25 September 2015

Revised October 2015 Visa Bulletin Released… Effects AOS Filing Eligibility

An October 2015 revised visa bulletin has unfortunately been released and will supersede the originally published October 2015 bulletin that contained Dates for Filing AOS Applications. The Department of State explains, “Following consultations with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the Dates for Filing Applications for some categories in the Family-Sponsored and Employment-Based preferences have been adjusted to better reflect a timeframe justifying immediate action in the application process. The Dates for Filing Applications sections (sections 4.B. and 5.B.) which have been adjusted have been identified in Bold type.” (Please see link below)

For instance, prior to this revised bulletin, the cut-off Filing date for EB-2 India was July 01, 2011. Now, under the newly revised visa bulletin, the cut-off date for EB-2 India is July 01, 2009.

These are the employment based Filing date changes:

Category Sept 09, 2015 bulletin
Filing Date		 NEWLY REVISED BULLETIN (Sept 25, 2015)
Filing Date		 Difference 
EB-2 China 5/1/2014 1/1/2013 1 year, 5 months
EB-2 India 7/1/2011 7/1/2009 2 years
EB-3 Philippines 1/1/2015 1/1/2010 5 years

 

Again, DHS will rely on this revised bulletin, rather than the bulletin published on September 9, 2015, when considering whether an individual is eligible to file an application for adjustment of status.

http://travel.state.gov/content/visas/en/law-and-policy/bulletin/2016/visa-bulletin-for-october-2015.html

update

 

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10 September 2015

What You Need to Know to File Your I-485 on October 1st!

Now that the new Visa Bulletin is out for October 01, 2015, you may be wondering what the next steps will be if you have an approved I-140 and your Priority Date (PD) falls before the filing cut-off date.

First off, you will need a letter of support from the employer who sponsored your green card process. This should not pose a problem if you are currently working for that employer.

If you are not working for the sponsoring employer, you will still need a letter of support. You will need to be sure that the employer who sponsored you still intends to offer you the job listed on your PERM Labor Certification and that you intend to work for that employer after your green card is received. If this is the case, you will be able to file the I-485 application along with the EAD and Advance Parole applications if your PD falls before the filing cut-off date.  Continue reading

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9 September 2015

New Visa Bulletin is Out! Allows for Early Filing of I-485 Applications!

update

As anticipated, the new Visa Bulletin is out and will be effective as of October 01, 2015. This change will allow for the filing of the I-485 adjustment of status application before priority dates are current under the existing system.

How It Will Work:

As mentioned in my previous post, New Visa Bulletin May Allow Filing of I-485 Before Priority Date is Current! , there will be 2 sets of cut-off dates:

Continue reading

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5 September 2015

New Visa Bulletin May Allow Filing of I-485 Before Priority Date is Current!

As part of President Obama’s plan to modernize and streamline the legal immigration system, the Department of State (DOS) is in the process of revamping the Visa Bulletin system, which may allow the filing of an I-485 Petition before priority dates are current under the existing system. Continue reading

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13 August 2015

Court Rules OPT 17-Month STEM Extension Rule is Invalid

Yesterday, D.C. Federal District Court held that the Optional Practical Training (OPT) 17 month STEM extension rule enacted in 2008 was deficient because Department of Homeland Security (DHS) did not go through the proper notice and comment period before the rule went into effect. But, the court found that vacating the rule immediately would cause substantial hardship for F-1 STEM students and would create a major labor disruption for the technology sector. So, the court ordered that the 2008 rule and its subsequent amendments be vacated —but this will not take effect until February 12, 2016, during which time DHS may rectify the situation by submitting the rule for proper notice and comment.

*The STEM extension rule extends the period of post-graduation OPT by 17 months for STEM students on F-1 visas.

update

 

 

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28 July 2015

Minor Mistakes Can Cost You Big: PERM Denial Upheld for Minor Recruitment Report Mistake

The dreaded words no one wants to hear, “PERM is an exacting process.” The “exacting” process is designed to eliminate the back and forth between applicants and the DOL in order to create a more efficient process. Though this phrase should be outlawed at this point :-), it definitely encompasses the painstaking and detail oriented process that is PERM, where the DOL favors efficiency over fairness at times. A good example of this “exacting” process comes from a case decided by the appeals Board earlier this year: Simply Soup Ltd, 2012-PER-00940 (en banc decision, 01/13/2015). Continue reading

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24 July 2015

BALCA Applies Symantec, Grants Labor Certification!

Last year, BALCA released an en banc decision in Symantec Corp, 2011-PER-01856 (July 30, 2014), finding that advertisements placed to comply with the PERM additional recruitment steps did not need to comply with the content requirements found for mandatory advertisements (newspaper advertisement). For background information, please visit my previous blog post: BALCA is Fair, Who Knew?! 

In a recent decision, Matter of Computer Sciences Corp., 2012-PER-00642 (July 09, 2015), BALCA applied Symantec Corp. to reverse the Certifying Officer’s denial of the PERM application. In this case, the Employer received an audit notification to which it responded with all required documentation. Continue reading

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23 July 2015

USCIS Final Guidance on H-1B Amended Petition for Change in Work Location

USCIS has issued its final guidance on when to file an amended or new H-1B petition when a change in work location occurs. As you may remember, on April 9, 2015, the Administrative Appeals Office (AAO) issued a decision in Matter of Simeio Solutions, LLC, requiring an amended H-1B petition to be filed if there is a change in work location that would require a new Labor Condition Application (LCA) to be filed. USCIS had initially issued guidance on this issue, but thereafter allowed for comments leading to the final policy below. Continue reading

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20 July 2015

White House Releases Report on Modernizing & Streamlining our Legal Immigration System

Last week, as part of the President’s November 2014 Executive Actions, the White House issued a report outlining   interagency recommendations to fix our broken immigration system, including many of the issues surrounding employment-based immigration.

The recommendations in this report are based on an assessment of options to streamline and modernize our legal immigration system (conducted by Department of State and Department of Homeland Security). Assessments were based on information received from the Request for Information that was published in the Federal Register in December 2014. The overall goal here was to get as much input as possible from different interest groups/stakeholders: visa applicants, employers, the general public, labor groups, etc.

Regarding employment-based immigration, the recommendations made should (1) help ensure all immigrant visas authorized by Congress are used, (2) better account for visa availability for those wanting to adjust their status to lawful permanent resident while remaining in the U.S., and (3) provide for more job flexibility/portability for those non-immigrant workers waiting for priority dates to become current.

Some recommendations concerning our employment-based immigration system include:  Continue reading

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