H-1B VISA CRISIS: USCIS ANNOUNCES THAT CAPS HAVE BEEN REACHED
by Cyrus D. Mehta* In a statement released on April 10, 2008, the United States Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that based on a preliminary count, it has received “nearly 163,000” total H-1B petitions out of which “more that 31,200” were subject to the H-1B Master’s 20,000 cap. The USCIS will soon conduct a […]
April 2008 Immigration Update
April 2008 Immigration Update Headlines: 1. Employers to File FY 2009 H-1B Petitions on April 1; USCIS Publishes Interim Rule Prohibiting Multiple H-1B Petitions for Same Employee – The H-1B supply is expected to be exhausted immediately; USCIS published an interim final rule prohibiting employers from filing multiple H-1B petitions for the same employee. 2. […]
LAST MINUTE HELPFUL HINTS FOR FILING A FY 2009 H-1B CAP CASE
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), anticipating that April 1, 2008 will see a repeat of the mass filings from last year, offers a list of measures the petitioner can take to ensure that the petition is correctly filed on its website, www.uscis.gov. We reproduce substantial portions of this governmental advisory, along with our own […]
USCIS ANNOUNCES RULE PROHIBITING DUPLICATE H-1B FILINGS AND ALLOWING FOR A 5-DAY FILING PERIOD
by Cyrus D. Mehta * US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) transmitted an interim final rule to the Federal Register today that prohibits employers from filing multiple H-1B petitions for the same employee. According to the USCIS, these changes will ensure that companies filing H-1B petitions subject to congressionally mandated numerical limits have an equal […]
AAO APPROVES EB-2 I-140 FOR BENEFICIARY WITH A 3-YEAR BACHELORХS DEGREE AND A 2-YEAR MASTERХS DEGREE FROM INDIA
by Cora-Ann V. Pestaina* In order to qualify under the Employer-Based Second Preference (EB-2) category pursuant to §203(b)(2) of the Immigration and Nationality Act; 8 U.S.C. §1153(b)(2), the position described on a labor certification must require an advanced degree or, in the alternative, a Bachelor’s degree plus five years of progressive post-baccalaureate experience.1 The employer […]
¤ 212(c) LITIGATION: THE AFTERLIFE OF A WAIVER
by Patricia S. Mann * The Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act (“AEDPA”), and the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act (“IIRIRA”), passed by Congress over a decade ago, in April 1996, and in September 1996, respectively, had a number of harsh consequences for both undocumented immigrants and for legal permanent residents. For example, […]
