As of October 1, 2010, USCIS has receipted 40,600 H-1B cap-subject petitions. Additionally, it has receipted 14,900 H-1B petitions for foreign nationals with U.S. earned masters or higher degrees. Federal law exempts the first 20,000 H-1B petitions filed for foreign nationals who have obtained U.S. master’s degrees or higher from the 65,000 overall H-1B cap.
DOS has issued its Diversity Lottery Visa Instructions for DV-2012. According to the instructions, the on-line entry must be posted during the registration period which is between October 5, 2010 to November 3, 2010. To enter, an applicant must be from a country whose natives qualify, and must meet the education or work experience requirements. No countries have been added or removed from the previous years list of countries, and 50,000 visas will be available. The Department will randomly draw selectees for the lottery to be distributed among 6 geographic regions with no single country within each region receiving more than 7% of diversity visas in one year.
On September 29, 2010, Senators Robert Menendez and Patrick Leahy introduced the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2010 in the Senate. The bill, similar to the House version introduced by Rep. Gutierrez earlier this year, addresses border security, a guest worker program, and a means to regularize the status of those presently illegally in the US. Whether Congress actually acts on these measures in the lame duck Congress remains to be seen. If not, the measures may come up for debate when Congress resumes after the new year.
On September 28, 210, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (“ICE”) announced a $1,047,100 fine and settlement reached with Abercrombie & Fitch for violations of workforce compliance laws. The fine and settlement arose out of a November, 2008 I-9 audit of the company’s stores in Michigan. The audit revealed numerous technology-related deficiencies in the company’s electronic I-9 system but did not find any unauthorized workers employed by the company. ICE acknowledged the company’s full cooperation in the investigation and in the company’s post audit measures to prevent future violations. According to ICE “This settlement should serve as a warning to other companies that may not yet take the employment verification process seriously or provide it the attention it warrants.”
USCIS reports that as of September 24, 2010, it had receipted 39,600 H-1B petitions subject to the cap of 65,000, and had receipted 14,400 H-1B petitions for foreign nationals with U.S. earned masters or higher degrees. Federal law exempts the first 20,000 H-1B petitions filed for foreign nationals who have obtained U.S. master’s degrees or higher from the 65,000 overall H-1B cap.
On September 21, 2010, the Senate failed to reach votes needed to consider the fiscal 2011 Defense Authorization Bill (S. 3454), the bill to which the DREAM Act was to be amended, and the bill failed. Although there is bi-partisan support for the DREAM Act, it has not successfully passed through either chamber of Congress. The measure would benefit high-achieving young people who have grown up here and wish to pursue higher education or serve in the US Armed Forces but have no status. Its proponents plan the bill’s re-introduction during the Congressional session after the November, 2010 mid-term elections.
US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (“ICE”) plans to issue more than 500 Notices of Inspection to US employers nationwide, according to information received on September 16, 2010. ICE’s efforts are based leads which the agency received regarding employers who allegedly engaged in hiring unauthorized workers and paid employees unfair wages, or who otherwise exploited workers. ICE has already issued several rounds of Notices of Inspection to US employers to enforce workforce compliance laws and to deter the employment of unauthorized workers.
In a recent press release, The Department of State announced that the US Embassy in Mexico City will begin immigrant visa processing of certain immigrant visa classifications to ease the immigrant visa workload carried by the U.S. Consulate General in Ciudad Juarez. Starting October 1, 2010, the US post in Mexico City will process immigrant visas in the siblings of US citizen and adoption categories.
In correspondence dated September 15, 2010, the Department of State advised USCIS that nearly all visa number allocations for fiscal year 2010 have been used. Specifically, all family preference category, and employment based second, third and most fourth preference category visa number requests have reached the annual allocation limits set by statute. The Department points out that visa numbers will once again become available for these categories on October 1, 2010 when the new fiscal year begins.
In Notice published in the Federal Register on September 23, 2010, USCIS issued its Final Rule increasing filing fees for most petition and application filings. The fees – according to USCIS – increase by a weighted average of 10 percent ; establish 3 new fees covering USCIS costs related to processing the Regional Center Designation under the EB-5 Immigrant Investor Pilot Program, Civil Surgeon Designation, and DHS Processing of Immigrant Visa requests; and adjust the premium processing service fee by the percentage increase in inflation according to the Consumer Price Index–Urban Consumers (CPI-U) published as of July 2010. The new fee structure becomes effective on November 23, 2010, 60 days after publication in the Federal Register.
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