DOL Statistics on Prevailing Wage Applications for PERM/H-1B/H-2B Through June 15, 2013
DOL Statistics on Prevailing Wage Applications for PERM/H-1B/H-2B Through June 15, 2013
DOL Office of Foreign Labor Certification factsheet with statistics on prevailing wage determination program for the second quarter of FY2013 through June 15, 2013.
Four of the top five occupations are in the Information Technology sector.
Senate’s Immigration Bill Moves Forward Largely Unchanged
The Senate’s side of the Capitol Building in DC. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
The Senate has moved S. 744, the bipartisan immigration reform bill forward with a vote of 67-27 marking a substantial milestone for this country. The bill contains provisions that would uplift millions of workers and their families by providing a path to legalization for the undocumented and much needed changes to the family and business immigration processes, while maintaining a focus on border security and immigration enforcement.
Related articles
- Immigration Reform Passes Key Senate Test (fox17online.com)
- Senate votes to proceed with “border surge” amendment, immigration bill on track (nbclatino.com)
Press Release: AILA Commends Senate Judiciary Committee and Calls On Full Senate to Show Similar Commitment to Immigration Reform
Dirksen Senate Building room 226 from http://judiciary.senate.gov/information.cfm commons:category:United States Senate (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
AILA PRESS RELEASE
Wednesday, May 22, 2013
CONTACTS:
George Tzamaras or Belle Woods
202-507-7649 / 202-507-7675
gtzamaras@aila.org / bwoods@aila.org
WASHINGTON, DC – The Senate Judiciary Committee wrapped up weeks of work on immigration reform by passing S. 744 the “Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act” out of committee by a bipartisan vote of 13 to 5 last night. At the end of the hearing, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Leahy said, “The dysfunction in our current immigration system affects all of us and it is long past time for reform. I hope that our history, our values, and our decency can inspire us finally to take action,” as he successfully concluded an unprecedented effort to open the immigration reform process to the public by making all amendments available online.
Canada exploits U.S. neglect of its Foreign Professional (H-1B) workers by offering Special Visa option
J. Kenney fields a question from a community member at the All Candidates Forum at McKenzie Lake Community Centre in Calgary’s Southeast on January 14th, 2006. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
In recent years, U.S. immigration policy has repeatedly ignored the needs of its skilled and professional non-immigrant workforce and has instead burdened them with long waits for a green card, absurdly high query rates and illogical consular delays. Nowhere is more apparent than in the case of H-1B Professional workers. An Indian born Software Engineer currently faces a wait time of eleven (11) years to obtain an employment based third preference (EB-3) green card. In comparison, the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Bill currently under negotiation in DC would provide millions of undocumented workers green cards in ten (10) years.
Just a month and a half after the U.S. turned away tens of thousands of specialized professionals (holding U.S. job offers) by refusing to increase its yearly H-1B quota levels, another nation has moved to reap the benefits of U.S. missteps.
Canada is aggressively appealing to these H-1B professional workers, even going to the extent of securing a billboard just outside Silicon Valley which reads:
“H-1B problems? Pivot to Canada. New Start-Up Visa, Low Taxes”
Non-Cap H-1B/I-129 Receipts Appear to be Taking 30+ Days
NCSC has apparently indicated that non-cap H-1B and other Form I-129 receipting is taking 30 days or more.
Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) Issues Press Release Expressing Dissatisfaction with Portions of the Immigration Reform Bill
Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) issued a press release expressing his dissatisfaction with the “border triggers” in the bill.
Whitehouse Press Release: Statement by the President on Commonsense Immigration Reform
President Barack Obama speaks about government contracting reform. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
VIA THE WHITE HOUSE
The White House
Office of the Press Secretary
For Immediate Release
April 16, 2013
This afternoon, Senators Schumer and McCain briefed me on the bipartisan immigration reform bill that they have drafted with their colleagues in the Senate. This bill is clearly a compromise, and no one will get everything they wanted, including me. But it is largely consistent with the principles that I have repeatedly laid out for comprehensive reform. This bill would continue to strengthen security at our borders and hold employers more accountable if they knowingly hire undocumented workers. It would provide a pathway to earned citizenship for the 11 million individuals who are already in this country illegally. And it would modernize our legal immigration system so that we’re able to reunite families and attract the highly-skilled entrepreneurs and engineers who will help create good paying jobs and grow our economy. These are all commonsense steps that the majority of Americans support. I urge the Senate to quickly move this bill forward and, as I told Senators Schumer and McCain, I stand willing to do whatever it takes to make sure that comprehensive immigration reform becomes a reality as soon as possible.
Public Service Announcement: Beware the promises of Notarios – Immigration Reform Hasn’t Happened Yet.
AILA has released the Public Service Announcement (.pdf link above) entitled “Beware the promises of Notarios! Immigration Reform Hasn’t Happened Yet.”
FY2014 H-1B Cap Update – 04/16/2013
AILA indicates that USCIS has initiated the data entry process for H-1B petitions selected in the lottery. Premium processing cases are being handled first and data entry for those cases should be completed by April 15. Our firm has been receiving Premium processing notices since last week.
Data entry for non-premium processing cases will begin after entries for premium processing cases are completed, likely not until May (like in 2008). Rejection notices for petitions not selected in the lottery will be issued subsequently.
USCIS Cap: Approx. 124,000 H-1B Petitions filed between April 1 and April 5 for approx. 83K Visas Available (incl. Adv. Degree Cap/Reg Cap Minus Singapore/Chile)
VIA USCIS.GOV
WASHINGTON—For the first time since 2008, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has reached the statutory H-1B cap of 65,000 for fiscal year (FY) 2014 within the first week of the filing period. USCIS has also received more than 20,000 H-1B petitions filed on behalf of persons exempt from the cap under the advanced degree exemption.
USCIS received approximately 124,000 H-1B petitions during the filing period, including petitions filed for the advanced degree exemption. On April 7, 2013, USCIS used a computer-generated random selection process (commonly known as a “lottery”) to select a sufficient number of petitions needed to meet the caps of 65,000 for the general category and 20,000 under the advanced degree exemption limit. For cap-subject petitions not randomly selected, USCIS will reject and return the petition with filing fees, unless it is found to be a duplicate filing.
The agency conducted the selection process for advanced degree exemption petitions first. All advanced degree petitions not selected were part of the random selection process for the 65,000 limit.
As announced on March 15, 2013, USCIS has temporarily adjusted its premium processing practice. To facilitate the prioritized data entry of cap-subject petitions requesting premium processing, USCIS will begin premium processing for H-1B cap cases on April 15, 2013. For more information on premium processing for FY 2014 cap-subject petitions, please see the related USCIS Alert.
USCIS will continue to accept and process petitions that are otherwise exempt from the cap. Petitions filed on behalf of current H-1B workers who have been counted previously against the cap will not be counted towards the congressionally-mandated FY 2014 H-1B cap. Accordingly, USCIS will continue to accept and process petitions filed to:
- extend the amount of time a current H-1B worker may remain in the U.S.;
- change the terms of employment for current H-1B workers;
- allow current H-1B workers to change employers; and
- allow current H-1B workers to work concurrently in a second H-1B position.
U.S. businesses use the H-1B program to employ foreign workers in specialty occupations that require theoretical or technical expertise in specialized fields including, but not limited to: scientists, engineers, or computer programmers.
The U.S. Immigration Law Blog by Ashwin Sharma 
Update: USCIS has Issued a “Notice to Disregard” its previously issued I-485 RFEs asking Derivative Beneficiaries for Principle Applicant Evidence
By Ashwin Sharma, Esq. 07/01/201
Our firm has received several “Notices to Applicants” from USCIS today which confirmed our prediction that USCIS had erroneously issued the large numbers of I-485 Requests for Evidence (RFE) requesting Principle Applicant evidence (letter from employer, etc) from Derivative Applicant spouses. We thank USCIS for clarifying this situation quickly; these RFE’s caused a great deal of confusion among applicants and their attorneys, especially in light of the potential for upcoming PD movement.
The USCIS Notice to Applicant indicates the following:
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