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Immigration Law

The Visa Bulletin

An Immigration Law Archive

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Last Entry: March 14, 2011 at 15:11:02

BALCA Finds Lack of Good Faith Recruitment

Posted on March 03, 2008
Good Faith Recruitment Matter of El Jalisco Mexican Restaurant, 2007-INA-00010 (12/10/07). [pdf decision] We concur with the CO that the evidence of one minute or less for telephone contact with the applicants is inadequate to establish good faith efforts to recruit...

BALCA Finds Employer Violated Job Order Rule

Posted on March 01, 2008
Matter of Beck AG Operations, 2008-PER-00005(12/18/07). [pdf decision] "The Employer clearly violated 20 C.F.R. § 656.17(e)(2)(i) by failing to place a job order of 30 days duration. The Employer?s lack of awareness that a job order was required is an insufficient justification to overcome the deficiency in the application...

BALCA Finds No Bona Fide Job Opportunity

Posted on March 01, 2008
Matter of PR Consultants, 2007-INA-00066 (1/16/08). [pdf decision] Based upon Employer’s failure to provide the documentation reasonably requested by the CO in her effort to determine whether permanent full-time employment, as required by 20 C...

New FBI Name Check Policy for I-485 Applicants // 180 Days or Less

Posted on February 29, 2008
On February 4th, USCIS issued a memo outlining a new policy for FBI name checks on I-485 applicants. The memo in a nutshell, Where the application is otherwise approvable and the FBI name check request has been pending for more than 180 days, the adjudicator shall approve the I-485, I-601, I-687, or I-698 and proceed with card [...

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BALCA Finds Applicants Wrongly Rejected

Posted on February 27, 2008
Matter of Houston Music Institute, 2007-INA-00271 (1/16/08) (pdf decision) The Employer?s later statements about its reasons for rejecting the applicants are ambiguous, and even contradictory. … it is clear that the applicants were rejected for lacking qualifications not listed in the ETA Form 750A...

April 2008 Visa Bulletin // Predictions and Comments

Posted on February 27, 2008
The April visa bulletin should be out in less than two weeks. Many visitors to this site have asked whether retrogression will be lifted in 2008, possibly as soon as the April bulletin. I predict that this will not happen. The April bulletin will, in my opinion, be unremarkable...

BALCA finds self-employment

Posted on February 26, 2008
BALCA has published a number of decisions on labor certification applications over the past few weeks. I'm going to post many of those decisions in a new section called "Balca Decisions". Most of the people who visit the Visa Bulletin already have certified labor certification applications, but some of you do not and these decisions might be useful.

Form I-130s to be filed with the Chicago Lockbox // Effective Immediately

Posted on February 22, 2008
USCIS issued an update about I-130 filing instructions on February 19th. The text is below in blockquotes, but basically all stand-alone I-130 petitions should now be filed with the Chicago Lockbox. The Chicago Lockbox is two post office boxes in Chicago (both addresses are listed below)...

H-1B Visa // Frequently Asked Questions

Posted on February 08, 2008
Just over a year and a half ago I helped put together an H-1B question and answer list. I’m going to be posting more information over the next few weeks about the H-1B visa process because of the upcoming application date. If you have other questions, drop them in the comments after this list...

H-1B Filing Fees // The Straight Dope

Posted on January 31, 2008
Ask three different people about H-1B filing fees and you will get three different answers. Here are the straight facts about the fees required when applying for an H-1B visa petition. “Premium Processing adds dignity to what can otherwise be a vulgar brawl...

March 2008 Visa Bulletin

Posted on January 31, 2008
The February bulletin brought further retrogression to the EB2 category for nationals of India. The March bulletin should be published soon and I will post it here immediately. Bookmark this page for the bulletin and the comments to follow. addthis_url = 'http%3A%2F%2Fthevisabulletin...

USCIS Chart Shows Huge Spikes in Naturalization and Green Card Applications

Posted on January 17, 2008
(Click to enlarge) This USCIS chart was supplied today by Emilio Gonzalez, the USCIS Director, during a hearing on ?NATURALIZATION DELAYS: CAUSES, CONSEQUENCES AND SOLUTIONS? before the House Judiciary Committee, Subcommittee on Immigration, Citizenship, Refugees, Border Security, and International Law...

7th Year H-1B Extensions Under AC21 104(c) and 106(a) - Statutes and USCIS Guidance

Posted on January 15, 2008
This article should help you understand the process for extending H-1B status beyond the standard sixth year (a “7th year extension”). I am constantly referring to both the statutes and guidance listed below. H-1B status can be extended beyond the sixth year in either 1 year or 3 year increments...

USCIS Memo on I-485 Porting After 180 Days Under AC21

Posted on January 11, 2008
This 2003 Yates Memo provides guidance on processing Form I-485, Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status, when the beneficiary of an approved Form I-140, Petition for Immigrant Worker, is eligible to change employers under Section 106(c) of AC21...

USCIS Deference For Visa Extensions With Limited Exceptions

Posted on January 11, 2008
The deferential policy from a 2004 Yates Memo: In matters relating to an extension of nonimmigrant petition validity involving the same parties (petitioner and beneficiary) and the same underlying facts, a prior determination by an adjudicator that the alien is eligible for the particular nonimmigrant classification sought should be given deference...

Visa Bulletin - February 2008

Posted on January 08, 2008
The Visa Bulletin for February 2008 brought further retrogression to the EB-2 visa category for nationals of India. In fact, immigrant visas are now unavailable to Indian EB-2 immigrants. Employment-Based Visa Bulletin - February 2008: Family-Based Visa Bulletin - February 2008: EB-2 nationals of India can now look forward to the visa bulletin in October 2008, when the [...

H-1B Visa Extensions Beyond Six Years Under AC21 - The Statutes

Posted on December 31, 2007
In the upcoming days and weeks, I’ll be posting information about H-1B extensions beyond the general 6-year limit aka 7th year H-1B extensions. These types of H-1B extensions can be extremely complicated and fact specific. But the information should help provide a solid foundation...

Visa Bulletin - January 2008

Posted on December 20, 2007
The Visa Bulletin for January 2008 brought further retrogression to the EB-2 visa category for nationals of India. Employment-Based Visa Bulletin - January 2008: Family-Based Visa Bulletin - January 2008:

USCIS Filing Fees in 2008

Posted on December 19, 2007
USCIS Filing Fees Petition for Alien Relative I-130 equals $355 Application for Travel Document I-131 equals $305 Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker I-140 equals $475 Notice of Appeal or Motion I-290B equals $585 Application To Register Permanent [...

Visa Bulletin - December 2007

Posted on December 13, 2007
Employment-Based Visa Bulletin - December 2007: Family-Based Visa Bulletin - December 2007:

Visa Bulletin - November 2007

Posted on November 13, 2007
Employment-Based Visa Bulletin - November 2007: Family-Based Visa Bulletin - November 2007:

USCIS FAQ on Receipt Delays

Posted on October 22, 2007
From USCIS.gov. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) advises customers that, due to a tremendous increase in the number of applications filed, processing of fee payments and entry of cases into our tracking system is behind schedule. As a result, applicants can expect notices of receipt to be delayed...

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