USCIS Service Center Operations has confirmed that November 22, 2011, was the final receipt date for new H-1B specialty occupation petitions requesting an employment start date in FY 2012, and that all properly completed H-1B petitions that were accepted for filing on November 22 will be included in the FY 2012 cap.
There will be no lottery for petitions received on November 22.
Our immigration law firm received an approval of an I-140 National Interest Waiver Petition filed with the USCIS Texas Service Center in 4 months.
The Petition was filed on behalf of a Postdoctoral Research Associate whose research findings have had a degree of influence of the field of alternative renewable sources of energy (in particular photo-biological production of hydrogen gas) as a whole and whose work was above and beyond the substantial majority of others in the field.
We carefully reviewed her background information and designed a petition package most suitable to her. We convincingly stated that she had dedicated her extraordinary research efforts to the field of alternative sources of energy, which had resulted in phenomenal accomplishment that have propelled the United States to the forefront of this field.
Her research field was very important for its role in generating crucial scientific advances in the design and development of renewable alternative sources of energy. It was obvious that her research would benefit the whole nation.
She performed pioneering research in developing new bio-based systems for the production of hydrogen. However, she was relatively young without a long track record. We skillfully emphasized the scientist’s extraordinary skill, novel research, international recognition and substantial contributions to her field.
As the evidence of the recognition of her work had received from the research community, leading scientists in his field had submitted letters of support testifying that she was among the elite researchers in her specialized field. In addition, she had been recognized in both journal publications and awards, invited to conferences, and been asked to review other peer’s work.
We submitted her I-140 petition in July 2011 and it was approved in November 2011.
Our client is a citizen of Nigeria. In that the EB-2 priority date is current we are preparing to file an adjustment of status application on behalf of our client.
H.R. 3012, the Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act, introduced on September 22, 2011 by Rep. Chaffetz (R-UT), eliminates the employment-based per-country cap entirely by fiscal year 2015 and raises the family-sponsored per-country cap from 7% to 15%.
On 11/29/11 the House passed H.R. 3012, the Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act by a vote of 389-15 with no additional amendments. The measure now moves on to the Senate for consideration.
On 10/27/11, the House Judiciary Committee held a markup and H.R. 3012 was reported favorably out of committee by a voice vote. An amendment from Rep. Lofgren (D-CA) that would make adjustments to the three year phase-in period was accepted. H.R. 3012 must next be scheduled for House floor debate which may occur in the next few weeks.
Our comment: While this is good news for those born in India and China, it is not so good news for all other countries since it does not increase the # of “visas” issued.
USCIS released a statement that their online case status and other customer relationship information system sites will be unavailable from 12/2/11 at 7PM EST until 12/5/11 at 9AM EST.
WASHINGTON—U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced on Nov. 23, 2011 that it has received a sufficient number of H-1B petitions to reach the statutory cap of 65,000 for fiscal year (FY) 2012.
USCIS is notifying the public that Nov. 22, 2011, was the final receipt date for new H-1B specialty occupation petitions requesting an employment start date in FY 2012.
Properly filed cases will be considered received on the date that USCIS physically receives the petition; not the date that the petition was postmarked.
USCIS will reject cap-subject petitions for new H-1B specialty occupation petitions requesting an employment start date in FY 2012 that arrive after Nov. 22, 2011.
EB-2 India and China were the big movers, advancing from 11/1/2007 to 3/15/2008.
http://www.usavisanow.com/visa-bulletin/visa-bulletin-dates-employment/
About the Visa Bulletin:
The Visa Bulletin is issued monthly by the State Department, usually between the 8th and 15th day each month and provides availability of visas on a per country basis and within each preference category.
Because the demand for green cards exceeds the supply, many foreign nationals, especially those born in India and China and to a lesser degree Mexico and Philippines, have to wait in line until an immigrant visa is available.
The following factors determine how long a foreign national must wait in line to get a green card:
(1) The visa availability for the foreign national’s preference category (example: Eb-2, EB-3);
(2) The country to which the foreign national’s visa will be charged, which is usually the country of birth; and,
(3) The foreign national’s priority date (the date that the PERM was filed, or if no PERM was filed the date that the I-140 was filed).
Current processing time for PERM prevailing wage determinations is approximately 56 days.
October 27, 2011
We received prevailing wage determinations today that we filed on September 9, 2011.
October 21, 2011
We received prevailing wage determinations today that we filed on August 29, 2011.
October 20, 2011
We received prevailing wage determinations today that we filed on August 25, 2011.
October 13, 2011
We received prevailing wage determinations today that we filed on August 10, 2011.
October 6, 2011
We received prevailing wage determinations today that we filed on July 27, 2011.
October 5, 2011
We received prevailing wage determinations today that we filed on July 26, 2011.
September 29, 2011
We received prevailing wage determinations today that we filed on July 14, 2011.
September 27, 2011
We received prevailing wage determinations today that we filed on July 11 2011.
September 22, 2011
We received prevailing wage determinations today that we filed on July 5 and July 6 2011.
September 20, 2011
We received prevailing wage determinations today that we filed on June 28 and June 30, 2011.
September 16, 2011
We received prevailing wage determinations today that we filed on June 24, 2011.
September 15, 2011
We received a prevailing wage determination today that we filed on June 23, 2011.
September 13, 2011
We received a prevailing wage determination today that we filed on June 22, 2011.
September 12, 2011
We received a prevailing wage determination today that we filed on June 20, 2011.
September 8, 2011
We received a prevailing wage determination today that we filed on June 15, 2011.
September 2, 2011
We received a prevailing wage determination today that we filed on June 13, 2011.
August 30, 2011
Today our office received a prevailing wage determination that we filed on June 10, 2011. Hopefully this is the start of more good news. We will keep this post updated.
August 25, 2011
DOL Liaison has received reports from members that PERM prevailing wage determinations are beginning to be received for requests submitted in early June 2011.
Additionally, AILA has been in discussions with other stakeholders on possible courses of action, including individual mandamus actions, if DOL does not resume issuing prevailing wage determinations promptly
From Aman Kapoor at immigrationvoice.org:
We need one simple action item from you for Thursday and Friday this week — make calls the offices listed below and say one simple thing :
“My name is _______. I would like Congressman/Congresswoman ______ to support H.R. 3012 that removes the per-country quota from employment based immigration. Thank you”.
Below are the phone numbers and names of Congressman and Congresswomen in House Judiciary Committee that really matter this week and next week for this bill. Spare 15 minutes of time to do this and just do it if you have not already. If you called earlier this week, call again. Numbers matter. Call volume matters. Democracy works only for those who show up. It’s time to do your part.
Please click here for the November 2011 Employment based dates