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…
It’s H-1B season again. The beginning of a new year and less than 3 months from the first date that USCIS will accept new H-1B petitions on April 1, 2012. It’s time to prepare your H-1B. The immigration attorneys at Romben Law, APC have been receiving many phone calls from…
Today, the USCIS Service Center Operations released a statement that all properly filed H-1Bs applications received on Tuesday, November 22, 2011 will be accepted under the FY 2012 H-1B cap. USCIS SCOPS also confirmed that there will be no lottery for petitions properly filed and received on November 22. Those…
The day has come. The fiscal year 2012 H-1B quota was reached yesterday, Tuesday, November 22, 2011. While this comes as no surprise to those who’ve been following our blog, it is remarkable that the final 15,800 applications were received by USCIS in just the last three weeks. So what…
USCIS has released updated H-1B quota numbers as of October 28, 2011: 49,200 petitions have been receipted out of the 65,000 petitions allotted for the regular cap The advanced degree cap has been met. Those seeking to file during this last phase of the H-1B season should move quickly. Call…
The last update from USCIS announced that the US advanced degree cap for H-1Bs has been filled. The regular H-1B quota has accepted 46,200 petitions leaving 18,800 slots available for new H-1B cases to be filed. We can expect this last batch of H-1B slots to fill up quicker since…