OUTSIDE THE BOX THINKING, DELIVERING CUTTING EDGE SOLUTIONS!

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On Saturday, April 26, 2014, the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) sponsored “Citizenship Day 2014”. “Citizenship Day 2014” was a one day workshop held at more than 50 sites across the United States. The workshop provided free or low cost legal assistance to income qualified Lawful Permanent Residents (LPR) who are eligible and would like to become naturalized U.S. citizens.

A Lawful Permanent Resident (LPR) is any person not a citizen of the United States who is residing the in the U.S. legally as an immigrant, often called a “Green Card Holder”.

MVP Law Group’s Managing Attorney, Kellie Lego served as Site Coordinator for the Chinese Community Church in Washington, DC. This was the first year in which AILA partnered with the DC Mayor’s Office on Asian and Pacific Islander Affairs and the Chinese Community Center to host the workshop at the CCC. Kellie also served as a member of the AILA Citizenship Day Committee for the DC Chapter of AILA. On this committee, she fulfilled the role of Volunteer Coordinator for all of the nine (9) different workshop sites across the DMV – District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia.

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Processing Time reports for all of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) Service Centers were released on 5/1/14 with processing dates as of 3/31/14.

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, May 9, 2014. Act now and submit your questions!

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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 “Marketing Manager.”

Upon evaluating an Employer’s Application for Permanent Labor Certification, the CO ordered the Employer to present copies of its recruitment efforts. The Employer provided a copy of its notice of filing, job order with the Washington State Workforce Agency (SWA), as well as newspaper ads placed in the Seattle Times. In addition, they submitted a copy of the company’s recruitment report.

After reviewing the recruitment data, the CO denied Certification because he believed it violated PERM regulation 20 CFR 656.17(f)(6), which provides that additional language not found on the ETA Form 9089 exceeds the job requirements for the position. The CO stated the Employer’s Notice of Filing (NOF), SWA job order, newspaper advertisements and web advertisements all listed “may require employer-reimbursed travel.” The phrase was not listed on the Employer’s 9089 form.

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As of May 5, 2014, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will ONLY ACCEPT the most recent version of Form N-400, Application for Naturalization (edition date 9/13/2013). All previous versions of Form N-400 will be rejected and returned if received after Sunday, May 4, 2014. Remember that you can find the edition date at the bottom of the form. The most recent version of Form N-400 consists of 21 pages.

For more information about becoming a Naturalization U.S. citizen, please review the USCIS web page, “A Guide to Naturalization“.

Source of Information:

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The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) has released the Statistical Chart, “Asylum Statistics” for FY2009-2013 as part of “Frequently Requested FOIA* Records”. This statistical chart is made up of six tables. The first table is a summary by fiscal year and the other five tables are for each fiscal year listed individually by nationality. Each of these tables’ lists six statistical headings for each table; Received, Granted, Denied, Abandoned, Withdrawn and Other. Please review the link to the Chart, “Asylum Statistics” listed below for the details.

Every year people come to the United States seeking Asylum protection because they have suffered persecution or fear that they will suffer persecution on account of: Race, Religion, Nationality, Membership and/ or Political View. Asylum is the protection provided under our existing immigration laws. For more details please review the USCIS’s web page on Asylum.

The mission of the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) is to judge immigration cases. EOIR conducts immigration court proceedings, appellate reviews, and administrative hearings.

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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 (4/18/14); 17,969 beneficiaries have been approved and 3,078 are pending for a total of 21,047.

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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 – H4 Dependent Visa

Right now, I am H-4 Status under my husband’s H-1b. I was wondering if any employer could apply for an H-1B for me. Do I keep my H-4 if I am not approved?

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The American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) has reported that some of their members have received RFEs (Request for Evidence) for adjustment of status (AOS) applicants. The RFE is requesting the applicants to submit a new Form I-693, Report of Medical Examination and Vaccination Record (Medical Report).

The reason for the RFE is the validity of the civil surgeon’s endorsement on Form I-693. The endorsement is normally only good for one (1) year; however, due to significant backlogs in processing, USCIS in the past has agreed to extend the civil surgeon’s endorsement until the time of adjudication.

AILA contacted USCIS Service Center Operations Directorate (SCOPS) and were informed that the policy will change effective June 1, 2014. USCIS also informed AILA that public notice of the impending change is in progress and MVP Law Group will post it when available!

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