The H-1B quota count came out again yesterday. USCIS released the following quota numbers: Bachelor’s degree quota: approximately 20,600 petitions received Advanced degree quota: approximately 9,700 petitions received This tells us that those petitioners and employees who had a job in hand by April 1, did not delay in getting…
Retrogression has hit the EB-2 preference categories for India and China. USDOS released the May 2012 visa bulletin showing EB-2 priority dates of August 15, 2007 for both countries. The EB-3 priority dates have moved forward about one month, with the exception of India which forward about a week to…
F-1 cap gap issues cause a lot of confusion, but here is a quick guide to help you all you need are clear answers. I posted a similar blog entry last year. The full guidance from USCIS can be found here: Can an F-1 student file an H-1B petition during…
This is just in from AILA. It has been reported that in the May 2012 visa bulletin, the USDOS will retrogress the priority dates for China and India EB-2 to August 15, 2007. The April 2012 priority dates are at May 1, 2010. It’s still too early to know how…
Bad news for those watching in the China and India EB-2 preference category priority dates. It is reported on March 16 that the US Department of State will likely retrogress the EB-2 priority dates to around August 2007 in the May or June 2012 visa bulletin. The April 2012 visa…
The days of PERM processing within a week or two are long gone, but the business immigration attorneys at Romben Law, APC, have seen a decrease in time for adjudications at US Dept of Labor. Although processing times still vary, we have recently seen certifications within 2 months of filing.…
H-1B news. April 1, is just around the corner. The so-called “H-1B season” is upon us with preparations in high gear for early filings. While I won’t give predictions or insight into how long this quota will last, the important thing is to prepare your case well and do it…
Last week, Department of Homeland Security announced several proposed reforms to “attract and retain highly skilled workers.” These reforms include employment authorization of certain H-4 spouses and other concrete incentives. DHS released a press release describing these administrative reforms, which would impact the benefits and the adjudications process in several…
Fiscal year 2012 began on October 1, 2011 and as expected, we saw some movement in the visa bulletin. Here is a brief summary of what the US Visa Office reports seeing in terms of usage in the first 3 months of the FY 2012. Employment-based usage has been quite…
September 30 marks the end of fiscal year for 2011. I wanted to review some statistics regarding labor certification information by the US Dept. of Labor which shows some interesting statistics about labor certification processing times and audits between October 1, 2010 and May 31, 2011. Labor certification audits are…