June 24th 2009 IMMIGRATION NEWSLETTER

Premium Processing of Immigration Petition for Alien Workers Will Resume

Beginning on June 29, 2009, USCIS will resume accepting Premium Processing requests for Form I-140 Immigrant Petition for Alien Workers. Most employment based (EB) immigrant petitions will be eligible, including:

-EB-1 Aliens with Extraordinary Ability
-EB-1 Outstanding Professors and Researchers
-EB-2 Members of Professions with Advanced Degrees or Exceptional Ability not seeking a National Interest Waiver
-EB-3 Professionals
-EB-3 Skilled Workers
-EB-3 Workers other than Skilled Workers and Professionals

However, Premium Processing will not be available for petitions involving EB-1 Multinational Executives and Managers and EB-2 Members of Professions with Advanced Degrees or Exceptional Ability seeking a National Interest Waiver.

Under Premium Processing, for a $1,000 processing fee, USCIS guarantees petitioners an answer within 15 calendar days of receipt. They will issue either an approval notice, or where appropriate, a notice of intent to deny, a request for evidence, or an investigation for fraud or misrepresentation.

If you are currently a client of ours and wish to upgrade your case to Premium Processing, please call our office to schedule an evaluation. Please note that our office will not give advice pertaining to this update over the telephone or by e-mail.

H1-B Visas Still Available

As of June 19, 2009, USCIS has only received approximately 44,500 H1-B petitions that count towards their 65,000 cap (quota limit). The current number has been reduced from last month's total of 45,800 petitions since some have been denied, revoked or withdrawn during this period. It is highly unlikely that this extra availability will happen next year as the economy improves. Also, F-1 students who recently graduated (or will be graduating soon) and have U.S. job offers should consider filing an H1-B petition now. USCIS will also continue to accept Master's Cap H1-B petitions for individuals with advanced degrees.

Please contact our office to schedule a consultation if you are considering applying for an H1-B Visa.

Do You Have a Visa Waiver Program Emergency or Temporary Passport, and Plan to Travel to the United States?

Beginning on July 1, 2009, all Visa Waiver Program (VWP) emergency or temporary passports must be electronic passports (e-Passports) in order to travel to the United States. An e-Passport contains an integrated chip that stores biographic data, a digitized photograph, other information about the bearer, and has a gold-colored symbol on the passport's front cover.