OUTSIDE THE BOX THINKING, DELIVERING CUTTING EDGE SOLUTIONS!

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 Managing Consultant.”

After receiving & reviewing an Employer’s Application for Permanent Labor Certification, the CO issued an Audit notification. He instructed the Employer to submit its recruitment documents. Once the Employer responded, the CO denied certification of the application for multiple reasons. First and foremost, the position communicated in its State Workforce Agency job order did not match the one listed on the Employer’s ETA Form 9089 in violation of PERM Regulation 656.17 (f)(4) – the CO initially denied the application citing under 656.17(f)(6), which was incorrect. The CO cited the employer’s SWA job order neglected to mention travel requirements that were listed on its Form 9089. On the Employer’s form, it specified, “the work will be performed at various client sites throughout the US.” The CO stated a second reason for denial, as he believed the Employer did not “provide adequate documentation to show that it advertised the job opportunity on its website.”

The Employer sent a reconsideration request to the CO. In its argument, the Employer stated the ETA form did contain material that surpasses the job conditions on the SWA job order rather than the other way around. The CO delivered a second denial stating that the SWA job order did not list “the work will be performed at various client sites throughout the US,” yet this statement was written on Form ETA 9089. He forwarded the case to the BALCA.

The Department of State has released its latest Visa Bulletin.

Click here to view the April 2014 Visa Bulletin

As projected by the U.S. Department of State, the April 2014 Visa Bulletin shows the EB2 date for nationals from India remains at 11/15/04; EB3 date for nationals from India remains at 9/15/03; movement in EB2 for Chinese Nationals at 3/8/09; movement in EB3 for Chinese Nationals at 10/1/12; and movement in EB3 for WW at 10/1/12; and the F2A category remains at 9/8/13,except Mexico at 4/15/12. The F2A category is reserved exclusively for Spouses and unmarried children (under the age of 21) of green card holders (LPRs).

The Fiscal Year 2015 H-1B season is quickly approaching and has been projected to be yet another short season.

Each Fiscal Year (FY), which starts on October 1, 65,000 H-1B visas become available for what is referred to as the “General Cap,” and 20,000 H-1B visas become available for what is referred to as the “Master’s Cap.” Those individuals holding a U.S. Master’s degree or higher may fall within the Master’s Cap; all others fall within the General Cap. The FY H-1B filing season opens six months before each FY, i.e., during the first week in April.

The FY 2015 H-1B Cap season will open on April 1, 2014 with employment beginning October 1, 2014.

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, March 14, 2014. Act now and submit your questions!

The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), Office of Foreign Labor Certification (OFLC) has provided FY2014 statistics (first quarter) in the form of program factsheets for each of the major immigration programs. These updated FY2014 statistics (first quarter) cover October 2013 through December 2013.

The link to each program factsheet is listed below:

• Permanent Labor Certification Program – Select Statistics, FY 2014 (first quarter)

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 “Travel Agent.”

After receiving & reviewing an Employer’s Application for Permanent Labor Certification, the CO issued an Audit notification. It required the Employer to present the notice of filing documentation. The Employer sent back a copy of the Notice of Filing (NOF).

The CO denied the application for multiple reasons. He stated that the employer did not name the location of where the NOF was posted, as a result, they violated PERM regulation 20 C.F.R. 656.10 (d) (1) (ii). This regulation requires that “the NOF must be posted at employer’s facility or location in two conspicuous places where the employer’s US workers can readily read the posted notice on their way to or from their place of employment.” The regulations also provide that “the documentation requirement may be satisfied by providing a copy of the posted notice and stating where it was posted.”

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 the last count (2/21/14); 33,337 beneficiaries have been approved and 3,751 are pending for a total of 37,088.

The H-2B cap limit for second half of FY 2014 (April 1 – September 30) is 33,000. As of the last count (2/21/14); 5,100 beneficiaries have been approved and 7,108 are pending for a total of 12,208.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that they have updated and streamlined e-Request. E-Request is a USCIS online customer service inquiry tool which allows an individual to quickly select and submit an online request to USCIS for the following instances listed below:

Case Inquiry

• Case outside of normal processing time (longer than expected)

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 Visa

I have some questions about my current H1-B case extension. My employer has applied for my H1-B extension through the Vermont center. The case was sent to USCIS via Federal Express on 01/21/2014. We haven’t yet received the receipt notice and now want to now upgrade to premium processing. How long does it normally take them to send a receipt notice? Is there any way to get the receipt notice by contacting the USCIS?

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