The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has updated Form I-9. Please see below for a review of all of the new revisions to Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification.
Section 1 – Employee Information and Attestation
1. Employees must complete and sign Section 1 of Form I-9 no later than the 1st day of employment
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 10, 2013. Act now and submit your questions!
As of May 1st, the results of the 2014 Diversity Visa Lottery (DV-2014) are now available. If you applied for the DV-2014 lottery, you can now check your status online. You must check online, no confirmation emails will be sent by the Department of State (DOS) or anyone else. The Entrant Status Check for DV-2014 applicants will remain open until September 30, 2013. Each year, the United States government issues a maximum of 50,000 green cards through this computer-generated random lottery drawing.
SCAM Alert: Learn how to spot and report Diversity Visa lottery scams.
Source of Information:
With so many different stories about Immigration Reform being published, I appreciated this news article written for the New York Times: “Q. and A.: The Senate Immigration Bill“. The main reason I like this article is because it includes real questions from the public. Julia Preston, the national immigration correspondent for The New York Times invited readers to send in Immigration Reform related questions. The answers are her responses to ten selected questions. With the proposed Immigration Reform bill being 844 pages it is hard to pin point the issues that interest the public the most. We know what interests most politicians; you can read it every day in press releases and articles. This is in no way a statistical cross-section but I find it thought-provoking and I hope you do too. I think it also shows the true story of immigration is very personal.
Source of Information:
nytimes.com (4/22/13) article:
The U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Consular Affairs has released updated factsheets containing FY2012 selected immigrant and nonimmigrant visa statistics. These factsheets contain vision representations of the data by using graphs and tables, which makes them much easier to read and understand. I have provided the links to the six updated factsheets below for your review.
Immigrant Visas Issued at Foreign Service Posts by Country of Birth/Chargeability (FY 2012)
Immigrant Visa Issuances at Top Posts (FY 2012)
These USCIS statistics on DACA cases from 8/15/12 to 3/31/13 show a total of 472,004 DACA requests accepted for processing, 456,843 biometric services appointments scheduled, and 268,361 requests approved.
The data also shows the number of accepted and approved requests from the top countries of origin and the top states of residence. Mexico was the top county of origin with 354,002 received to date and 209,978 approved. California was the top state of residence with 134,167 received to date and 73,104 approved.
View the (.PDF) USCIS Report, “Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals Process (April, 2013)”
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 “Computer Software Engineer.”
The CO denied the application stating that the Labor application is incomplete and inconsistent with the submitted information from the employer and the applicant. On the Labor application, the Employer’s physical address is listed as Martinsburg, West Virginia but their phone number’s area code is Arlington, Virginia. The applicant’s home address is listed in Martinsburg, West Virginia but his phone number’s area code -571 is representative of Leesburg, Virginia. As additional proof, the CO declared the Employer had signed in Section N, of the LCA, that the information submitted was “true and accurate to the best of its knowledge.”
Perm regulations require an employer seeking to apply for permanent labor to file an ETA Form 9089.20 C.F.R. & 656.17(a). These regulations state that any incomplete applications will be denied.
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 – H-1B Nonimmigrant Visa
If my employer has received an RFE for my H-1B case, does this mean my case will not be approved?
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is offering free online Web Seminars (Webinars) on the revised form I-9, which is used for Employment Eligibility Verification. Please see the schedule for the month of April below. There are at least three more webinars available. All you need to do is sign-in 15 minutes before the schedule time and you are ready.
The Revised Form I-9 Webinars will cover an overview of the process and includes step by step instructions of how to complete the form.
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 first half of FY 2013 (October 1 – March 31) is 33,000. As of the last count (3/15/2013); *43,089 beneficiaries have been approved and 174 are still pending for a total of *43,263.
The H-2B cap limit for the second half of FY 2013 (April 1 – September 30) is 33,000. As of the last count (4/19/2013); 14,713 beneficiaries have been approved and 6,867 are pending for a total of 21,580.
H1B Visa Lawyer Blog