Archive for the ‘USCIS’ Category
H-2B’s Still Available
The USCIS has received 4,442 petitions toward the 33,000 H-2B cap amount for the second half of fiscal year 2011. 2,668 have been approved and 1,774 remain pending.
The H-2B category is for temporary non-agricultural employment typically for a period of one year of less. It requires recruitment to prove there are no qualified U.S. citizens or green card holders who can perform the work, among other requirements.
Please contact our San Francisco Immigration Law Office if you have any questions or need assistance with an H-2B petition.
Tags: H-2b, labor certification, non-agricultural, USCIS
Posted in Nonimmigrant Visas, USCIS | Read More »
2011 Poverty Guidelines Published
The Department of Health and Human Services has published the 2011 Federal poverty guidelines, which the USCIS uses as the threshold income amounts that must be earned annually to sponsor someone for permanent residency. If a sponsor does not meet these amounts then he/she will need a joint sponsor who does. The following is a chart of the 2011 guidelines:
|
2011 HHS Poverty Guidelines |
|||
|
Persons |
48 Contiguous |
Alaska |
Hawaii |
|
1 |
$10,890 |
$13,600 |
$12,540 |
|
2 |
14,710 |
18,380 |
16,930 |
|
3 |
18,530 |
23,160 |
21,320 |
|
4 |
22,350 |
27,940 |
25,710 |
|
5 |
26,170 |
32,720 |
30,100 |
|
6 |
29,990 |
37,500 |
34,490 |
|
7 |
33,810 |
42,280 |
38,880 |
|
8 |
37,630 |
47,060 |
43,270 |
|
For each additional |
3,820 |
4,780 |
4,390 |
Tags: 2001 poverty guidelines, green card sponsor, I-864, joint sponsor
Posted in Immigrant Visas, USCIS | Read More »
ALERT! H-1B Master’s Cap Closed; Regular Cap To Close Soon
The USCIS has receipted 20,000 of the 20,000 slots available for the U.S. Master’s cap (the annual quota of H-1B slots for holders of U.S. Master’s degrees). As of 12/31/2010, the regular cap had 7,700 slots left (of 65,000). This category is now open to anyone applying with a Bachelor’s or higher degree from anywhere in the world, including the U.S.
As stated in previous posts, the H-1B category is for individuals working in positions complex enough to require a degree in a specific specialty. The individual must possess that degree or a related degree (or its equivalent in experience).
Please contact our San Francisco Immigration Law Office as soon as possible if you’d like assistance with an H-1B cap petition. The USCIS could close the cap at any time without notice, so timing is critical. Note that the next cap filing period opens April 1, 2011 for an October 1, 2011 start date.
Tags: cap, H-1B, quota, regular, U.S. Master's
Posted in Alerts, H-1B, Nonimmigrant Visas, USCIS | Read More »
Priority Dates Retrogress on January 2011 Visa Bulletin
Family-based visa categories have significantly retrogressed on the January 2011 visa bulletin. From early 2009 to September 2010, the level of demand for family-based immigration was very low, thus, the Department of State (the agency in charge of the visa bulletin), accelerated the numbers to utilize as many visa numbers as possible while there was time to do so. This generated demand, which led the DOS to retrogress the numbers (i.e. slow the demand). This is the ebb and flow of the visa bulletin method that frustrates many.
The DOS anticipates that the family-based categories will remain retrogressed for some time since the demand has not subsided. In contrast, employment-based categories have not retrogressed much, if at all. To view the January 2011 visa bulletin, please see this link: http://travel.state.gov/visa/bulletin/bulletin_5212.html.
Tags: Department of State, employment-based, family-based, January 2011, visa bulletin
Posted in Alerts, Immigrant Visas, USCIS | Read More »
Reminder to File Work Visa Petitions by December 22, 2010
The USCIS has issued several new immigration forms for work visas (H, L, O, etc.) that will be required starting December 22, 2010. These new forms ask questions about off-site employment, work itineraries, and export control laws, none of which are required by the current forms. In order to take advantage of the current simpler forms, petitions and applications must be filed by December 22, 2010.
Please contact our San Francisco Immigration Law Office if you need assistance with a work visa petition.
Tags: export, H-1B, I-129, L-1, USCIS, work visa
Posted in Alerts, Nonimmigrant Visas, USCIS | Read More »
H-1B Slots Slowly Going
As of 11/26/2010, only 50,400 regular H-1B slots (of 65,000) and 18,400 U.S. Master’s slots (of 20,000) have been used. As stated in previous posts, the H-1B category is for individuals seeking to work in the U.S. in a professional position that requires a minimum of a Bachelor’s degree in specific specialty or the equivalent experience.
Last year, the cap closed December 21, 2009, but it appears to still be wide open as we enter this final calendar month. This is not to say it won’t close in December, however, at the rate it’s going, we’d be surprised. Please contact our San Francisco Immigration Law Office if you’d like assistance with an H-1B petition.
Tags: cap, H-1B, H-1B count, quota, U.S. Master's cap
Posted in Alerts, Nonimmigrant Visas, USCIS | Read More »
Deployed U.S. Troops Become Citizens on Veteran’s Day
On November 11, 2010, 50 service members currently located at Camp Victory in Iraq became U.S. citizens in a special Veteran’s Day ceremony. The Department of Homeland Security has naturalized 11,146 service members in fiscal year 2010, which is the highest number since 1955 and a 6% increase from fiscal year 2009.
Several of the participants in yesterday’s ceremony are part of the Enhanced Combat Aviation Brigade, 1st Infantry Division, which is an Army aviation unit from Fort Riley, Kansas. The new citizens originally came to the U.S. from various countries, including China, American Samoa, Romania, Dominican Republic, Guatemala, and the Philippines.
Tags: citizenship, Iraq, naturalization, Veteran's Day
Posted in Immigrant Visas, USCIS | Read More »
REMINDER: USCIS Fees to Increase November 23, 2010
The USCIS will be increasing its filing fees for many form-types on November 23, 2010. If you have an immigration matter you’d like filed before that date, please contact our San Francisco law office as soon as possible. We handle all types of employment and family-based immigration matters. For more details, please visit http://www.galigordon.com/us-visas-permanent-residence.
Tags: immigrant, nonimmigrant, November 23, USCIS fees, visa
Posted in Alerts, Immigrant Visas, Nonimmigrant Visas, USCIS | Read More »
H-2Bs Still Available
As of 10/22/10, the USCIS has received 11,053 H-2B cap-subject petitions (of the 33,000 available for the first half of the fiscal year). The H-2B category allows employers to hire foreign workers to come temporarily to the U.S. to perform nonagricultural services or labor on a one-time, seasonal, peakload or intermittent basis. The employers using this category first need to test the labor market to ensure there are no U.S. workers who are available to perform these jobs.
Please contact our San Francisco Immigration Law Office if you need assistance with an H-2B petition.
Tags: H-2b, intermittent, peak-load, seasonal, temporary
Posted in Alerts, Nonimmigrant Visas, USCIS | Read More »
