OUTSIDE THE BOX THINKING, DELIVERING CUTTING EDGE SOLUTIONS!

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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, June 20, 2014. Act now and submit your questions!

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The Immigration Advocates Network (IAN), the American Immigration Council (AIC) and the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) launched a new mobile app for your smartphone called, “Pocket DACA.” This app is designed to help undocumented immigrants brought to this country as children understand the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) process.

“Pocket DACA” includes:

  • DACA Screening – An online interview to see if you qualify for DACA; takes less than 5 minutes!
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The Department of State has released its latest Visa Bulletin.

Click here to view the July 2014 Visa Bulletin

As projected by the U.S. Department of State, the July 2014 Visa Bulletin shows the EB2 date for nationals from India moving from 11/15/04 to 9/1/08; movement in EB3 date for nationals from India at 11/1/03; movement in EB2 for Chinese Nationals at 7/1/09; EB3 for Chinese Nationals remains at 10/1/06; and EB3 for WW remains at 4/1/11; and the F2A category remains at 5/1/12,except Mexico at 3/15/11. The F2A category is reserved exclusively for Spouses and unmarried children (under the age of 21) of green card holders (LPRs).

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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 “Battery Engineer.”

The CO denied the application stating that the Employer’s web posting did not identify the job location. He cited it was in violation of PERM regulation 20 C.F.R. 656.17(f). PERM regulation 20 C.F.R. 656.17 (f) requires that an advertisement must indicate the geographic area of employment with enough specificity to apprise applicants of any travel requirements and where applicants will likely have to reside to perform the job opportunity.

The Employer requested a review of the CO’s denial stating that the company conducted four additional recruitment steps rather than just the three that are required. In the recruitment process, they posted the position on a job search website, advertised in a local newspaper, advertised through their employee referral program, and posted the job position on their company website.

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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.

The H-2B cap limit for the first half of FY 2014 (October 1 – March 31) is 33,000. As of March 14, 2014, the cap for the 1st half of FY 2014 was reached.

The H-2B cap limit for second half of FY 2014 (April 1 – September 30) is 33,000. As of the last count (5/30/14); 22,737 beneficiaries have been approved and 1,967 are pending for a total of 24,704.

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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 Green Card

I am currently working on EAD since 2007 and had filed my 485 in 2007 under EB3 category. I have being renewing my EAD every 2 years since 2007. My PD is May 2004. I got married to a US Citizen in 2012 and filed my I130 (along with copies of my EAD, pending 485, ETC) in June 2013. I got an email in Dec 2013 that the case was transferred to Nebraska Service Center and then in Feb 2014 the Nebraska office informed me that the case was transferred to NVC along with a receipt# starting with ANK. I then got an email earlier this month April 2014 about filing CHOICE OF ADDRESS AND AGENT (DS-261), Affidavit of Support (AOS) Fees, IV Application Processing Fees and IV AND ALIEN REGISTRATION (DS-260). My question is why are they asking for all this information when I already have a pending 485 for the last 7 years or so? Plus what is the time frame for NVC to approve all this paperwork?

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Processing Time reports for all of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) Service Centers were released on 6/3/14 with processing dates as of 4/30/14.

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.

California Service Center (CSC)

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The U.S. Department of State (DOS) has confirmed with the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) that they have stopped authorizing visa numbers for the EB-3 preference category for nationals of China as of 05/09/14. The reason for stopping is that the EB-3 China cutoff date retrogressed from 10/01/2012 in the May 2014 Visa Bulletin, to 10/01/2006 in the June 2014 Visa Bulletin. Retrogression typically occurs toward the end of the fiscal year as visa issuance approaches the annual category, or per-country limitations. Sometimes a priority date that meets the cut-off date one month will not meet the cut-off date the next month. When the new fiscal year begins on October 1, a new supply of visas is made available and usually, but not always, returns the dates to where they were before retrogression.

Any of the cases that USCIS has already requested a visa number for, but have not been authorized by the DOS (i.e., assigned an available visa number) will be considered pending until the priority date becomes current. These pending cases will be automatically authorized when the China EB-3 cut-off date advances beyond the applicant’s priority date. At that point, USCIS will be able to adjudicate the case.

The DOS Visa Bulletin summarizes the availability of immigrant visas on a monthly basis.

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The Board of Alien Labor Certification Appeals (BALCA) recently affirmed the decision of a Certifying Officer (CO) to deny labor certification for the position of “Senior Commissioning Engineer.”

After obtaining & examining an Employer’s Application for Permanent Labor Certification, the CO issued an Audit notification ordering the Employer to submit “a copy of the Prevailing Wage Determination received from the State Workforce Agency (SWA), along with a copy of the request for the determination submitted to the SWA.” The Employer responded to the Audit but did not include the SWA prevailing wage determination or a copy of the request.

The CO denied labor certification citing the Employer’s failure to provide the prevailing wage determination as issued by the SWA. He cited PERM regulation 20 CFR 656.20(b) as the source of his denial. PERM regulation 20 CFR 656.20(b) provides “a substantial failure by the employer to provide required documentation will result in that application being denied…”

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