Volume 4, Issue 8, August 2008

 

The Business Immigration Monthly is Hammond Law Group’s latest web-based newsletter, 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.


 

September 2008 Visa Bulletin

The Department of State has released the September Visa Bulletin.  All categories are current except for EB3, which will remain unavailable for the remainder of the fiscal year, and EB2 India and China which have continued to move forward two months to August 2006.

 

In addition, the EB3 category may remain unavailable past October, despite the previous forecast. The Department of State writes in the September Bulletin, “The Mexico F2A and Employment Third preference cut-off dates are “unavailable” for both August and September, since those FY-2008 annual limits have been reached. The Visa Office had originally anticipated that this would be a temporary situation. Then with the start of the new fiscal year in October the cut-off dates would have returned to those which had applied during June. However, continued heavy demand in those categories may require the establishment of cut-off dates which are earlier than those which had applied in June. A formal decision determination of the October cut-off dates will not be possible until early September.” HLG will keep clients posted as more information is released on this issue.

http://travel.state.gov/visa/frvi/bulletin/bulletin_4328.html

 


DOL Processing PERM Cases with Audit Filed in March 2007

The Department of Labor is currently working on labor certification cases that have received audits that were filed in March 2007 or earlier. This information was shared with American Immigration Lawyers Association. HLG will keep you posted as additional information about processing times is made available.

www.aila.org

www.dol.gov

 


Judge Rejects OPT Challenge

This week US District Court Judge Faith Hochberg rejected an attempt by H-1B visa opponents to halt the extension of student optional practical training from one year to 29 months. Opponents claim this extension is a backdoor visa increase and will hurt the U.S. workforce.  But in a ruling by Judge Hochberg, she denied the preliminary injunction sought by H-1B opponents, including the Programmers Guild, the Immigration Reform Law Institute and other groups.  Judge Hochberg’s ruling focused primarily on whether H-1B opponents had standing to bring the lawsuit, noting that they could not show how they had been directly hurt by the OPT extension. In the ruling, Judge Hochberg writes, “Instead of alleging concrete injury, plaintiffs assert a generalized grievance with a particular government policy.”  For more information see ComputerWorld article here: http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9111963


Compete America Sign-On Letter
Compete America, which includes some of America’s largest and most prestigious companies and organizations and many HLG clients, drafted and sent a sign-on letter encouraging Congressman to pass three critical pieces of Business Immigration legislation.
 http://hammondlawgroup.blogspot.com/2008/07/compete-america-letter.html


AAO Denies L-1B Specialized Knowledge Case
In a recently released decision, the Administrative Appeals Office (AAO) denied an appeal brought by an IT company to a denial on an L-1B visa petition filed with the California Service Center. Finding that the Appellant failed to prove the specialized knowledge of the potential beneficiary, the AAO writes, “Overall, the record does not establish that the beneficiary’s knowledge is substantially different from the knowledge possessed by similar workers generally throughout the industry or by other employees of the petitioning organization. The fact that the beneficiary and a select group of workers possess a very specific set of skills does not alone establish that the beneficiary’s knowledge is indeed special or advanced…Rather, the petitioner must establish that qualities of the unique process or product require this employee to have knowledge beyond what is common in the industry. This has not been established in this matter.” As is evidenced by this decision, the increased scrutiny for L-1B petitions filed with the Service Centers continues. Clients are encouraged to contact their HLG attorney for additional information and alternatives to the L-1B visa.
For the full AAO decision see: http://www.bibdaily.com/pdfs/AAO L-1 Sameer 7-22-08.pdf


USCIS Updates on Naturalization Processing Times
The USCIS is continuing to make progress on reducing the processing times for naturalization applications. The USCIS now estimates the average processing times for a naturalization application to be anywhere from 10-12 months nationally by the end of September 2008- a reduction of nearly six months from projections made last year. During Fiscal Year 2007, USCIS received 1.4 million naturalization applications, nearly double the normal annual volume. In response to this high number of filings the USCIS has implemented a work plan in which the USCIS anticipates completing more than one million naturalization applications by the end of this fiscal year, including most of the applications received during the summer of 2007. 
For more information about naturalization application processing times see: http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/menuitem.5af9bb95919f35e66f614176543f6d1a/?vgnextoid=72fd5d63502bb110VgnVCM1000004718190aRCRD&vgnextchannel=68439c7755cb9010VgnVCM10000045f3d6a1RCRD


HLG Opens Global Immigration Practice
Hammond is pleased to announce our firm’s global immigration department to assist businesses in the global movement and relocation of employees.  Hammond’s Global immigration services include:

  • Formulating strategic corporate immigration strategies to facilitate a company's global immigration requirements.

  • Preparation and processing global work authorizations and permanent resident visas.

  • Preparation and processing of applications for business visitor visas, temporary entry and residence permits.

www.hammondlawfirm.com


Free Seminar for Employers

Friday, September 19th at the Hilton Netherland Plaza in Cincinnati, Ohio

HLG is hosting a free seminar entitled “Keeping Your Company Compliant in an Era of Increased Enforcement” on Friday September 19th at the Hilton Netherland Plaza in Cincinnati, Ohio from 8:30am-12pm. Space is limited, Reserve your seat today!

For more information please visit: www.HammondLawFirm.com

  
 

Visit www.HammondLawFirm.com

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