MARCH 19th 2009 IMMIGRATION NEWSLETTER

H-1B Cap Filings for Fiscal Year 2010 Will Most Likely Be Lower

Early indications are showing that H-1B Cap filings for Fiscal Year 2010 (must be filed by April 1, 2009) will likely be lower than in previous years due to the current state of the U.S. economy. Therefore, we predict that H-1B Cap filings will have a better chance of being selected this year for fiscal year 2010 which starts on October 1, 2009. Last year there were nearly 160,000 filings for 65,000 slots.

The Backlog of FBI Name Checks Pending More Than 6 Months Has Been Eliminated

USCIS announced this month that the backlog of FBI Name Checks pending more than six months has been eliminated. All USCIS requests pending for six months or more as of February 28, 2009, have now been responded to by the FBI’s National Name Check Program.

USCIS Vermont Service Center Has Announced They Are Sending Pending I-539 Applications That Include B1/B2 Applications to the California Service Center to Reduce Their Backlog

The USCIS Vermont Service Center (“VSC”) recently announced they have shipped approximately 14,000 I-539 applications to the California Service Center (“CSC”) to reduce the backlog of pending applications. This includes extensions of stay for visitors both for business and pleasure as well as change of status requests to student (F-1). The Vermont Service Center will continue to transfer I-539 applications to the CSC because the California Service Center has more capacity to work on these applications at the present time. However, the California Service Center is notoriously harsh in terms of processing these applications and often summarily denies the same without issuing a Request for Further Evidence (“RFE”) or providing a valid reason.