Nankin & Verma PLLC

The USCIS has announced that Cap-Subject FY2008 H-1Bs have been exhausted the first day the numbers opened up – April 2, 2007. Please click here to view the announcement: USCIS Press Release for H-1B Cap.

The H-1B visa category has been closed to new petitions since mid-2006. This is due to the numerical limitations that are placed on all new petition filings on a fiscal year basis. If you are considering sponsoring an individual for a new H-1B visa, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service will accept new petitions beginning on April 1, 2007, for an October 1, 2007 start date.

It is highly likely that the new visa numbers will be depleted with a few weeks of April 1, 2007, if not within a few days. We cannot underscore enough how important it is for your organization to decide on who they wish to sponsor for new H-1B visas as soon as possible in order to get a head start in the petition submission timeline.

We welcome inquiries from all concerned individuals and enterprises to assist with the formulation of an action plan.

Jan 31, 2007 -AILA Clarification on the DOL Regulation Eliminating Substitutions

NANKIN & VERMA PLLC has been fielding many phone calls regarding the imminent elimination of Labor Certification Substitutions. Apparently, a rumor has been making its way through the immigration “blogosphere” and many people are concerned with what they’ve been hearing. The American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) has today offered this clarification on the matter:

“On 2/13/06, the Department of Labor proposed a rule that would eliminate labor certification substitutions, make certified labor certifications valid for 45 days, limit payment of expenses including attorneys’ fees, and make other changes to the process. AILA and many others submitted comments on this proposed rule.

On 1/26/07, DOL submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) the final version of this rule. OMB generally has 90 days to review a regulation and either approve it, send it back for more work, or reject it. Once OMB has approved a regulation, it goes back to the agency for final signature, then is sent to the Federal Register for publication. There is no predicting how long OMB will take, or what the results of its review will be. Immigration-related regulations tend to take the full 90 days, but there is no guarantee that that will be the case here.

So what does the final regulation say? Unfortunately, copies of regulations in process no longer can be obtained prior to their submission to the Federal Register, so right now the best anyone can do is speculate. We have every reason to believe that substitutions will indeed be eliminated, but it is unknown if there will be any form of amelioration. It is not clear what, if any, of the other proposals survived to final form. The description of the regulation on the OMB’s website is interesting in its use of tenses and references sometimes to the proposed rule and sometimes to final, but it is unknown whether those shifts indicate the content of the regulation or are just the result of sloppy drafting:

The Department of Labor proposed changes to reduce the incentives and opportunities for fraud and abuse related to the permanent employment of aliens in the United States. Among other key changes, the Department is eliminating the current practice of allowing the substitution of alien beneficiaries on applications and approved labor certifications. DOL proposed to further reduce the likelihood of the submission of fraudulent applications for the permanent employment of aliens in the United States by proposing a 45-day deadline for employers to file approved permanent labor certifications in support of a petition with the Department of Homeland Security. The Final Rule expressly prohibits the sale, barter, or purchase of permanent labor certifications or applications, as well as related payments. The proposed rule also addresses enforcement mechanisms to protect program integrity, including debarment with appeal rights. These amendments would apply to employers using both the Application for Alien Employment Certification (Form ETA 750) or the Application for Permanent Employment Certification (Form ETA 9089).”

At this time, if you are contemplating substitution, please contact us for further guidance.

The United State Citizenship and Immigration Service (CIS) has announced that it will be increasing filing fees by approximately 80%. The fee increases will take effect no sooner than 120 days after they are published in the Federal Register on February 1, 2007. That period of time will include the mandatory 60-day notice and comment period.

If you are contemplating filing an immigration petition or application in the near future, you would be best served to engage the services of an attorney and file within the next 4 months. One example of the fee increase is for the Naturalization Application (for citizenship). Currently, the fee is $330.00 to file for Naturalization, but after the fee increase, it will be closer to $600.00.

If you have any questions regarding the Naturalization process, or any other immigration concern, please feel free to call NANKIN & VERMA PLLC at (240) 456-0000

On January 12, 2007, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (CIS) launched an online Change of Address Service, as a convenient and simple method to comply with regulations that require all non-citizens living in the United States to notify the CIS of a change of address within 10 days of their move.

If you have any questions regarding the Change of Address announcement, or any other immigration concern, please feel free to call NANKIN & VERMA PLLC at (240) 456-0000.

The United State Citizenship and Immigration Service (CIS) has issued a revised Guide to Naturalization in order to accommodate the testing changes, and other issues that we first mentioned to you in November 2006.

If you have any questions regarding the Naturalization process, or any other immigration concern, please feel free to call NANKIN & VERMA PLLC at (240) 456-0000.