• O and P visa processing times have been shortened.
• H-1B processing time has been reduced.
• VAWA applications are at 5 months.
• Employment Cards are still taking over 3 months for the most part.
• U Visa processing is stuck.
• Most EB-1 and EB-2 petitions are around 4 months at the Texas Service Center, but they are taking more time at the Nebraska Service Center. The National Interest Waiver is taking nearly 9 months in Nebraska.
• Fiance and many family-based petitions are taking 5 months for processing.
• An application to remove conditions on permanent residence is taking 10 months for processing.

The post USCIS Processing Times Released appeared first on Wood Immigration Law.

The August Visa Bulletin was released last week, and it contained significant retrogressions (EB-2 worldwide). Other categories have been experiencing retrogression as the fiscal year draws to a close. September 30 is the final date of the fiscal year and October 1 is the inaugural day of the new fiscal year. USCIS announced that the final action priority date cannot be used for filing adjustment of status applications. This is instead of the more friendly filing action priority date, which is usually a few months before the final action priority date. This is for employment-based and family-based adjustment of status applications.

The post August Visa Bulletin appeared first on Wood Immigration Law.

The AAO decided the Matter of K-S-Y in March of this year, finding in favor of the beneficiary judo coach. The judo coach was able to petition as an Alien of Extraordinary Ability (EB-1), based upon his expertise as a judo athlete. Alien of Extraordinary Ability is a pathway to Permanent Residence and does not tie the individual to a specific employer. The court decided that “area of expertise” may include the field in its entirety and not just one specific occupation within the general field.

The case specifically concerned a judo athlete making the transition from athlete to coach. Many coaches in sports begin as players and later make the transition when they retire as an athlete to a coaching position. The court recognized that athlete to coach is not the only career transition that may occur within an area of expertise, pointing to athlete to broadcaster and musician to instructor as other possibilities.

The EB-1 category is created for a petitioner to apply as an individual of “extraordinary ability.” This is a high standard to meet. The petitioner could not merely rely being an excellent judo athlete in his performance days. He had also taken many steps to establish himself as a coach. There are currently calls for USCIS to adopt this case as a precedential decision.

The post EB-1 Case for Career Transition appeared first on Wood Immigration Law.

The Employment-Based 1 Category is usually one of the categories that you can rely on being current, meaning that someone with an approved I-140 in EB-1 can file for adjustment of status or for permanent residence through the consulate abroad. However, that is going to change for the remainder of the Fiscal Year for China and India. Charlie Oppenheimer, the guru of Department of State’s visa availability, forecasts that EB-1 for China and India is going to retrogress back to January 1, 2010 when the visa bulletin is released for August 2016. The EB-1 dates for China and India will reset on October 1, 2016, the first day of Fiscal Year 2017. The reason for retrogression is that there are strict visa quotas for each category and preference that cannot be exceeded each year.

The post EB-1 Cut Off Date appeared first on Wood Immigration Law.

The US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit rendered a decision that has meaningful impact for thousands of nonimmigrant employees in the United States. The appellate court ruled that US Citizenship and Immigration Services has to provide notice of its intent to revoke an immigrant visa petition to the employee who will be affected by the potential revocation. For someone who is the beneficiary of an employment-based visa petition, this means that individuals must be provided notice. The ruling declared that USCIS must give notice to all actually affected, which can mean the employee who ported to a new job or the new employer.

The basis for the lawsuit was an employee had submitted an application for a Green Card based on an approved visa petition. Although employment-based visas are dependent on employers, employees are allowed to switch jobs. This can wrangle employers, who have made the investment in the employment-based visa for their employees. The employee changed jobs, USCIS decided to revoke the approved visa petition and it sent notice only to the first employer (who had filed for the visa.). The employee and her new employer did not learn about the revocation until it was too late. USCIS denied the Green Card application the employee filed because of the revoked visa petition. The Service also denied the employee’s attempts to reopen the visa revocation.

There is a jurisdictional issue at play. The Second Circuit Court of Appeals sits in New York and covers New York, Connecticut, and Vermont. Its decision is not binding nationwide. The American Immigration Council and American Immigration Lawyers Association are advocating for USCIS to adopt the Second Circuit’s logic and decision.

The post USCIS Must Notify Employee and Employer appeared first on Wood Immigration Law.

The Department of Homeland Security has published new rules affecting the following groups: EB-1 outstanding professor and research immigrants; H-1B1; E-3, and CW-1 nonimmigrants. The final published rule takes effect February 16, 2016.

H-1B1 and principal E-3 nonimmigrants are authorized for employment incident to their status with a specific employer. That means nonimmigrants in those classes can work for their sponsoring employer without having to obtain an employment card separately.

H-1B1 and principal E-3 nonimmigrants who have expired status while their employer’s timely filed extension of stay request is pending can continue their employment with that employer for 240 days.

DHS is allowing for continued employment authorization for CW-1 nonimmigrants with expired status while their employer’s timely extension request remains pending.

EB-1 outstanding professions and researchers can provide the same types of evidence as the other EB-1 categories.

DHS is trumpeting these rules as enhanced opportunities for employers and highly skilled workers.

The post appeared first on Wood Immigration Law.

The Department of State released the February 2016 Visa Bulletin. It also published the Immigrant Visa Waiting List Report, which is an annual publication of the number of visa applicants on the waiting list in the preferences and subcategories. There is a wait list because of statutory numerical restrictions. For example, 28.7% of immigrant visas may come from Employment-Based 1 (EB-1) preference. EB-2 and EB-3 preferences for the China and India chargeabilities are the perpetually oversubscribed categories. Oversubscribed means that there are more people applying than spots available for immigrant visas.

One encouraging sign is movement in the EB-2 India category. It jumped 6 months from February 1, 2008 for the final action date to August 1, 2008. The visa bulletin continues to employ the filing and final action date system. The filing date for EB-2 India is July 1, 2009.

The data from the Department of State shows that over half of petitions are filed Family-Based 4 (FB-4), which is US citizens filing for their siblings. This category for all chargeabilities has an excruciating long wait period. On the Employment-Based side, there was a major increase in EB-5 petitions filed and considerable increases in the number of EB-1 and EB-2 petitions filed in 2015 as opposed to 2014. The agency’s report also includes a per country list. This is important because there is a per country limitation of no more than 7% of all immigrant visas issued for one country.

The post Visa Bulletin News appeared first on Wood Immigration Law.

The December Visa Bulletin was released earlier this week, using the same filing and action date system that the Department of State introduced with the October Bulletin. Like the November Bulletin and the revised October Bulletin, the December Bulletin was disappointing for many hopeful immigrant visa applicants. Many categories remained stagnant. One beacon of hope was the EB-2 category for India. The action date moved from August 2006 to June 2007. The EB-3 categories still lag far behind and there was no movement in the filing dates for any Employment Based category.

Another concern in Employment-Based immigration is the expiration of the EB-5 pilot program. The pilot program concerns the regional centers, where investors can make more passive investments and not be actively involved in the running of the invested business. The pooling of resources among a group of investors is another attractive feature and this program has been utilized to construct shopping malls, residential complexes, and even turnpike expansion. The program has been championed by US mayors as stimulating investment without taxing. However, the pilot program is set to expire on December 11. The program has existed for 20 years in short incremental cycles of renewal. A bill was proposed earlier this year to make the program permanent in contemplation of the September 30 deadline. Instead of voting on that bill, Congress decided to extend the program to December 11, continuing its temporary nature.

The post Employment Based Immigration News – Visa Bulletin and EB-5 Pilot Program appeared first on Wood Immigration Law.

In the overall immigration rhetoric, one consistently positive aspect is the number of “high-skilled” immigrants in the science, engineering, and medicine fields. The debate often swirls about how to retain those immigrants, many of whom are at educated and trained in the United States. Hopefully that debate receives more substantive discussion and meritorious ideas as the presidential elections careen forward next year. The STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) fields dominate this discussion.

Last month, the National Science Foundation published information about the increased number of scientists and engineers in the workforce and immigrants’ role in that. In “Immigrants’ Growing Presence in the U.S. Science and Engineering Workforce: Education and Employment Characteristics in 2013,” the data break down immigrants and U.S. born citizens and where the immigrants originate.

The data also categorize by fields and level of degree attainment

The post “High Skilled” Immigration Data appeared first on Wood Immigration Law.