H1B Visa Lawyer BlogAdministrative Appeals Office (AAO) Processing Times were released with processing dates as of 1/1/16.
If you filed an appeal, please review the link below to determine the applicable processing time associated with your particular case.
Updated Service Center Processing Times (11/30/15)
Processing Time reports for all of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) Service Centers were released on 1/12/16 with processing dates as of 11/30/15.
If you filed a petition with one of the Service Centers, please review the links below to determine the applicable processing time associated with your particular case.
MVP LAW GROUP – Immigration Q&A Forum, Friday, Jan. 22, 2016
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 – Family Based Immigration
I am a US Citizen and I applied for an Immediate Relative Petition for my husband. How long does the process take to adjust his status?
New Law Increases H-1B and L-1 Petition Fees
On Friday, December 18, 2015, President Obama signed into law the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2016 (Public Law 114-113). Part of this new law includes fee increases for certain H-1B and L-1 petitioners. These petitioners must submit an additional fee of $4,000 for certain H-1B petitions and $4,500 for certain L-1A and L-1B petitions postmarked on or after December 18, 2015.
The additional fees apply to petitioners who employ 50 or more employees in the United States, with more than 50 percent of those employees in H-1B or L (including L-1A and L-1B) nonimmigrant status.
Petitioners must submit the additional fees when filing their H-1B or L-1 petitions for initial grants of status and when a beneficiary is transferring status to a new employer. Extensions of Status are not subject to the additional fees required under Public Law 114-113.
H-2B Cap Count UPDATE – 12/14/15
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 2016 (October 1 – March 31) is 33,000. As of the last count (12/14/15); 12,876 beneficiaries have been approved and 1,359 are pending for a total of 14,235.
The H-2B cap limit for second half of FY 2016 (April 1 – September 30) is 33,000*. As of the last count (12/14/15); 0 beneficiaries have been approved and 0 are pending for a total of 0.
USCIS Teleconference – EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program – 2/3/16
The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will be holding an EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program Teleconference on Wednesday, February 3rd between 1:00pm to 2:30pm (Eastern). The event will start with an update of the EB-5 program followed by a question and answer session. USCIS is inviting participants to ask non-case specific questions or provide feedback on the EB-5 program.
Event Information:
DATE: Wednesday, February 3, 2016 TIME: 1:00pm to 2:30pm (Eastern)
MVP “Immigration Q & A Forum” – This Friday, Jan. 22, 2016
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, January 22, 2016. Act now and submit your questions!
Impact of New Americans (2015) – Nevada, New Hampshire & New Jersey
Immigration Policy Center Releases Updated State-by-State Fact Sheets (2015)
The Immigration Policy Center (IPC) has released all fifty states, the District of Columbia and the United States (Overall), for a total of fifty-two updated fact sheets with accompanying info graphics and other details. These fact sheets highlight the demographic and economic impact of Immigrants, Asians and Latinos in each state. The Immigration Policy Center (IPC) is the research and policy division of the American Immigration Council (AIC).
As Washington D.C. continues the discussion of Comprehensive Immigration Reform, 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 IPC research. Once a week we will be posting a blog with information on three states at a time. This week we will highlight; Nevada, New Hampshire & New Jersey.
Revised: Updated Service Center Processing Times (10/31/15)
Processing Time reports for all of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) Service Centers were released on 12/22/15 with processing dates as of 10/31/15.
If you filed a petition with one of the Service Centers, please review the links below to determine the applicable processing time associated with your particular case.
Visa Bulletin – February 2016
The Department of State has released its latest Visa Bulletin.
Click here to view the February 2016 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).