  To SUBSCRIBE/UNSUBSCRIBE, please follow the instructions at the bottom of this email.
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
New Requirements for H-1B Sponsors Accepting Certain Federal Relief The USCIS (United States Citizenship and Immigration Services) recently announced new H-1B filing requirements for U.S. employers receiving Federal Aid. Under the new Employ American Workers Act (EAWA), employers who receive federal funding under either the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) or Section 13 of the Federal Reserve Act are now treated as H-1B Dependent Employers. By law, H-1B Dependent Employers take on special obligations attendant to the filing of H-1B petitions for nonimmigrant workers. Under the new requirements, employers receiving federal funding under the programs cited above who file an H-1B petition on or after February 17, 2009 are affected. These new requirements extend not only to new/first-time H-1B filings for the employer, but also to H-1B transfer filings. However, these requirements do not extend to H-1B extensions, or change of status filings in which the employee is already employed by the petitioning U.S. employer. Affected employers are required to make additional attestations to the U.S. Department of Labor when completing and submitting certified ETA-9035 Labor Condition Applications in connection with H-1B filings.
The USCIS strongly urges affected employers to exercise
caution to ensure that their new filings properly disclose
any possible obligation under the new legislation. Employer
subject to the new requirements who do not make the
additional attestations required under the new rules face
potential denial for any underlying H-1B filing made.
Premium Processing Service Expanded for Certain Form I-140
Petitioners
As of March 2, 2009 the USCIS will expand the premium
processing service for designated I-140 forms, to include
Alien Beneficiaries who have reached, or are reaching their
limitation of stay in H-1B status.
Under Section 104(c) of AC21 the applicant is permitted to
extend their status in increments of three years if their
form I-140 has been approved. Under Section 106(a) the
applicant is permitted to extend their stay in H-1B
nonimmigrant status in increments of up to one year if the
filled I-140 petition or underlying labor certification has
been pending for at least 365 days. Have you reached the sixth-year
statutory limitation of your H-1B stay, or will you
reach the end of your s six year stay within 60 days
of filing; Are you only eligible for further
H-1B extension under section 104 (c) of AC21; and
Are you ineligible to extend your
H-1B status under section 106(a) of AC21. Premium processing offers 15 calendar day
processing for designated employment based petitions and
applications. There is a $1000 non-refundable fee for such
service. During the 15 day period the USCIS will issues the
following verdict on your case: Approval, denial, Notice of
intent to deny, a request for evidence or open an
investigation for fraud or misrepresentation. The new guidance states that an FBI fingerprint check as well as the IBIS check must be obtained (and resolved if needed) before an Application for Adjustment of Status (I-485) can be approved. The previous memorandum allowed USCIS officers to approve the Application for Adjustment of Status (I-485), if the application was otherwise approvable even if the name check request was still pending with the FBI. The new memorandum states that if the FBI name check is pending for more than 150 days, the USCIS adjudicator shall notify a point of contact at Headquarters who will contact the FBI to determine the reason of the processing delay and hopefully resolve the issue and/or provide guidance for case processing. We hope that the new process will promise a shorter FBI fingerprint clearance time and smooth the adjudication process for approvable applications. USCIS Extends the 10-Year Limit of Stay for Professional Athletes in P-1 Status On March 9, 2009, a memorandum from Donald Neufeld, Acting Associate Director, Domestic Operations, USCIS, was issued that extends the current limit of stay for P-1 professional athletes. Prior to the memorandum, the regulations imposed a 10-year limit on a P-1 professional athletes stay in the U.S. Following that 10-year period, the athlete would either have to change to another nonimmigrant status such as O-1/apply for a green card or alternatively, be forced to leave the U.S. Many professional sports associations and immigration attorneys alike felt this 10-year limit was too stringent, given the longevity of the careers of many of these foreign-born professional athletes. Specially, the new memorandum stated that P-1 professional athletes:
This memorandum comes as a welcome relief to professional sports teams and sports fans who look forward to seeing the careers of their favorite players continue to flourish in the U.S.
Military Accessions Vital To National Interest
Recruitment Pilot To be eligible for the program, the applicant must be in one of the following categories at time of enlistment: (a) asylee, refugee, Temporary Protected Status (TPS), or (b) nonimmigrant categories E, F, H, I, J, K, L, M, O, P, Q, R, S, T, TC, TD, TN, U, or V. In addition, applicants must have been in valid status in one of those categories for at least two years immediately prior to the enlistment date, and must not have had any single absence from the United States of more than 90 days during the two year period immediately preceding the date of enlistment. The following additional criteria are required for Health Care Professionals:
The following languages with associated cultural backgrounds are eligible for consideration:
The U.S. Department of State (DOS) has issued its Visa Bulletin for April 2009. EB-1 for all countries and EB-2 for Mexico, the Philippines, and all countries other than China and India remained current. EB-2 from India and China remained the same as the prior month, at 02/15/2004 and 02/15/2005, respectively. EB-3, unfortunately, retrogressed in all countries except for India and China. India progressed to 11/01/2001, and China advanced to 03/01/2003. The rest of the categories (Mexico, the Philippines, and all other countries) retrogressed to 03/01/2003. This was a rather severe retrogression of a few years for the Philippines and for all other countries. The DOS explained that even though the cut-off dates had been held in an effort to keep demand within the monthly usage targets, the amount of demand received from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (CIS) remained extremely high. Thus, the DOS retrogressed April cut-off-dates in an attempt to hold the demand within the annual limit for fiscal year 2009. The DOS also noted that further retrogression or unavailability could be possible. The Visa Bulletin summarizes the availability of immigrant visa numbers for the calendar month. Visa Bulletin cut-off dates are determined by the foreign workers priority date, generally established by the filing of the labor certification application with the U.S. Department of Labor, or Form I-140, Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker, with the CIS.
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
