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Immigration Law Updates
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Written by WSM
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December 11, 2009 |
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The State Department’s first Visa Bulletin for 2010 is out. We can report only glacial movement, and the Department of State’s longer term projection for employment-based immigrant visa availability in 2010 is no holiday gift. We think stalactites form faster. Still, in the EB-2 category, Chinese nationals advanced 1 month to May 1, 2005. The EB-3 category also saw forward movement of 1-2 months for all nationalities. Chinese nationals with priority dates of August 1, 2002 and before, Indian nationals with priority dates of June 22, 2001 and before, Mexican nationals with priority dates of July 1, 2002 and before, and Filipino nationals with priority dates of August 1, 2002 and before, now have visa numbers available to them. Nationals of all other countries in the EB-3 category must have priority dates of August 1, 2002 or before for visa availability.
As before, we will continue to monitor the visa bulletin closely, and to advise our clients if visa movement impacts their case.
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H-1B Cap Subject Visa Numbers Dwindling |
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Immigration Law Updates
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Written by WSM
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December 03, 2009 |
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About 6,000 Remain as of November 27, 2009. As our calendar year comes to an end, so do Fiscal Year 2010 H-1B available numbers. USICS has continued to track and publish data on increased H-1B filings this fall, particularly for October and November. It just announced that, as of November 27, 2009, it had received approximately 58,900 H-1B cap subject visa petitions for a total of little more than 6,000 H-1B visas remaining. All U.S. advance degree H-1B filings are now being counted toward those remaining numbers. As a result, employers needing to obtain H-1B visas for their employees with requested H-1B start dates for prior to October 1, 2010, the start of the government’s new fiscal year, should file H-1B visa petitions as soon as possible. |
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The Government is Gearing Up For Additional Compliance Audits |
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Immigration Law Updates
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Written by WSM
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December 03, 2009 |
- Audits Now in the I-9 Arena. In our October immigration news alert, we provided a heads up and best practices advice about government H-1B *unannounced* site visits occurring this fall to verify representations made in employers’ underlying H-1B visa petitions. Now there’s more, this time dealing with I-9 forms. On Friday, November 20, 2009, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Assistant Secretary, John Morton, announced that it had served audit notices, or “Notices of Inspections” (NOIs), to 1,000 businesses last week. Employers’ hiring records, including I-9 forms, are always subject to audit to ensure the compliance of employment eligibility verification laws. [Employers must always keep I-9 forms for existing employees. When employees terminate, employers must keep I-9s for the later of (1) 3 years after the employee's hire date, or (2) 1 year after the employee's employment ends.]
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One Thousand ICE Workplace Audits Announced |
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Immigration Law Updates
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Written by WSM
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November 20, 2009 |
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Assistant Secretary, John Morton, announced today that it has served audit notices, or “Notices of Inspections” (NOIs), to 1,000 businesses this week. This announcement serves to alert business owners that their hiring records, including I-9 Form, are subject to audit to ensure the compliance of employment eligibility verification laws.
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Read more...
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