Number of H-1B Cap Filings
USCIS has not provided any further information concerning H-1B cap filings except for the information provided early September. Between August 26, 2011 and September 9, 2011, USCIS received approximately 3,200 petitions against the 65,000 regular cap; this is about a 20% decrease compared to the previous two weeks of August 2011. The total number of H-1B cap filings as of September 9, 2011 was 32,200. Whereas, 16,700 petitions had been filed against the 20,000 Master’s or higher cap, an increase of 900 petitions, approximately a 20% decrease compared to the first two weeks of August 2011.
USCIS to Continue Accepting Employment Based Adjustment Cases
The Department of State (DOS) advised that all employment based (EB) immigrant visas have been distributed for the fiscal year 2011, which ends on September 30, 2011. However, USCIS will continue accepting adjustment of status applications based on the September visa bulletin through the entire month of September.
Every fiscal year (October 1 – September 30th), at least 140,000 employment-based immigrant visas are made available to qualified applicants who seek to immigrate based on an offer of employment to the principal applicant.
Department of State (DOS) Announces Exhaustion of Employment Based Visa Numbers
DOS announced that effective September 15, 2011, the Fiscal Year 2011 (ending September 30, 2011) employment based annual visa limit has been reached.
No employment based adjustment applications (I-485s) should be adjudicated until October 1, 2011 (Fiscal Year 2012) due to the lack of visa number availability at this time.
Prevailing Wage Determination Status
Department of Labor (DOL) is working through its backlog of Prevailing Wage (PW) requests, which have been filed in support of PERM Applications.
DOL advised that a team of employees from Washington, DC and Chicago has been assembled to work on the backlog of PERM prevailing wage determinations. The team is working on this backlog on a FIFO (First In First Out) basis.
Prevailing wage requests that remain pending beyond the current date may be delayed due to complicated issues such as use of an alternative wage survey and specific geographic location. Right now, all prevailing wage requests are deemed to be “backlogged”.
DOL commits to have PERM prevailing wage requests current (processed within 60 days of filing) by November 1, 2011.
This office received on September 28, 2011 a PW Determination for a request submitted to DOL on July 17, 2011.
Diversity Visa Lottery Scams
Beware that only the U.S. Department of State (http://www.state.gov; http://travel.state.gov/visa) is authorized to issue immigrant visas to winners of the Diversity Lottery.
There has been an increase in fraudulent emails sent to Diversity Immigrant Visa Applicants with an attempt to extract a payment. Please visit the Department of State site for more information:
http://travel.state.gov/visa/immigrants/types/types_1749.html
2013 Diversity Immigrant Visa Program (DV-2013)
The Diversity Immigrant Visa Program is administered on an annual basis by the Department of State (DOS) and is conducted based on the United States law which provides for a class of immigrants known as “diversity immigrants” from countries with historically low rates of immigration to the United States. For fiscal year 2013 (October 1, 2012 to September 30, 2013), 50,000 diversity visas will be made available.
For DV-2013, natives of the following countries are not eligible to apply because the countries sent a total of more than 50,000 immigrants to the United States in the previous five years:
Bangladesh, Brazil, Canada, China (mainland-born), Colombia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, India, Jamaica, Mexico, Pakistan, Peru, Philippines, South Korea, United Kingdom (except Northern Ireland) and its dependent territories, and Vietnam.
Persons born in Hong Kong SAR, Macau SAR and Taiwan are eligible.
For DV-2013 selection, natives of South Sudan and Poland are now eligible for selection, while Bangladesh natives are now ineligible.
Entries for the DV-2013 lottery must be submitted electronically between noon, Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) (GMT-4), Tuesday, October 4, 2011, and noon Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) (GMT-4), Saturday, November 5, 2011. Applicants may access the electronic DV Entry Form (E-DV) at www.dvlottery.state.gov during the registration period. Paper entries will not be processed.
U.S. Consulate General, Mumbai Resumes H & L Visa Processing
The U.S. Consulate General, Mumbai announced the resumption of interviews in Mumbai for H and L visas.
The Consulate opened the appointment schedule on August 26, 2011; the first interview appointments became available on September 6, 2011. All interviews will be conducted at the Lincoln House Consulate building, located at 78, Bhulabhai Desai Road, until further notice.
Please visit VFS, The Consulate’s visa scheduling partner, at http://vfs-usa.co.in/ApplnForms/ScheduleMenu.aspx to make your a appointment on-line.
Employment Based Immigrant Visa Numbers for October 2011
The new fiscal year for the government will begin on October 1, 2011. With this new fiscal year, the October 2011 Visa Bulletin released by the U.S. State Department shows continued availability and some movement forward for employment based visa categories. First Preference Employment for all countries and Second Preference Employment for the world except China and India visa numbers are current. India and China Second Preference Employment cut off dates have now progressed from the cut off date of April 15, 2007 to July 15, 2007 - a three month jump.
Third Preference Employment for the World, the Philippines and Mexico moves forward by two weeks from November 22, 2005 to December 8, 2005. China moves three weeks from July 15, 2004 to August 8, 2004. Third Preference India moves only one week from July 8, 2002 to July 15, 2002.