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DOL Updates Foreign Labor Certification’s Online Wage Library

The Department of Labor (DOL) has updated it’s Foreign Labor Certification Data Center’s Online Wage Library. The Online Wage Library is used in many employment-based immigration cases, including the H-1b visa. The wage library provides average salaries for workers throughout the country, and is broken down by metropolitan area, employment position, and experience . If …

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Premium Processing in Immigration

 

The speed of the business world and the speed of the immigration system are rarely the same. In the high-paced business world it is difficult to wait weeks or even months to receive immigration approval from the USCIS.

Acknowledging its slowness, the USCIS provides certain employment-based immigration petitioners to receive a response within 15 …

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H-1b Immigration Testimony Before House Subcommittee

On March 31, the House Subcommittee on Immigration Policy and Enforcement held hearings concerning the H-1B visa. The hearing was entitled

“H-1B Visas: Designing a Program to Meet the Needs of the U.S. Economy and U.S. Workers,” and can be viewed on the House’s website.

Speakers at the hearing included:

 

Bo Cooper

Former INS …

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H-1B Season off to a Slow Start

On April 1st, the USCIS began accepting H-1B petitions for the 2012 fiscal year. In past years, the USCIS received more applications in the first few days of April than it had visas available for the entire year. However, this year, the USCIS has reported that it has only received 5,900 applications towards the 65,000 …

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H-1B Visa Application Season Begins April 1st

Although it hasn’t had the same meaning during the last few years, the H-1B Visa application season begins April 1st. That date marks the first date on which employers can petition for workers to begin working during fiscal year 2012. Thus, those that apply on April 1st can begin working on October 1, 2011 – …

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USCIS Changes H-1B Cap Exemptions Policy Based On Relations and Affiliations

The H-1B visa cap has been reached for the current year. However, the cap does not apply to certain groups of H-1B visa applicants. One such cap exempt group is potential workers at institutions of higher education.

Further, after prodding from businesses and other shareholders, the USCIS has begun to review its policy on whether …

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USCIS Proposes H-1B Visa Lottery

The USCIS has announced that it plans to implement a system that would allow for H-1B visa seeking companies to “pre-register” for an H-1B before beginning the process of completing an H-1B visa application. The change is a significant step forward as the change is expected to save U.S. companies $23 million in the next …

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Alternatives To H-1B Visa

Now that the H-1B Visa cap has been met, potential employees and employers must find another means of obtaining work authorization. The following is a list of potential options, however it is not exhaustive. If you are in need of an alternative immigration visa, please contact an immigration lawyer to discuss your options further.

Option …

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Immigration Form I-129 Now Requires Answer To Export Control Question

Late last year, the USCIS introduced a new I-129 form for employers who seek to hire noncitizen workers. Among the changes in the form was a required certification that employers were required to make concerning compliance with the U.S. export control laws. Soon after announcing the new export control certification, the immigration agency yielded to …

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H-1B Happenings: GAO Report and Questioning H-1B Fee Legality

The remaining H-1B visas that are available for the year are quickly dwindling. Most likely they will be completely gone within the first week or two of February. As this years H-1Bs reach exhaustion, it is a useful time to step back and look at the H-1b program in general. Two recent reports do just …

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USCIS Proposes Pre-Registration for H-1B Registration

The USCIS has proposed that it will create a mechanism that will allow companies interested in obtaining the H-1B visa to “pre-register” before the H-1B Cap Date (on April 1st each year). If enacted, the proposal will limit the expense of both the USCIS and employers.

Currently, H-1B employers must complete a full petition before …

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USCIS Delays Implementation of Export Control Questions on I-129

The USCIS has delayed its implementation of section 6 of the new I-129 immigration form for temporary workers in the United States. The new form version was made mandatory for any petition submitted after December 23, 2010. However, due to concerns about the ability of companies to set up internal controls for answering the questions …

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USCIS to Release New I-129 Form For Nonimmigrant Workers

The USCIS has announced that it will release a new I-129 form on November 23, 2010. The new form will go into effect the same day that the USCIS plans to raise its application fees.

The I-129 form is used by multiple types of nonimmigrant workers, including H-1B workers, L-1 workers, and O-1 nonimmigrants.

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USCIS Doubles RFEs of H1B

Bloomberg BusinessWeek recently ran a story about the increasing difficulty companies are having obtaining temporary visas for workers who they need to operate their companies.

The story focused on two American companies who are suffering because of the increasing difficulty. The first is a family farm who has been unable to recruit American workers to …

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Weekly H – 1b Update on Annual Quota

Each week the USCIS update its count of a 20 petitions filed for upcoming fiscal year 2011 (starting October 1, 2010). As of July 13, 2010 the USCIS has received 29,700 petitions toward the 65,000 quota and 12,300 petitions towards the 20,000 quota for applicants with advanced degrees.

Once the quotas are met, the H-1B …

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