Law Offices of P. Michael Khosla & Associates, P.C. Breaking News 8-14-06 Pg 1 Website: www.usimmigration.net
BREAKING NEWS
8-14-06
Reminder: Deadline is Monday for BEC case re-open requests due to 45-day letter issues: On July 10, 2006, DOL published the attached an FAQ regarding Non-Receipt of 45-Day Letters and the Process for Addressing Related Requests to Reopen. The process and remedy described in the FAQ are available to employers who believe a case has been closed due to issues surrounding the receipt of or response to 45-day letters outlined in the FAQ.
Employers who believe one or more of their cases has been closed for reasons covered by this FAQ, and who wish to request those cases be reopened, must submit requests to the BEC via email or . Please see FAQ for BEC instructions regarding content of the email.
To be considered for reopening, all requests must be received by a BEC within 30 days of the publication of the policy announcement -- Monday, August 14, 2006, or within 30-days of the receipt of a case closed letter, whichever is later.
Frequently Asked Questions regarding Re-Open Requests can be found at the following Link:
http://www.ows.doleta.gov/foreign/pdf/backlog_faqs_07-10-06.pdf
Visa Bulletin – September 2006: The September 2006 Visa Bulletin has come out and it shows some interesting movements (or lack thereof). EB1 India is now current. EB2 India, as expected remained at “U” (unavailable). It is expected to move (forward) when the next visa bulletin comes out on September 15 (for October 2006). The most significant movement forward was for Worldwide EB3, which moved from October 2001 to March 2002. This movement is expected to slow down next month. EB3 China moved up 5 months from Oct 2001 to March 2001. However disappointingly, EB2 China again did not move forward at all. It is still stuck at March 01, 2005 for 3 months now (July, Aug and Sep 2006 visa bulletins showed no forward movement). We reproduced the EB tables for July, Aug and Sept below for a quick recap. See http://www.usimmigration.net/home/latestvisabulletin.html
The September 2006 visa bulletin appears at: http://www.travel.state.gov/visa/frvi/bulletin/bulletin_3009.html
The August 2006 visa bulletin appears at: http://www.travel.state.gov/visa/frvi/bulletin/bulletin_2978.html
The July 2006 visa bulletin appears at: http://www.travel.state.gov/visa/frvi/bulletin/bulletin_2943.html
EMPLOYMENT BASED SEPTEMBER 2006 IMMIGRANT VISA AVAILABILITY TABLE
All Chargeability Areas Except Those Listed / CHINA-mainland born / INDIA / MEXICO / PHILIPPINESEmployment Based
1st / C / C / C / C / C
2nd / C / 01MAR05 / U / C / C
3rd / 01MAR02 / 01MAR02 / 15APR01 / 22APR01 / 01MAR02
Schedule A Workers / C / C / C / C / C
Other Workers / U / U / U / U / U
4th / C / C / C / C / C
Certain Religious Workers / C / C / C / C / C
5th / C / C / C / C / C
Targeted Employment Areas/ Regional Centers / C / C / C / C / C
EMPLOYMENT BASED AUGUST 2006 IMMIGRANT VISA AVAILABILITY TABLE
All Chargeability AreasExcept Those Listed / CHINA-mainland born / INDIA / MEXICO / PHILIPPINES
Employment-Based
1st / C / C / 01JAN06 / C / C
2nd / C / 01MAR05 / U / C / C
3rd / 01OCT01 / 01OCT01 / 01APR01 / 22APR01 / 01OCT01
Schedule A Workers / C / C / C / C / C
Other Workers / U / U / U / U / U
4th / C / C / C / C / C
Certain Religious Workers / C / C / C / C / C
5th / C / C / C / C / C
Targeted Employment Areas/ Regional Centers / C / C / C / C / C
EMPLOYMENT BASED JULY 2006 IMMIGRANT VISA AVAILABILITY TABLE
Employment-Based / All Chargeability Areas Except Those Listed / CHINA-mainland born / INDIA / MEXICO / PHILIPPINES1st / C / C / 01JAN06 / C / C
2nd / C / 01MAR05 / 01JAN03 / C / C
3rd / 01OCT01 / 01OCT01 / 15APR01 / 22APR01 / 01OCT01
Schedule A Workers / C / C / C / C / C
Other Workers / U / U / U / U / U
4th / C / C / C / C / C
Certain Religious Workers / C / C / C / C / C
5th / C / C / C / C / C
Targeted Employment Areas/ Regional Centers / C / C / C / C / C
Masters Degrees H-1B Cap reached: Having reached the cap for the H-1B exemption for graduates of U.S. advanced degree program more than 2 months before the start of the fiscal year, and having reached the overall H-1B cap more than 4 months before the fiscal year's start, it is clear that visa reform is necessary. Read AILA’s comment on: http://www.aila.org/content/default.aspx?docid=20182
DHS/DOS Proposed Rule to Require Passports of Western Hemisphere Travelers: Proposed rule issued jointly by Customs and Border Protection and State Dept. would require passports of certain travelers between the U.S. and Canada, Mexico and Bermuda as of 1/8/07. (71 FR 46155, 8/11/06)
President Bush discussed Comprehensive Immigration Reform Bill: In an address on comprehensive immigration reform, President Bush discussed increased funding for border security, the end of catch and release, worksite enforcement, documentation for temporary workers, and deportation. See http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2006/08/20060803-8.html
Consulate in Singapore Addresses H-1B1 Fees, Equivalencies: In response to email inquiries from an AILA attorney member, the U.S. consulate in Singapore has provided the following information about the fees for filing for an H-1B1 under the Singapore Free Trade Agreement, and about the standards for a degree equivalency under the Agreement.
With respect to the fees, the consulate stated:
"The fees are the same for all visa types, S$170, payable with a Cashier's Order to 'American Embassy, Singapore.'… The H1B fees do not apply (those fees are payable in the US when the I-129 is filed - an I-129 is not required for the H1B1)…."
With respect to degree equivalencies, (the AILA attorney member) inquired whether the post recognizes the USCIS formulation of three years of experience for one year of formal education. The consulate responded:
"Yes, we do recognize the 3 for 1 formula however, the alien must demonstrate progressively responsible experience and a level of knowledge sufficient to show 'theoretical and practical application of a body of specialized knowledge.' Also, depending on the position, the alien may also have to show more than '3 for 1' if the industry standard for the position would require an advanced degree (i.e. law degree, masters degree, etc)."
Miscellaneous Notes:
1. I-140 approvals coming out of TSC are as fast as 1-2 weeks. Under the Bi-Specialization program, all I-140s are filed in NSC, and NSC does internal transfer of cases to TSC for internal load sharing. In most cases we were seeing a consistency in these transfers, i.e., for example, cases belonging to Petitioners that existed in California are sent to TSC, where as Petitioners in Ohio or Illinois are adjudicated in NSC. However lately even OH and IL cases are being sent to TSC. We had a recent case where an OH client’s I-140 cases were filed in NSC, and the two I-140s were for two employees who are colleagues that sit in adjoining cubicles. One employee’s I-140 languished in NSC for 4 months since May 06, the other I-140 got approved in 2 weeks from TSC. Both were filed in NSC.
2. I-485 approvals for EB2 for Worldwide category are getting approved in less than 30 days!. We recently witnessed the fastest ever I-485 approval for an Argentina born EB2 client. PERM was filed in May 2006, approved in June 2006, I-140 filed in June 2006 approved in July 2006, I-485 filed 7/22/06 approved 8/11/06 (!)
3. BRC Dallas has started issuing some NOFs (Notice of Findings) in RIR cases where NOFs are not warranted (in this Counsel’s opinion, based on past precedents). We are wondering if this is a (lack of) proper training related problem, in their efforts to clear up the backlog by September 2007.
4. PERM approvals out of Chicago are taking less than a week in many cases.
5. EB2 China remained stagnant again for the 3rd month in a row, which was depressing and surely disappointing to our vast number of China born clients. India EB2 remained “U” which was expected. Interestingly EB3 worldwide advanced by 5 month. We will see how this trend continues.
6. Backlog Elimination Center – USDOL: 45 day letter non-receipts: Today is the deadline to request for any missing 45 day letters. The BRC is taking 30-60 days to respond to these requests.
7. Backlog Elimination Center – USDOL: Case closure, re-open requests: The typical lead-time is 3 months after we inform the BRC of an inadvertent closure. However inadvertent closures are far and few. In about 300 cases we experienced about 6 closures, 5 of which have all been re-opened. 1 request is pending for a CA client.
I-140 approval under EB-1 for an Outstanding Researcher received 8/14/06: This law office received an EB-1 I-140 approval for an Outstanding Researcher for a medical doctor that was sponsored my one of our major university hospital clients. This physician was engaged in cutting edge research in the field of Echocardiography Sonograph, a technique that helps identify potential risk of sudden death in young infants due to cardiac failure. We were able to show intrinsic merit in the nature of the research without much of a problem. We were able to show outstanding ability and peer recognition by virtue of laudatory letters from other scientists unknown to the physician personally but rather only on a professional basis, from 6 different states in the US and also from 3 other countries including Japan, where his publications were well received. The physician had also authored a book on the subject. The copy of this EB-1 I-140 approval appears at: http://www.usimmigration.net/images/I-140_Approval_EB1_OR_8-14-06.pdf
PERM and RIR Approvals for Alien Labor Certification (1st step in the 3 step Green Card processing through employer sponsorship) – Latest update: This law office has received 11 PERM and RIR approvals from the USDOL in the past 3-week period from 7-22-06 to 8-11-06. The PDF file with the scans of these certified Alien Labor Certification approvals is viewable by clicking at: http://www.usimmigration.net/images/072206_to_081106_PERM_8_RIR_3_Approvals.pdf (Note: this is a 0.4 MB PDF document) or http://www.usimmigration.net/pages/46/index.htm
These 10 PERM and RIR approvals for the period 7-22-06 to 8-11-06 have come for the following positions in approximately the following time frame:
(Note: If a case has taken longer than 100 days to process, we are indicating in parenthesis next to the Processing Center, whether the case underwent an “Audit” or “No Audit”, for accuracy in reporting and understanding. Also if the approval was through a conversion from RIR to PERM and the old priority date was retained, that is also indicated)
Position EB2/EB3 Date Filed Date Certified Approval Time USDOL Center
PERM – 8 cases approved
Import/Exp. Bus. Op. Mgr EB2 07/24/2006 08/08/2006 15 days Atlanta
Mechanical Engineer EB2 07/22/2006 08/07/2006 16 days Chicago
Electrical Engineer EB2 07/25/2006 08/04/2006 10 days Atlanta
Electrical Engineer EB2 07/25/2006 08/03/2006 9 days Chicago
Software Engineer EB2 07/24/2006 08/02/2006 9 days Chicago
Software Engineer EB2 06/24/2006 07/28/2006 34 days Chicago
Mechanical Engineer EB2 07/22/2006 07/27/2006 5 days Chicago
Mechanical Engineer EB2 07/24/2006 07/27/2006 3 days Chicago
Average Time = 12 days High: 34 days Low: 3 days
RIR – 3 cases approved
Mechanical Engineer EB2 07/26/2004 08/01/2006 24 months Dallas
Mechanical Engineer EB2 12/10/2004 07/26/2006 19 months Dallas
Mechanical Engineer EB2 11/29/2004 07/24/2006 19 months Dallas
I-140 approvals – Latest Update: We have received 21 (twenty one) I-140 approvals recently for the past 3-week period from 7-22-06 to 8-11-06. The PDF file with the scans of these I-140 approvals is viewable by clicking at: http://www.usimmigration.net/images/I-140_Approvals_21_072206_to_081106.pdf (Note: this is a 3.6 MB PDF document) or http://www.usimmigration.net/pages/49/index.htm
CSC = California Service Center
NSC = Nebraska Service Center
TSC = Texas Service Center
VSC = Vermont Service Center
Position EB2/EB3 Date Filed Date Approved Approval Time USCIS
I-140 (Labor Certification based)
RF Engineer EB2 04/13/2006 08/04/2006 15 weeks NSC
Mechanical Engineer EB2 04/13/2006 08/04/2006 15 weeks NSC
Electrical Engineer EB2 03/31/2006 08/03/2006 16 weeks NSC
Financial Analyst EB2 07/21/2006 08/03/2006 2 weeks TSC
Software Engineer EB2 03/29/2006 08/02/2006 16 weeks TSC (after RFE)
Mechanical Engineer EB2 07/18/2006 08/02/2006 2 weeks TSC
Software Engineer EB2 03/29/2006 08/02/2006 16 weeks TSC (after RFE)
Mechanical Engineer EB2 07/18/2006 08/02/2006 2 weeks TSC
Software Engineer EB2 03/31/2006 08/01/2006 16 weeks NSC
RF Engineer EB2 06/28/2006 08/01/2006 4 weeks TSC
RF Engineer EB2 06/28/2006 08/01/2006 4 weeks TSC
Programmer Analyst EB3 03/31/2006 07/31/2006 16 weeks NSC
Software Engineer EB2 03/31/2006 07/31/2006 16 weeks NSC
Mechanical Engineer EB2 03/24/2006 07/28/2006 16 weeks TSC (after RFE)
RF Engineer EB2 06/02/2006 07/28/2006 8 weeks TSC
Transportation Engineer EB2 06/20/2006 07/24/2006 4 weeks TSC
Software Engineer EB2 06/19/2006 07/24/2006 4 weeks TSC
Mechanical Engineer EB2 07/11/2006 07/24/2006 2 weeks TSC
Financial Analyst EB2 06/14/2006 07/24/2006 6 weeks TSC
Software Engineer EB2 03/31/2006 07/24/2006 15 weeks NSC
Mechanical Engineer EB2 07/11/2006 07/21/2006 1.5 weeks TSC
Average Time for 1-140 approvals (average of 21 case, TSC and NSC) = 9 weeks