Volume 3, Issue 6, June 2007

 

The Business Immigration Monthly is Hammond Law Group’s latest web-based newsletter, directed at international workers and employers seeking the most up-to-date news on U.S. immigration issues, specifically those that impact workers on H, L, E, and O visas and workers seeking permanent residency.

 

Featured Article

 

July Visa Bulletin Released - Retrogression Solved Temporarily

The Department of State has released the July Visa Bulletin. All countries, all classifications except for the Other Workers category have become current! For more details on what this means for those with pending green card cases please see: http://www.hammondlawfirm.com/alerts/retrogression_solved_temporarily.htm

For full chart see: http://travel.state.gov/visa/frvi/bulletin/bulletin_3258.html 

USCIS Filing Fees Increase
The USCIS has announced that as of July 30th there will be a new fee structure implemented in an effort to reduce processing times by the end of fiscal year 2009. The final rule is based on the USCIS’s proposed fee structure released on February 1, 2007 and comments submitted by more than 3,900 individuals and organizations. The USCIS claims that the collection of new fees will lead to a 20 percent reduction in average application processing times by the end of fiscal year 2009, and will reduce processing times by end of fiscal year 2008 for four application types in particular, including: the I-90 (Renew/Replace Permanent Resident Card), I-140 (Immigration Petition for Alien Worker), I-485 (Adjustment of Status Petition), and the N-400 (Naturalization Petition). The USCIS hopes to reduce processing times for each of these types of petitions from six months to four months.
http://www.hammondlawfirm.com/alerts/USCIS_filing_fee_increase.htm

End of Substitution as of July 16th

The DOL has published a long-awaited regulation that will eliminate the substitution of Labor Certifications, as well as restrict the use of Labor Certifications.

 

This Final Rule includes several major provisions, including:

-    It prohibits the substitution of alien beneficiaries on permanent labor certification applications and resulting certifications.

-    provides a 180-day validity period for approved labor certifications; employers will have 180 calendar days within which to file permanent labor certification in support of a Form 1-140 Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker (Form 1-140 hereafter) with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

-   The rule prohibits the sale, barter or purchase of permanent labor certifications and applications.

-   The rule requires employers to pay the costs of preparing, filing and obtaining certification. An employer's transfer to the alien beneficiary of the employer's costs incurred in the labor certification or application process is strictly prohibited. A beneficiary may hire his own attorney in addition to the employer-attorney.

 

For entire final rule see: http://a257.g.akamaitech.net/7/257/2422/01jan20071800/edocket.access.gpo.gov/2007/pdf/E7-9250.pdf

 

Immigration Advocacy Alert: Urge Your Senators To Vote Against The Proposed Immigration Bill

In light of the revival of the Comprehensive Immigration Bill on the Senate floor, now it is more critical than ever to contact your Senator to vote against the CIR bill. There are many flaws with the CIR bill, including the decimation of employment based immigration in favor of an inadequate “merit-based” point system, little H-1b relief, and provisions for the ill-crafted Y visa. See here for more details on how you may voice your opinion against CIR: http://www.hammondlawfirm.com/alerts/vote_against_the_proposed_immigration_bill.htm

 

HLG Attends Annual AILA Conference      

Two weeks ago Chris Musillo, HLG Partner, and Amy Dalal, HLG Associate, attended the annual American Immigration Lawyer’s Association (AILA) Conference in Orlando, Florida. Among the most discussed topics included the temporary end of retrogression and movement in priority dates, the end of substitution, the agencies’ efforts to streamline and improve processing of petitions, and the increase in Department of Labor investigations of H-1B violations. Further, agency representatives from the USCIS, Department of Labor, and Department of State hinted at the release of a new and improved 9089 PERM form, the complete elimination of the DOL backlog at the Backlog Elimination Centers by the given date of September 2007, the release of “missing” receipt notices from H-1B cap cases, and the allowance of premium processing for EB1 multinational manager and executive I-140 petitions. 

http://www.aila.org

 

DOS Temporarily Suspends Passport Requirement

The Department of State has announced that those US citizens traveling to Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean, and Bermuda who have applied for but not yet received passports can nevertheless temporarily travel abroad and reenter the US by air with a government issued photo identification and Department of State official proof of application for a passport through September 30, 2007. The reason for this announcement is that passport processing times are taking longer than expected due to high demand. For further details see:

http://travel.state.gov/travel/cbpmc/cbpmc_2223.html?css

 
 

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