A spokesperson for Republican House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy told CNN that the Congressman would introduce legislation this week to fully fund (23.4 billion) President Trump’s Border Wall! The bill is still being drafted but would be released soon.
The House of Representatives remains in recess until mid-November, after the midterm elections!
For further details please review the CNN News Article, “House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy to introduce bill to fully fund Trump’s border wall “.
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 19, 2018. Act now and submit your questions!
USCIS announced on Friday, August 31st that they would be increasing the Premium Processing fee for Form I-129, Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker and Form I-140, Immigrant Petition for Alien Workers. The Premium Processing fee will increase on October 1st, from $1,225 to $1,410, an increase of about 15%. The government is sighting that there has been no increase in this fee since 2010 and that the increase is based on an adjustment for inflation.
The USCIS Chief Financial Officer, Joe Moore stated, “Because premium processing fees have not been adjusted since 2010, our ability to improve the adjudications and service processes for all petitioners has been hindered as we’ve experienced significantly higher demand for immigration benefits.”
For further details please review the USCIS News Release, “USCIS Adjusting Premium Processing Fee“.
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 “Software Engineer.”
The CO denied the labor certification stating “the Employer did not notify potentially qualified laid-off US workers of the job opportunity.” In response, the Employer requested reconsideration of the denial. The Employer argued they did not have a US worker who met the qualifications of the position. The CO sent an Audit Notification requesting documentation of all of the laid-off US workers and how they were advised of the available position and the results of such notification and consideration. A month later, the Employer presented a recruitment report that summarized its “lay-off review.”
Once again, the CO denied the labor application because he believed “a US worker was rejected for non-job related reasons.” The Employer did not re-hire the US worker because he did not have the required specific skill sets. While the CO was aware that the US worker lacked the qualifications, he believed the worker could gain through reasonable on the job training the skills necessary to perform the job duties of the position.
The Administrative Appeals Office (AAO) provides an updated ‘processing times’ in table form, with information on FY2018 quarterly completions; July to September 2018. These figures indicate the time that it takes from the date the case is received at AAO coming from the Service Center or District Office to completion.
AAO Processing Times were released with processing dates as of 10/1/18. If you filed an appeal, please review the link below to determine the applicable processing time associated with your particular case.
Note: 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.
Ellis Island operated as the nations’ busiest Immigration inspection station from 1892 until 1954. They processed over 12 million immigrants in its 62 years of operation. Ellis Island was the gateway to America; approximately 40% of U.S. citizens today had at least one ancestor immigrate through the Island. This article presents a photo history of Ellis Island’s operations.
Source of Information:
History.com, 10/3/18, History Stories:
The American Immigration Council (AIC) has released all fifty states and the District of Columbia, for a total of fifty-one updated state-by-state fact sheets highlighting immigration data and facts. These fact sheets highlight the demographic and economic impact of Immigrants in each state.
With national immigration policy being discussed, we thought that it would be a good time to provide some statistics on the Immigrant population in the United States as provided by this AIC research. Once a week we will be posting a blog with information on three states at a time. This week we will highlight; Vermont, Virginia and Washington!
The AIC has compiled research which shows that Immigrants are an essential part of each of these states’ economy, labor force and tax base. As our economy continues to grow, Immigrants and their children are a growing economic and political force as consumers, taxpayers and entrepreneurs. As United States economic continues to grow, immigrants and their children will continue to play a key role in shaping the economic and political future of each of these states.
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 – J-1 Visa
My niece has a J1 visa and some things have occurred and now the sponsor wants to cancel her visa. My question is what is the time period that she has to leave the country without incurring any unlawful presence?
You can now check USCIS processing times online at the USCIS web site. All you need to enter is your form number, and the office processing your case. USCIS has made processing times easier to understand and provide a more realistic date range.
The processing time range is how long it is taking for USCIS to process your type of case from the date they received it. USCIS processes cases in the order they receive them, and they normally update this information monthly. The estimated time range displayed is based on data captured over the last two months.
The Pentagon would like to restart a program for recruiting immigrants with specific skills desired by the U.S. Military with the promise of gaining U.S. citizenship. The program called Military Accessions Vital to the National Interest (MAVNI) would allow thousands of people with critical medical or Asian and African language skills to join the military. The stricter Trump Administration immigration policies have stalled the program.
Secretary of Defense, James N. Mattis backs the restart of the MAVNI program. He stated, “We need and want every qualified patriot willing to serve and able to serve,”
For further details please review the CBS News Article, “Problems for Pentagon’s immigrant recruit program “.
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