Indian and Chinese EB-2 Visa Cut-Off Dates

The State Department reportedly notified the USCIS that as of April 11, 2012, it had exhausted Indian/Chinese EB-2 visa numbers for FY 2012 and would not authorize such EB-2 visas to the USCIS. This raises a question for the State Department as to what cut-off dates they will publish for the next several months for Indian and Chinese EB-2 category. If they publish that India/China EB-2 is "Unavailable," the USCIS will not be able to receive any new EB-485 applications no matter how earlier priority dates the Indians and Chinese EB-2 cases have, not to mention their inability to adjudicate and approve pending cases. On the other hand, should they decide any specific cut-off dates for these categories, there arises a legal question as to whether the USCIS can refuse approval of the pending EB-485 applications or new EB-485 applications with earlier priority dates. The situation for May 2012 Visa Bulletin was different in that at the time the May 2012 Visa Bulletin was published, it had no information that the Indian/Chinese EB-2 annual visa allocations have been exhausted. Ideally, after the State Department learned that the visa number had been exhausted, they could have published revised visa bulleting for May 2012, which they opted not to. These two departments learned a valuable lesson from a political and legal disaster during the FY 2007 Visa Bulletin fiasco period. Additionally, the issue involves a more practical stake involved for the USCIS. Hypothetically, should the State Department set a cut-off date for the Indian/Chinese EB-2, the USCIS will be required to continuously receive EB-485 applications from Indian and Chinese professional workers with a priority date earlier than the cut-off date, albeit inability of the USCIS to approve any such pending EB-485 applications regardless of how far back of priority dates one has. This situation will keep the USCIS busy with continuing in-flow of fee funds to support the agency financially without any financial crisis. Imagine what happens if the State Department set the EB-2 visa numbers "Unavailable" for four months! During the four months, they will not be able to receive any new Indian/Chinese EB-2 I-485 applications!? Imagine its impact on the USCIS finance and idle resources!? Very curious of what has been cooked behind the spotlight on this matter between the State Department and the USCIS for the upcoming Visa Bulletins. http://www.greencardapply.com/news/news12/news12_0508.htm www.greencardfamily.com www.greencardapply.com

Employers Face Increasing Audits and Supervisory Recruitment in PERM

The Office of Foreign Labor Certification reported in the recent stakeholder meeting that the audits and supervised recruitment would increase. At the time of report, approximately 30% cases faced either audit and supervised recruitment. In a number of cases, after receiving the responses to the audits, the agency has turned the cases into a supervised recruitment track in a number of cases. This trend has resulted in a tremendous delay in PERM processing times and potential denials for the employers that have been picked for such audits and supervised recruitment. Strikingly, such cases have been denied after wasting a tremendous time and expenses for certain incredibly unbelievable "minor" "trivial" "technical" matters. For instances, there have been a number of reports that after the audit or supervised recruitment, the agency denied the application for the reason that in the job bank job order, employer checked the box of driver license requirement or drug testing requirement, travel requirement, etc. pursuant to the job bank formats when those requirements had not been printed in the advertisements. Another large number of denials have been produced for failure to justify why the unqualified U.S. workers were not offered an on-the-job-training when arguably such on-the-job-training would make such unqualified workers qualified for the job. Another traps included missing of information among the recruitment record in a minor matter or the employer failed to contact the applicants and failed to preserve evidence. Employers are strongly advised to pay attention to the details and good record-keeping to survive in the new permanent labor certification environment and not to experience waste of money and time and denials. http://www.greencardapply.com/news/news12/news12_0509.htm www.greencardfamily.com www.greencardapply.com

The Recent I-485 Application Trends and Tracking

In the past few months, it has been possible for many foreign nationals to advance to the final stage in the permanent residence (green card) process. The U.S. Department of State (DOS) Visa Bulletin has shown employment-based, second preference (EB2) cutoff dates for India and China to be moving forward significantly since November 2011. This development has created much excitement, with numerous applicants seeking insight into case processing trends and timeframes. There is currently a very clear trend toward rapid I-485 case processing. This begins with the issuance of receipt notices almost immediately upon filing, and the fingerprinting notices follow early in the process. EAD and AP approvals typically are received well in advance of the 90 days the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is allowed for processing these benefits. While it would be unwise to make plans that rely on receiving the EAD and/or AP rapidly, at this time, they are often in hand within 60 days of filing, and sometimes even earlier. Finally, the much anticipated I-485 approval notices are arriving daily. While total processing time varies from filing to approval, it often takes less than five months. Individuals should not become overly concerned if they see others who have cases moving a bit more quickly. Cases are neither all processed in a completely uniform manner, nor at the same pace. There are differences from one USCIS service center to another, as well as numerous other factors that contribute to variation in the time each case takes to process. The USCIS is doing a remarkable job, quickly moving through each step in the I-485 case process. This is particularly noteworthy, given the volume of I-485 cases now eligible for filing and adjudication due to the movement of the cutoff dates. This is good news for those who have been able to file in the past few months. http://www.greencardapply.com/news/news12/news12_0507.htm www.greencardfamily.com www.greencardapply.com

Can I Transfer My Priority Date from the Labor Certification Case to NIW?

Question: I have an approved EB3 Labor Certification based Form I-140 application from my employer, with a priority date of last year September. Due to the immigration visa number retrogression in my home country, I can not apply for the status adjustment for U.S. Permanent Resident of I-485 form. Since I have a PhD degree, if I apply for EB2 National Interest Waiver Immigration category now, can I transfer my earlier priority date from the Labor Certification case to the later case filed in EB2 National Interest Waiver Immigration category? -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Answer: Yes, an individual with an earlier priority date established through an approved I-140 petition in one employment-based category may transfer that earlier priority date for a later case filed in a different employment-based category. This can be a benefit for you when the retention of the earlier priority date is permitted for a later filed EB2 National Interest Waiver case. Please also note that this procedure does not work if the initial I-140 petition has been revoked by your employer, or by USCIS due to fraud, or for use in a labor substitution case. http://www.greencardapply.com/question/question12/question12_0509.htm www.greencardfamily.com www.greencardapply.com