• 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.

Charlie Oppenheim is infamous in immigration circles for being the man at Department of State for providing predictions on how the immigrant visa categories change month to month. Because of the limited number of immigrant visas for each preference, category, and chargeability, there are long waits for popular classifications, ie India EB-2 and EB-3, China EB-2 and EB-3, and just about every family-based preference. Here are some interesting and useful tidbits from the check in with Mr. Oppenheim.

Charlie believes that the final action dates for the EB-3 China category have the potential to advance five months each month. He believes the EB-2 China category will continue its quick monthly advance.

EB-2 India is one of the most backlogged categories and it only moved one month and a half from February to March. Charlie anticipates movement of 3 months for the final action date in the future.

The post Predicting Immigrant Visas appeared first on Wood Immigration Law.

The Visa Bulletin for March was just released by the Department of State. EB-2 India moved forward ten weeks after taking a quantum leap in the February 2016 Bulletin. EB-2 China jumped ahead by five months in comparison to last month. EB-3 China, India, and Philippines remain far behind. Many Family Based categories remain far behind currency, but the F2A category is doing very well at June 15, 2015. F2A is for Permanent Residents who file for their spouses and unmarried children under 21 years of age.

Whereas a US Citizen can file for his spouse or unmarried child under 21 years of age and consider them to be an immediate relative (meaning that an immigrant visa is immediately available and consular processing is not required abroad), a US Permanent Resident must go through consular processing abroad and wait for currency date. An approved family-based petition in the F2A category from before June 15, 2015 means that it is available for an immigrant visa. This could be a compelling reason for a Permanent Resident who is eligible for US Citizenship to become a citizen and file for her spouse or unmarried child.

The post March 2016 Visa Bulletin appeared first on Wood Immigration Law.

The Board of Alien Labor Certification Appeals overturned a denial where the employer’s name on the Department of Labor form differed from its name on the State Workforce Agency order. The position that was open was for “Food Service Manager.” The Certifying Officer audited and denied the application for the discrepancy in the employer’s names. The Officer’s basis was that the discrepancy misinformed potential job applicants about the identity of the employer, so that there was not a job opportunity clearly open to any US worker. BALCA reversed the denial because the discrepancy would not confuse potential applicants about the employer’s identity.

The post BALCA Overturns Denial appeared first on Wood Immigration Law.

The Department of Labor is usually unforgiving of typographical errors. The smallest thing askew can sink an entire PERM application. BALCA recently decided a case that overturned a typographical error.

The employer’s submitted job requirement was a Bachelor’s Degree and 60 months of experience. In the alternative, it would accept a Master’s Degree and 36 years of experience. That was a typo; the employer meant 3 years (36 months). The certifying officer for the Department of Labor refused certification, finding that the alternative requirement was not substantively similar to the primary experience requirement. On appeal to BALCA, the employer argued that the form was inconsistent. The primary requirement demanded months. The alternative requirement demanded years.

BALCA has held previously that denials based on typographical errors can violate fundamental fairness. Fundamental unfairness occurs when the denial is made because the instructions conflict with the form and the requirements are satisfied in good faith. Inconsistencies are construed against the promulgator of the form, not the applicant. The box states years; the instructions state months. BALCA found that the alternative requirements were substantially equivalent to the primary requirements.

The post BALCA Sides with Employer 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 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.

The Department of State published the December 2015 Visa Bulletin yesterday. The filing dates have been a recent addition, implemented for a more efficient visa process. However, there was no movement on the filing dates. The filing action dates remained similar for the most part. The glaring exception is that the Employment Based 2 category for India jumped ahead 10 months. The Visa Bulletin is the monthly update on immigrant visa availability and has taken on even more importance in the past six weeks since the rescission of the October Visa Bulletin.

The post December 2015 Visa Bulletin appeared first on Wood Immigration Law.