This article touches upon the effects a U.S. Federal Government shutdown have on immigration services, like petitions, labor certifications, and visas.
DOL Denies PERM Applications – Engineering Degrees Targeted
DOL maintains the position that due to the breadth of engineering degrees, a degree in engineering alone isn’t enough for certain positions.
Agriculture and Comprehensive Immigration Reform
A recent official white house release states that the current immigration systems does not adequately support a both predictable and reliable workforce
Zuckerberg Group and Immigration Reform
New players have joined the push for comprehensive immigration reform. Mark Zuckerberg the founder and CEO of Facebook started and is heading an immigration lobbying group called “FWD.us”. The groups primary objective is to add to the existing support for Comprehensive Immigration Reform (CIR).
Comprehensive Immigration Reform – Support from the Norquist Study
Comprehensive Immigration Reform (CIR) is on the minds of millions of U.S. citizens and foreign nationals alike. Currently, the bill is in a somewhat compromising situation. At this point currently, the legislation in question will fall to the House of Representatives where the Republican party holds a slight majority.
What’s Left for UNVA?
On July 15, 2013 the University of Northern Virginia (UNVA) was shut down by the State Council of Higher Education (SCHEV). Although the decision of the school is perfectly clear, what is to become of its students? Without any direction, UNVA students are investigating their various options.
New H-1B Hiring Provisions Under 2013 Immigration Reform
There exists some language in the bill which if ratified would prohibit H1B-dependent employers from outplacing, outsourcing, leasing, or otherwise contracting for services or placement of an H1B worker. Under immigration reform, the term “H1-B Dependent” applies to companies whose workforce is made up of at least 15% H-1B workers.
Significant Movement of EB-2 India Priority Dates.
The U.S. Department of State (DOS) Visa Bulletin for August 2013 contains considerable improvement in the cutoff date in the employment-based, second preference (EB2) category for India. The EB-2 India cutoff date, effective during August 2013, advances to January 1, 2008. As of the July 2013 Visa Bulletin, the EB-2 India cutoff date was fixed at September 1, 2004.
Immigration Modernization Act (S.744) Pros and Cons
The “Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act” or Senate Immigration bill 7.44 would provide for the best and most positive effects for businesses in particular and would facilitate substantial positive reform in the permanent resident (green card) category. On the other hand, S.744 would complicate the process of acquiring temporary workers such as H1-Bs and L-1s.
The 'JOLT' Act
First introduced in the 112th Congress, the JOLT act is a combination of several proposed policies and programs which hope to tackle the visa problems related to foreign travelers and tourists visiting America. The latest version of the JOLT act included some new reforms and an updated version of previous policies.
2014 H-1B Lottery Rejections
USCIS reached the statutory H-1B cap of 65,000 for fiscal year (FY) 2014 within the first week of the filing period, which ended on April 5, 2013. Currently, it begun returning H-1B petitions that were not selected in the FY14 lottery..
2014 H-1B Cap Case Processing Time
The data entry process for 2014 H-1B cases selected in the lottery is now underway. As stated by USCIS, all premium processing cases are being managed first and their processing is not expected be completed until April 15.