admin

It’s that time of year again!  The fiscal year starts October 1 and USCIS starts to accept H1B visa filings on April 1.  Please contact us and discuss if you are eligible and to prepare the process immediately to ensure your case is ready to be filed on April 1. Plan Ahead!  Last year, USCIS received 236,000 petitions within the first week.Limited [...]

On December 27, 2016, the Administrative Appeals Office (AAO) issued a precedent decision in Matter of Dhanasar that modifies the framework for how the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will now adjudicate national interest waiver (NIW) petitions. Matter of Dhanasar provides a new framework where USCIS may grant a national interest waiver if the petitioner demonstrates by a preponderance of the [...]

Visit www.uscis.gov/visabulletininfo for information on whether USCIS has determined that this chart can be used this month for filing applications for adjustment of status with USCIS.  A. Final Action Dates for FilingEMPLOYMENT-BASED PREFERENCESEmploy- ment basedAll Charge- ability  Areas Except Those ListedCHINA- mainland  bornEL SALVADOR GUATEMALA HONDURASINDIAMEXICO1stCCCCC2ndC15NOV12C15APR08C3rd01OCT16 01OCT1301OCT16 22MAR05 01OCT16Other Workers01OCT16 01DEC0501OCT16 22MAR0501OCT164thCC15JUL15C15JUL15Certain Religious WorkersCC15JUL15C15JUL155th Non-Regional Center (C5 and T5)C15APR14CCC5th Regional Center (I5 and R5)C15APR14CCC FAMILY-SPONSORED PREFERENCESFamily- Sponsored All Chargeability  Areas Except Those ListedCHINA-mainland  [...]

Matter of Tek Services concluded because the regulations do not require that the salary be mentioned at all in recruitment ads, the use of language such as competitive salary is permitted.In Matter of Tek Services, the employer placed an ad that stated the position paid a competitive salary, without listing the actual salary amount. The DOL acknowledged that the regulations do not [...]

For the month of January 2017, USCIS designates the following:For Family-Sponsored Filings: You must use the Dates for Filing Family-Sponsored Visa Applications chart in the Department of State Visa Bulletin for January 2017.For Employment-Based Preference Filings: You must use the Final Action Dates chart in the Department of State Visa Bulletin for January 2017. A. Final Action Dates for FilingEMPLOYMENT-BASED PREFERENCESEmploy- ment basedAll Charge- ability  Areas [...]

USCIS reminds applicants and petitioners to pay our new fees with forms postmarked or filed on or after Dec. 23, 2016, or we will not be able to accept the filings. We will only accept previous fees if they are postmarked Dec. 22 or earlier. Beginning on Dec. 23, you will no longer have a 14-day grace period to correct a failed [...]

Beginning Jan. 22, 2017, employers must use the 11/14/2016 N version of Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification, to verify the identity and work eligibility of every new employee hired after Nov. 6, 1986, or for the reverification of expiring employment authorization of current employees (if applicable). This date is found on the lower left hand corner of the form.  Prior versions [...]

On December 23, 2016 USCIS published updated versions of the forms at uscis.gov/forms. USCIS will accept prior versions of forms, with the exception of Form N-400, until February 21, 2017.  However, all filings postmarked 12/23/16 or later must include the new fees or we will reject them. We will accept only the 12/23/16 edition of Form N-400, Application for Naturalization.Source: USCIS News Alert, [...]

PERM Processing Times (as of 01/12/2017)PROCESSING QUEUEPRIORITY DATESMONTHYEARANALYST REVIEWOctober2016AUDIT REVIEWMay2016RECONSIDERATION REQUESTS TO THE CODecember2016GOV’T ERROR RECONSIDERATIONS Current