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It's that time of year again when human resources professionals should be thinking about what positions they plan (or I should say, hope) to fill with foreign national workers in specialty occupations requiring H-1B visas. Now is the time to be extending those offers and preparing applications for filing. In the private sector, which is largely subject to the annual 65,000 visa cap on H-1B visas, the filing season will open up again on April 1, 2013 for jobs that can begin on or after October 1, … [Read more...]
Archives for January 2013
January 19, 2013 by ·
On January 18, 2013, USCIS updated its FAQs on the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. USCIS also released updated data on receipts, rejections, approvals and more. To date, it has received 407,899 applications, accepting 394,533 of those and rejecting about 13,000 applications (i.e., not properly filed). It has approved 154,000 and has 371,000 under review. USCIS has not reported on denials. … [Read more...]
January 15, 2013 by ·
USCIS released a new Q&A brochure for families of immediate relatives about the new provisional stateside I-601A waiver that will go into effect on March 4, 2013. The requirements are also mentioned in a prior blog post, Provisional Unlawful Presence Waiver to Begin March 4, 2013. Keep in mind that I130/I360 visa petitions must be approved first and that these waivers only apply to immediate relatives (parents, spouses, unmarried minor children under 21 years old of US citizens). This … [Read more...]
January 11, 2013 by ·
One of the most frustrating aspects for immigrants and their families is figuring out the status of their cases pending before USCIS, the courts or the State Department that runs the National Visa Center and US Consulates abroad where visas are issued. The USCIS 1800# customer service number has been a quagmire for years, as any immigration practitioner or applicant can tell you. Run by a third party contractor, the phone tree alone can lead a caller to neverland. Then, if you are lucky to get … [Read more...]
January 3, 2013 by ·
On January 2, 2013, USCIS announced its long awaited final regulation governing new "provisional" waiver processing for immigrant visa applicants. Beginning March 4, USCIS will begin accepting provisional waiver applications in the US from applicants subject to the unlawful presence ground of admissibility (INA section 212(a)(9)(B); 8 U.S.C. 1182(a)(9)(B)) that subjects them to a three or ten-year bar to admissibility. This ground of inadmissibility is triggered when applicants for immigrant … [Read more...]
