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The Business Immigration Monthly
is Hammond Law Group’s latest news eZine, 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.
RETROGRESSION
BECOMES A REALITY
The
Department of State (DOS) has just announced that, effective
October 1, 2005
, retrogression will apply to a wide-range of immigrant visa
classifications. Retrogression is caused when there is full
subscription of the employment-based immigrant visa rolls. When full
subscription is reached,
US
law compels the Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) and the
Department of State (DOS) to establish visa quotas, which create
waiting list queues. These queues can delay immigrant visa (a.k.a.
Permanent Residency or Green Card) cases by several years. This
phenomenon is known as retrogression. Traditionally, Chinese,
Mexican, Filipino and Indian workers have been the hardest hit.
A foreign national's case is prioritized by three different factors:
(i) his initial filing date of either a Labor Certification or
Petition for Immigrant Visa (I-140), whichever comes earlier (this
is the "priority date"); (ii) his country of birth (not
nationality); and (iii) his employment based classification (see end
of this article, which describes the categories- EB1, EB2, etc.).
The allocations are announced in the monthly Visa Bulletin. The Visa
Bulletin is ordinarily released about two weeks prior to its
effective date, which always falls on the first of the subsequent
month. In other words, a Visa Bulletin released in mid-September
2005, is effective
October 1, 2005
. The Visa Bulletin lists cut-off dates for each classification.
Applicants who hold priority dates before a cut-off date are
unaffected by retrogression. Applicants with priority dates after
the cut-off date will have their cases held in abeyance until their
classification's cut-off date is after their priority date.
For consular processing immigrants, retrogression means that the
Consulate is not allowed to issue a visa to any applicant unless
that applicant's priority date is "current," or the
applicant holds a priority date before the listed cut-off date.
For Adjustment of Status applicants, retrogression means that
applicants are not allowed to file I-485, Adjustment of Status
Applications unless that applicant's priority date is
"current," or the applicant holds a priority date before
the listed cut-off date. If an applicant has a pending I-485 Adjust
of Status Application, the USCIS will not approve that Application
until the applicant's priority date is "current," or the
applicant holds a priority date before the listed cut-off date. For
more information see our immigration alert at: http://www.hammondlawfirm.com/alerts/09.13.2005_alert.htm
DOL
UPDATE ON BACKLOG REDUCTION CENTERS
On
September 12, the Department of Labor sent an update on the Backlog
Reduction Centers. The
DOL
stated
that 345,000 cases had been forward to the two processing centers in
Dallas
and
Philadelphia
. A few
cases remain at the
San
Francisco
and
New York
regional
office, which are set to be closed in early January 2006.
Approximately 90% of the cases transferred to the BRCs had been
inputted partially into the system. Only with full data entry will
the 45 day letters be sent out. During the next months, the BRCs
will be working on completing full data entry on these cases and on
issuing the 45 day letters. The BRCs have focused on processing RIR
and traditional cases where the recruitment has already been
conducted and no further recruitment is necessary. To date the BRCs
have processed tens of thousands of cases. http://www.ows.doleta.gov/foreign/times.asp
H-1Bs
STILL AVAILABLE FOR US MASTERS OR HIGHER GRADUATES
USCIS has confirmed that H-1B
numbers remain for both fiscal years 2005 and 2006 for graduates of
US masters degrees or higher programs. For applications filed under
fiscal year 2005 (i.e. those with a start date earlier than
October 1, 2005
) please make sure they are sent to the
Vermont
Service
Center
. For those petitions being filed under the fiscal year 2006 (i.e.
those with a start date of
October 1, 2005
or later) should be filed at the service center having jurisdiction
over the place of employment. http://www.hammondlawfirm.com/alerts/08.12.2005_alert.htm
VOICE
YOUR SUPPORT IN FAVOR OF H-1B
HLG is urging both
Individuals and Business to voice their support for H-1B relief to
Congress. Already nearly 400 businesses from across the
America
have sent a letter urging Congress to increase the H-1B quota.
However, this is not enough. Without significant lobbying efforts
and Congressional action,
US
employers requiring highly educated foreign nationals with critical
skills will have to wait until next fiscal year to obtain this
much-needed expertise.
Add your voice to the urgent call
for H-1B Relief. Use Contact Congress to send a letter to your
Members of Congress today: http://capwiz.com/aila2/mail/oneclick_compose/?alertid=5183421
INFORMATION PROVIDED BY DOS
ON HOW TO APPLY FOR DV LOTTERY 2007
On
October 5, the Department of State published guidance on how to
apply for the 2007 Diversity Visa Lottery. Entries for this Lottery
must be electronically submitted between
noon
(EST) on
Wednesday,
October 5, 2005
and
noon
(EST) on
Sunday,
December 4, 2005
.
http://travel.state.gov/news/info/press/press_2647.html
INSZOOM
SYSTEM FEATURED IN THE ECONOMIC TIMES
The
highly praised INSZoom, has been cited twice in The Economic
Times. The articles entitled “Indian geeks log on to meet
immigration challenges” and “
Mobile
mania”,
label the system as “a flagship Global Immigration Management
System that includes HR corporate module, immigration module,
foreign national module, global partner module, compliancy module
and e-filing module.” The INSZoom system allows both companies and
employees to check the status of their pending cases through any
internet site. HLG has had the honor of using this system since 2001
and have worked closely with its founder, Umesh Vaidyamath, to build
in upgrades and improvements to the system to best serve our
clients’ needs.
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1220109.cms
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1220170.cms
WORLDWIDE
BUSINESS
VISA
CENTER
GOES ONLINE
The
Department of State has announced that that
Business
Visa
Center
, started in July 2005, is now accessible online at http://travel.state.gov/visa/tem/types_2664.html.
The Center was launched to assist businesses in the
US
and their partners, customers, and colleagues abroad in the issuance
of visas. Specifically, the Center provides information about the
visa application process for business-related visitor visa travel
and explains the process to companies wishing to invite employees,
clients, and business partners to the
US
. The site also provides answers to some frequently asked questions
and provides contact information for the Center. http://travel.state.gov/visa/temp/types/types_2664.html
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