Page2RRS

• 09 Feb ' 15:03

  • The negotiation being underway is also confirmed by another source. Please click here.

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• 09 Feb ' 08:37

  02/09/2012: Sen. Grassley's Pitch Against High Skilled Foreign Workers in his Letter to the President on 02/07/2012

  • It is indeed annoying to read this letter to the President. His pitch goes against the late initiatives of the Obama Administration to administratively fix in part the broken employment-based immigration system to attract and retain high skilled foreign workers, including employment authorization opportunity for the spouses of valuable foreign brain workers. For most of the nonimmigrant worker visas including L visa, J visa, and E visa, their accompanying spouses are given employment authorization if they want under the current DHS regulations. Then why should the DHS discriminate against the spouses of H-1B workers who play a critical role to sustain the competitive edge of this country in the global competition? Be real, Senator!

  02/09/2012: ICE Updates SEVIS Approved School List 01/31/2012

  02/09/2012: Congressional Research Services Report of Overview of Immigration Issues in the 112th Congress 01/12/2012

  • One month has easily gone by with no legislative actions to fix broken immigration system, despite all political talks abound. Please read this report.

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• 08 Feb ' 21:00

  02/08/2012: Boston Globe Reports Two Republican Senators, Scott Brown and Chuck Grassley, Actively Negotiating for Compromise Involving H.R. 3012 & Irish E-3 Visa

  • As reported earlier, Irish community has been pushing hard Senator Scott Brown of Masschusetts to persuade Sen. Chuck Grassley as fellow Republicans. The chip which is used by the Irish community is threat to the reelection chance for Sen. Brown in November in the Irish dominating State of Massachusetts, which is also considered a threat to the Republican party itself. Accordingly, Chuck Grassley should also feel pressure at this point. Details are not known as to the negotiation and compromise, but pressures are mounting at this time. Interesting to watch how the negotiation will unfold.

  02/08/2012: ICERT Portal System Outage Alert Between 08:00 pm of 02/09/2012 and 06:00 am of 02/10/2012

  • The Office of Foreign Labor Certification has announced that the iCERT system will be unavailable from 8:00 p.m. tomorrow evening until 6:00 a.m. Friday morning. During the same period, PERM site will also remain not available. Accordingly, during these hours, no one can file either H-1B LCA, ETA 9035E or Prevailing Wage Determination Request, ETA 9141 or PERM, ETA 9089 and all other online filing with the Office of Foreign Labor Certification. The employers who face deadlines during the period should make it sure that their applications are filed during the office hours of Eastern Standard Time tomorrow.

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• 08 Feb ' 14:59

  02/08/2012: Official March 2012 Visa Bulletin

  02/08/2012: Visa Bureau Employment-Based Visa Demand Data Used for Determination of March 2012 Visa Bulletin

  • Just released.

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• 08 Feb ' 04:46

  02/08/2012: OFLC January 2012 New iCERT Prevailing Wage System (ETA 9141) User Guide

  • This is a new User Guide for ETA 9141.

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• 07 Feb ' 14:03

  02/07/2012: PERM Site Outage Alert

  • OFLC announces that the Permanent Online System will be unavailable from 8PM ET on Thursday, February 9, 2012 to 6AM ET Friday, February 10, 2012 for routine maintenance.

  02/07/2012: House Judiciary Immigration Subcommittee Hearing of 02/09/2012 on "Regional Perspectives on Agricultural Guestworker Programs"

  • Reports indicate that undocumented Mexican farm workers have been crossing the Southern border back to their home countries and the flow of new undocumented Mexicans more or less stopped. Under the circumstances, the farm industry in this country has been facing challenges. There are a number of bills in the House with different stakeholders backup to deal with the issue. We will monitor the hearing.

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• 07 Feb ' 03:18

  • The fact that Sen. Schumer dropped the undocumented Irish relief from his initial proposal has been confirmed not by one Irish media (Irish Central) but second media (Irish Emigrant). Accordingly, indeed a momentum is building for the bill to sail through the Senate in the near future.

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• 06 Feb ' 16:54

  02/06/2012: Senate Adjourned at About 06:30 PM Without Taking Up H.R. 3012

  • Senate spent whole day today with FAA Reauthorization Conference bill and after passing it, adjourned until tomorrow. There is no known cause for the delay in H.R. 3012 bill on the floor but it may be related to the Irish lobby strategy to assure that E-3 visa bill is included in one form or another. There is a unconfirmed report of the Irish media that Senator Schumer had dropped Irisih undocumented relief provision to accomodate Sen. Scott Brown's bill. It appears that Irish community is adding pressure on Sen. Brown to persuade Sen. Grassley not to filibuster. They are also looking forward to the Irish prime minister's visit scheduled this week who reportedly wants to meet with Sen. Grassley to talk him out of the filibuster plan. Pending all these lobbying acitivites, it appears that the stand-alone H.R. 3012 may remain a hostage(?) to the resolution of the Irish E-3 visa legislation and pending their last-ditch effort to pressure Republican Senators including Sen. Grassley as it approaches one of the biggest ethinic celebration days in this country, the St. Patrick's Day, very soon. If it is indeed true that Sen. Schumer has dropped from proposal the Irish undocumented Irish relief provision, it indeed is considered a good news for the H.R. 3012 supporters in that such bill is likely to face less resistance in the House as well.

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• 04 Feb ' 01:14

  02/03/2012: USCIS EB-485 Inventory Update 01/12/2012

  • This long awaited inventory has just been released. This data would be able to figure out how many EB-485 cases are ahead for each of EB-485 waiters as of January 12, 2012. This also gives exact number of total EB-485 cases pending by priority date and give clues to future Visa Bulletin prediction.

  02/03/2012: Current Visa Reciprocity Schedule by Each Type of Visa and By Each Country

  • State Department's soon-to-be-published official L-1 visa validity rule depends on the reciprocity schedule for each country. L-1 visa holders may check their country reciprocity schedule which is currently in place with the U.S. Department of State. Here is the Reciprocity Tables by Country.

  02/03/2012: Another State Department Move to Make L-1 International Multi-National Corporate Employees' Admissions to the U.S. Convenient and Smoother

  • On January 26, 2012, the State Department submitted to the White House OMB for approval a final rule of Issuance of Full Validity L Visas to Qualified Applicants. This final rule permits the issuance of L visas with validity periods based on the visa reciprocity schedule; whereas the current rule limits L visas to the petition validity period, which is determined by the Department of Homeland Security. The change will benefit beneficiaries of L-1 petitions who are nationals of countries for which the reciprocity schedule prescribes visa validity for a longer period of time than the initial validity indicated in the USCIS approved L-1 petitions and who have extended their L stay while in the United States. Thus such individuals generally will not need to again apply for an L visa at a U.S. Embassy or Consulate overseas if they were to travel outside the United States during the period indicated in the applicable reciprocity schedule, as is currently required when petition validity has been extended. Under 8 CFR 214.2(l)(11), an alien may apply for admission in L status only while the individual or blanket petition is valid.
  • Guess what! This rule was approved in five (5) days(!) on January 31, 2012 so that the rule can be published in the federal register and implemented by the State Department quickly. Such quick approval rarely happens unless there is an extreme emergency. Way to go, leaders of the State Department. This final rule will be published soon. In the meantime, international multi-national corporations and their employees may read the advance copy.

  02/03/2012: Reminder for Ombudsman Office Teleconference on 02/07/2012 for L-1B on "Specialized Knowledge" Hurdles

  • We posted earlier this conference schedule. But we are posting it again as a reminder. The teleconfeence is scheduled on next Tuesday, 02/07/2012, 2:00-3:00 pm EST. The subject is: "The Adjudication of L-1B "Specialized Knowledge" Worker Petitions: How Is It Working for You?" This teleconference presents an opportunity to learn about the experiences of employers filing L1-B nonimmigrant petitions with USCIS. The L-1B classification allows an employer to petition for an employee who has "specialized knowledge" of the employer's products, services, research, equipment, techniques, management, or other interests and its application in international markets, or expertise in the employer's processes and procedures, from a qualified affiliated entity outside the United States. For details for participation, please click here.

  02/03/2012: USCBP Final Rule of International Trusted Traveler Program Named Global Entry

  • The Global Entry expedites clearance of preapproved, low-risk air travelers arriving in the United States. This final rule adopts some changes to previously released proposed rule. The only significant change is that minors under the age limit of 14 are now permitted to apply to the Global Entry program. This final rule will be published next Monday, February 6, 2012, and take effect in 30 days from February 6. 2012. For the full text of the final rule, please click here.

  02/03/2012: USCIS Schedules Teleconference on E-Verify Self Check, Thursday, February 9, 2012 at 3:00 pm EST

  • This conference can be participated in person or by telephone. To learn about the Self Check, please click here.

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• 03 Feb ' 01:46

  02/02/2012: Senate Passed STOCK Act Bill and Gone to Recess About 06:30 PM 'Til Monday 02/06/2012 Without Taking Up H.R. 3012

  • Wow, STOCK Act bill completely exhausted the Senate floor for last few days. It is now finally over. But the Senate is gone until next Monday.

  02/02/2012: USCIS Consular Notification Engagement Slide Presentation

  • USCIS had engagement session yesterday on the consular notification process. To view the presentation, please click here.

  02/02/2012: Unanimous Consent Sought for H.R. 3012 in the Senate

  • Report indicates that the chance for passage of H.R. 3012 in the Senate has turned more promising by attaching Irish E-3 visa provision to the pending H.R. 3012 which is likely to come on the floor in the near future. Apparently, Senator Chuck Schumer is pushing for passage of H.R. 3012, as amended, attaching E-3 visa provision to the bill and pass the bill on the Senate floor in the form of 'unanimous' consent. This is a new development and the supporters of H.R. 3012 and Irish community are hopeful for the passage of the bill soon. The unanswered question is which Irish bill will be attached as amendment. If it is Schumer's initial proposal which includes undocumented Irish relief provision, H.R. 3012, as amended, is likely to face some challenges in the House, when the bill is returned to the House. If the amendment is Sen. Scott Brown bill that does not include undocumented Irish relief provision, the future for H.R. 3012 will be indeed promising even in the House.

  02/02/2012: OFLC Launch Initiatives of iCERT Prevailing Wage Module Enhancements After iCERT System Upgrade on 02/06/2011

  • We reported earlier that iCERT portal system will be down from 8:00 am to 1:00 pm on next Monday, 02/06/2012, the system maintenance. Today, the OFLC released the details of the purpose, which is to improve the prevailing wage determination part of the iCERT system. The employers should read this report and beware of the changed prevailing wage determination process in part.

  02/02/2012: State Department Officially Publishes Revised Schedule of Fees for Consular Services, Taking Effect on 02/02/2012

  02/02/2012: USCIS Initiates Proposed Rule-Making Process for Provisional Unlawful Presence Waivers of Inadmissibility for Certain Immediate Relatives

  • USCIS released earlier its "intent" to propose this 'stateside processing' of unlawful presence waiver for the certain immediate relatives of U.S. citizens to minimize family separation. After a period of time of collection of comments and views of stakeholders, USCIS just submitted to the White House OMB its "proposed rule" yesterdayfor the approval. It is a good news that eventually they have officially started the rule making process, but since proposed rule will take some period (from one month to three months) to be approved and published in the federal register, after which the agency will have to draft the final rule and submit to the OMB for approval again afterwards, for this rule to see the light into a final or interim final rule, it will take several months from hereon.

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