Immigration News  |
| Changes in immigration that impact your life. |
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| H2B Cap Count Update |
| May 21, 2013 |
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| USCIS has updated the count of H2B visa petitions received and counted towards the H2B cap for the fiscal year 2013 employment. As of May 17, 2013, USCIS has approved approximately 20,712 beneficiaries for the 2nd half of FY 2013. |
| H2B Cap Count Update |
| May 16, 2013 |
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| USCIS has updated the count of H2B visa petitions received and counted towards the H2B cap for the fiscal year 2013 employment. As of May 10, 2013, USCIS has approved approximately 20,424 beneficiaries for the 2nd half of FY 2013. |
| June 2013 Visa Bulletin: EB-3 Priority Dates Advance for All Countries |
| May 14, 2013 |
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| In the recently published U.S. Department of State Visa Bulletin for June 2013, the EB-2 priority dates remained current in respect of all countries other than India and mainland China. The EB-2 priority date for India remained at 09/01/04, even as it advanced from 05/15/08 to 07/15/08 in respect of mainland China. Meanwhile, the EB-1, EB-4 and EB-5 numbers continue to remain current for all countries, even as significant advancement was seen in EB-3 priority dates. |
| USCIS Reminds Employers To Start Using Revised Form I-9 |
| May 02, 2013 |
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| USCIS has reminded employers to start using the revised Employment Eligibility Verification Form I-9 that was released on March 8, 2013 (revision 03/08/13). Beginning May 7, 2013, all employers must only use the revised Form I-9 for new hires and previous versions of the Form I-9 must not be used after May 6, 2013. All previous versions will no longer be valid. |
| H2B Cap Count Update |
| May 02, 2013 |
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| USCIS has updated the count of H2B visa petitions received and counted towards the H2B cap for the fiscal year 2013 employment. As of April 26, 2013, USCIS has approved approximately 14,891 beneficiaries for the 2nd half of FY 2013. |
| USCIS Immigrant Fee Payment to Move to USCIS ELIS |
| May 02, 2013 |
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| USCIS has announced that it is moving the existing online payment for the USCIS Immigrant Fee to its Electronic Immigration System (USCIS ELIS). Customers will soon pay the $165 USCIS Immigrant Fee using USCIS ELIS after they receive their immigrant visa package from the DOS and before they depart for the United States. Immigrants will soon be directed to the USCIS ELIS website to create an online account and pay the immigrant fee. |
| I-94 Automation Now Effective |
| April 30, 2013 |
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| U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has announced that the automation of Form I-94 Arrival/Departure Record is now effective. The change will be implemented at air and sea ports beginning April 30. With I-94 automation, visitors will no longer need to fill out a paper form when arriving to the U.S. by air or sea, where applicable. Instead, records of admission will now be generated using traveler information already transmitted through electronic means. Travelers wanting a hard copy or other evidence of admission can access this information online and print a copy of an I-94. |
| Provisional Unlawful Presence Waiver: USCIS Reminds Applicants On Evidence of DOS Fee Payment |
| April 30, 2013 |
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| USCIS has announced that it has rejected many applications for Provisional Unlawful Presence Waivers (Form I-601A) because the applicants did not provide proof that the required Immigrant Visa Application Fee was paid to the U.S. Department of State (DOS). USCIS has reminded applicants that it cannot accept a Form I-601A unless it includes evidence that the applicant has paid the Immigrant Visa Application Fee to DOS. |
| H-2B Wage Methodology Interim Final Rule Published |
| April 25, 2013 |
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| On April 24, 2013 DOL and DHS published a joint Interim Final Rule that revises the prevailing wage methodology used by DOL to calculate certain prevailing wages paid to H-2B workers and U.S. workers recruited in connection with an H-2B Application for Temporary Employment Certification. The new Interim Final Rule eliminates the use of four-tier wage rates based on OES survey and replaces them with the OES arithmetic mean. The new Wage Methodology also applies to employers who have already received a temporary employment certification and currently employ H-2B workers. H2B Employers will be responsible for providing wages that comply with the Interim Final Rule for all work performed on and after the date the employer receives a supplemental determination from DOL. |
| H2B Cap Count Update |
| April 24, 2013 |
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| USCIS has updated the count of H2B visa petitions received and counted towards the H2B cap for the fiscal year 2013 employment. As of April 19, 2013, USCIS has approved approximately 14,713 beneficiaries for the 2nd half of FY 2013. |
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