, your communication with us through this forum will not be considered as privileged or confidential.

Question #1 – Employment Based Immigration

Right now, I have an approved I-140 filed by my previous employer and they also submitted my I-485 back in 2016. Since then, I have started employment with another company on my EAD. Can I file an AC-21 Portability letter?

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The H-2B non-agricultural temporary worker program allows U.S. employers to bring foreign nationals to the United States to fill temporary non-agricultural jobs. There is a cap limit of 33,000 for the first half of the fiscal year and 33,000 for the second half for a total of 66,000 per year. If the cap is not reached during the first half of the fiscal year, the extra numbers are then made available for the second half.

The H-2B cap limit for first half of FY 2018 (October 1 – March 31) is 33,000. As of the last count (9/18/17); 6,418 beneficiaries have been approved and 1,468 are pending for a total of 7,886.


The H-2B cap limit for second half of FY 2018 (April 1 – September 30) is 33,000. As of the last count (9/18/17); 0 beneficiaries have been approved and 0 are pending for a total of 0.

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The Board of Alien Labor Certification Appeals (BALCA) recently overturned the decision of a Certifying Officer (CO) to deny labor certification for the position of “Medical & Clinical Laboratory Technologist”

After receiving & reviewing an Employer’s Application for Permanent Labor Certification, the CO issued an Audit notification demanding the employee’s work credentials. The Employer sent the worker’s qualifications including prior work experience from his former employer to the CO for review.

Upon review of the Audit response, the CO denied the Labor Certification Application. The CO believed the credentials recorded on the application did not match the position’s minimum job requirements. The Employer sent a reconsideration request to the CO. In the argument, the Employer stated that the employee had the required two years of previous work experience, and included again for the record, documentation of the beneficiary’s previous work experience. Additionally, since the company opened in 1998, they had not hired anyone with less than two years’ experience for this position.

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UPDATE

Due to a technical issue, the DV-2019 entry period that began on October 3 has been closed. Entries submitted during October 3-10 are not valid and have been excluded from the system; they will not count as a duplicate entry. The technical issue has been resolved and a new full entry period will begin at noon, U.S. Eastern Daylight Time on Wednesday October 18, 2017 and will run until noon Eastern Standard Time on Wednesday November 22, 2017. Only entries submitted during this period will be accepted and considered for selection in the lottery. Please throw away any confirmation number or other documentation that you have if you submitted an entry during Oct. 3-10.

Link: Electronic Diversity Visa Lottery

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We wanted to find a new way to engage our reader base. Every other Friday, we will post the ten (10) best/most frequently asked questions received during the week from our h1bvisalawyerblog, Facebook, and Twitter readers. We will answer those questions and provide the Q&A on our H-1B Visa Lawyer Blog.

If you have a burning question, are seeking assistance with a difficult immigration related case, wish to discuss your views on Comprehensive Immigration Reform, DREAMers, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, priority dates, the monthly visa bulletin, adjustment applications, etc., please contact us by submitting your question/comment/viewpoint in our comment box provided on our H-1B Visa Lawyer Blog.

Our next “Q & A Forum” will take place this Friday, October 13, 2017. Act now and submit your questions!

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The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will be holding a teleconference on Wednesday, October 11, 2017 between 3:00 to 4:00 pm (Eastern). The subject of the event will be the expanded use of in-person interviews for certain applications and petitions at USCIS field offices. Representatives from USCIS will be discussing the expanded use of in-person interviews and will hold a question and answer session at the end of the discussion.

Effective October 1st, USCIS began to phase-in interviews for adjustment of status applications based on employment (Form I-485, Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status), and refugee/asylee relative petitions (Form I-730, Refugee/Asylee Relative Petition) for beneficiaries who are in the U.S. and are petitioning to join a principal applicant who was admitted to the United States as a refugee or granted asylee status in the United States.

Event Information:

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