OUTSIDE THE BOX THINKING, DELIVERING CUTTING EDGE SOLUTIONS!

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The Department of State has released its latest Visa Bulletin.

Click here to view the September 2014 Visa Bulletin

As projected by the U.S. Department of State, the September 2014 Visa Bulletin shows the EB2 date for nationals from India moving from 1/22/09 to 5/1/09; the EB3 date for nationals from India remains at 11/8/03; the EB2 for Chinese Nationals remains at 10/8/09; the EB3 for Chinese Nationals remains at 11/1/08; and EB3 for WW remains at 4/1/11; and the F2A category moved from 5/1/12 to 1/1/13, except Mexico which moved from 3/15/11 to 4/22/12. 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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Processing Time reports for all of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) Service Centers were released on 8/7/14 with processing dates as of 6/30/14.

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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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, August 15, 2014. Act now and submit your questions!

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The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will be a holding a free Korean language community event in Queens, NY and via Teleconference on Wednesday, August 27, 2014 between 7:30 to 9:00pm (EST). The subject of the event will be on Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and will include updates and a Q&A. You may submit questions on DACA in advance using Twitter @USCIS or during the event using the email address OPE-Live@uscis.dhs.gov. For more information on this subject please review the links below to the meeting invitations, in both English and Korean.

Event Information:

DATE: Wednesday, August 27, 2014 TIME: 7:30 – 9:00 pm (EST)

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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 second half of FY 2014 (April 1 – September 30) is 33,000. As of the last count (7/25/14); 25,093 beneficiaries have been approved and 907 are pending for a total of 26,000.

The H-2B cap limit for first half of FY 2015 (October 1 – March 31) is 33,000. As of the last count (7/25/14); 1,004 beneficiaries have been approved and 301 are pending for a total of 1,305.

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This is an excerpt from MVP Law Group’s July 2014 Immigration Newsletter, our Managing Attorney, Kellie Lego‘s monthly greeting/commentary.

I recently attended the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) annual conference in Boston, MA from June 18 – June 21 attended by over 3,000 Immigration Attorneys across the U.S. In our July 2013 newsletter (my report following last year’s annual conference), I was delighted to be able to report on the status of DACA filings and the Supreme Court of the United States ruling where they declared Section 3 of DOMA, the Defense of Marriage Act unconstitutional. At that time, huge strides were being made in the Immigration realm. As I write this newsletter greeting a year later, I am appalled by our Congressional Representatives failure to act.

On June 27, 2013, the Comprehensive Immigration Reform (CIR) was passed by the U.S. Senate. Although the legislation is not perfect, it is a compromise, a compromise that is long overdue and very much needed. To date, the House has not acted on CIR nor do they intend to do so. If anything, they have stated that they will create their own immigration reform through piecemeal legislation, focusing on border enforcement first…yet, with the recent unaccompanied minor crisis at our Southern Border, they still have failed to act.

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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 “Tile Setter.”

After obtaining & examining an Employer’s Application for Permanent Labor Certification, the CO issued an Audit notification ordering the Employer to submit copies of its State Workforce Agency (SWA) job order. This included a copy of the job order placed with the SWA serving the area of intended employment downloaded from the SWA Internet job listing site, a copy of the job order provided by the SWA, or other proof of publication from the SWA containing the content of the job order. The Employer replied to the Audit by providing a photocopy of a completed “Employer Job Order Information Sheet” from VaEmploy.Com.

The CO denied the labor certification citing the Employer’s failure to provide proof of publication of the job order from the SWA containing the content of the job order. He believed the copy of the VaEmploy.Com sheet did not indicate the ultimate content of the SWA job order. In addition, the CO thought the “Order Information” sheet did not prove the SWA published the job order. He cited PERM regulation 20CFR 656.20(b) as the governing source of his denial. PERM regulations require “an employer filing for permanent labor certification to place a job order with the State Workforce Agency (SWA) serving the area of intended employment” for a period of 30 days.

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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 – H1B Nonimmigrant Work Visa

Currently, I am working with an H-1B but it will expire soon. I already have 6 years as H1B, I have labor certificate and my company filed I-140. Can I get an extension?

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On July 23, 2014, a 32 year old Jamaican national, Nerene Erica Harrison was convicted in Federal Court (Tampa, FL) of Marriage Fraud under U.S. Immigration Law. Robert Kenneth Scott Cruz, a U.S. citizen who pleaded guilty of the same charge, was paid $6,000 to marry her after her temporary work visa expired. They were married in August of 2011 and Harrison applied to be a lawful permanent resident based on that marriage. Both Harrison and Cruz face a maximum penalty of five years in federal prison. Harrison will be sentenced on October 23, 2014 and Cruz will be sentenced on November 11, 2014.

Susan L. McCormick, Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations for Tampa, FL stated, “Every marriage fraud scheme corrupts the integrity and fairness of our nation’s immigration system”.

Source of Information:

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