On July 8, 2009, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) updated the count of H-1B petitions received and counted towards the 65,000 cap. As of July 3rd, 2009, 45,000 H-1B cap subject nonimmigrant visa petitions have been filed. USCIS has advised that they will continue to accept petitions…
H1B Visa Lawyer Blog
Form I-9 Remains Valid beyond 6/30/09 expiration date
The United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) recently announced that the 2/2/09 revision of Form I-9, which is currently located on the USCIS website will remain valid until futher notice. The version of the form currently on the website was set to expire on June 30, 2009. If you…
Clarification as to the FCCPT’s substantial equivalency of foreign-educated Physical Therapists (PT)
The Foreign Credentialing Commission on Physical Therapy (FCCPT) issued a letter clarifying its educational equivalency for foreign educated Physical Therapists in February of 2009. Recently, there has been much confusion over the issue. The FCCPT is the only entity authorized by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) to…
BALCA vacates CO’s denial of Labor Certification involving Employer’s FEIN
The Board of Alien Labor Certification Appeals (BALCA) recently vacated the final determination of a Certifying Officer (CO) denying labor certification (LC) for an alien worker for the position of “Cook.” The employer filed a LC on behalf of an alien worker in February of 2006. In November of 2007,…
LATEST UPDATE – FY 2010 H-1B Cap Count
On June 30, 2009, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) updated the count of H-1B petitions received and counted towards the 65,000 cap. As of June 26, 2009, 44,800 H-1B cap subject nonimmigrant visa petitions have been filed. USCIS has advised that they will continue to accept petitions…
Form I-9, ICE Audit Initiative
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) launched a bold new audit initiative on July 1, 2009 to combat the problem of hiring of an illegal workforce. On July 1, 652 businesses nationwide were served with Audit Notifications indicating that ICE would be inspecting their hiring records (Form I-9) to determine…
REMINDER – File LCAs with the new iCert System beginning 7/1/09!
Effective July 1, 2009, all users of the Old LCA system must begin using the new iCert system located on the U.S. Department of Labor Employment & Training Administration website to file LCAs.
LATEST UPDATE – FY 2010 H-1B Cap Count
On June 24, 2009, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) updated the count of H-1B petitions received and counted towards the 65,000 cap. As of June 19, 2009, 44,500 H-1B cap subject nonimmigrant visa petitions have been filed. USCIS has advised that they will continue to accept petitions…
USCIS will resume Premium Processing for Form I-140, Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker beginning June 29, 2009
The United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) has announced that effective June 29, 2009, it will resume the premium processing service for Form I-140, Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker. The following categories are eligible for premium processing: EB-1 Aliens with Extraordinary Ability EB-1 Outstanding Professors and Researchers EB-2 Member…
Updated Service Centers Processing Times
Processing Time reports for all of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) Centers were released on June 15, 2009 with processing dates as of April 30, 2009. If you filed a petition with one of the Service Centers, please review the links below to determine the applicable processing time…