USCIS announced that effective June 29, 2009, it will resume Premium Processing Service for Form I-140, Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker, in accordance with 8 CFR 103.2(f)(2). 

USCIS will accept Premium Processing requests for Form I-140 Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker, involving 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, and EB-3 Workers other than Skilled Workers and Professionals. 

Premium Processing Service is still not available for Form I-140, Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker, 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 the Premium Processing Service, USCIS guarantees petitioners that, for a $1,000 processing fee, it will issue either an approval notice, or where appropriate, a notice of intent to deny, a request for evidence or open an investigation for fraud or misrepresentation, within 15 calendar days of receipt.  If the petition is not processed within 15 calendar days, USCIS will refund the $1,000 fee and continue to process the request as part of the Premium Processing Service.  

This is certainly great news for applicants who wish to lock-in their priority date with an I-140 approval, or use an I-140 approval (and visa number unavailability) as a the basis for a 3 year post-6th year H1B extension.

We will provide additional updates on the resumption of I-140 premium processing as it becomes available.

As of June 19, 2009, approximately 44,500 H-1B cap-subject petitions and approximately 20,000 petitions qualifying for the advanced degree cap exemption had been filed. USCIS will continue to accept both cap-subject petitions and advanced degree petitions until a sufficient number of H-1B petitions have been received to reach the statutory limits. 

This represents a 100 case increase since the last USCIS update on June 5th.  It appears that the H-1B cap may not be reached for this fiscal year. 

We will provide additional updated as they become available.

The Department of State (DOS) released its July 2009 Visa Bulletin.  There is nothing new to report in the employment-based one (EB1) and employment-based three (EB3) categories.  The biggest news is that employment-based two (EB2) retrogressed to January 2000 for nationals of India and China.  There are even 'grumblings' from DOS that EB1 may retrogress in the near future for Indian and Chinese nationals. 

Will this mess ever be fixed by our Government?  It should not take this long for qualified individuals to receive U.S. permanent residency. 

To view the entire July 2009 Visa Bulletin, please click here.

US Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ), along with Senators Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Edward Kennedy (D-MA) and Charles Schumer (D-NY) introduced legislation last week to re-emphasize family unity in the US immigration system. The Reuniting Families Act would help legal immigrants reunite with their families and end decade-long waiting times for legal immigrant visas.

Senator Menendez said: "Family unity is a deeply-rooted American value, and it should continue to be a main ideal by which we draw our newest Americans. Strong, unified families help maintain stable communities and tend to work hard, pay taxes and start businesses that create jobs. We have clear societal and economic reasons to ensure that family reunification is at the core of our legal immigration system. As a nation with a history rooted in immigrants arriving here to reunite with their loved ones, this approach embodies our American values. Our family immigration system is broken - it has not been updated in 20 years and many families wait decades to immigrate legally to this country. This bill will help legal immigrants reunite with their families rather than forcing them to wait for years apart."

Senator Gillibrand said: "As a mother of two young boys, I know that every day away from your family is an eternity. Family is the cornerstone of our society. That's why I am honored to work with Senator Menendez and other colleagues in Congress to reform America's family-based immigration system to reunite loved ones, promote family stability and foster the economic growth that immigrant families have provided throughout our history."

What does the legislation do?

• It helps an estimated 322,000 spouses and children under the age of 21 of lawful permanent residents who are waiting in line to reunite with their families by reclassifying them as immediate relatives
• It addresses the decades-long backlogs for certain countries by raising the per-country immigration limits from 7 percent to 10 percent of total admissions
• It protects widows, widowers and orphans by allowing them to continue to wait in line for a visa after the death of the sponsoring relative.
• It utilizes an estimated 400,000 family-sponsored and employment-based visas that went unused between 1992 and 2007.
• It promotes family unity by allowing more people who are already eligible for an immigrant visa to efficiently use our legal family immigration system.
• It provides equal treatment for stepchildren and biological children by allowing stepchildren under the age of 21 to immigrate upon their parents' marriage (current age limit is 18).

If passed, this will help thousands of people waiting in line for permanent residency.  The million-dollar question is whether this will pass.  We sincerely hope so!

Stay tuned to www.bashyamspiro.com for additional updates.

The U.S. Department of State released its June 2009 Visa Bulletin.  The major change is that the employment-based two (EB2) category retrogressed by almost four years for Indian nationals.  The rest of the categories stayed the same. 

To view the June 2009 Visa Bulletin, please click here.

Are you fed-up with the Visa Bulletin, the long waits, and our Immigration system?  Make your voice heard by clicking here.

Having been in the immigration law business for over a decade, our law firm has helped thousands of immigrants successfully immigrate to the United States.  During this time, we have heard many great stories about people's lives and why they wanted to come to this country.  Unfortunately, we have also heard the frustration of going through the complicated immigration process, or the inability of some to go through it at all because of legal bars.  We have listened to many a Human Resources manager whose company wants to hire a foreign worker with special skills but can't due to immigration laws.  We have listened to immigrants who have to wait many years just to bring their spouse to the United States. It's time for change.

In order for America to stay competitive, we must reform our immigration laws to keep up with our global economy.  In addition to providing incentives to keep the best and brightest from other countries in the U.S., we must also have a fair immigration system that strives to keep families together and not apart.  The entire immigration debate over the past number of years has focused on illegal immigration.  From our perspective, this debate has missed an entire demographic of immigrants.

What we need in this country is smart immigration reform, not rhetoric from politicians who pander to one group or another.  The best way to foster change is to make your voices heard.  For this reason, we started the Facebook and LinkedIn group People for Smart Immigration Reform.  On both sites, there is a discussion titled Tell Us Your Immigration Stories.  Please join the group and this discussion.  If you feel comfortable, tell us your immigration story or anything else you feel should be heard in the immigration debate. If you represent a company, tell us your immigration story as well.  Let's use this group to try to convince Congressional Representatives that change alone is sometimes not good, but that it's smart change that we need.

For the group's Facebook page, please click here.

For the group's LinkedIN page, please click here.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigrations Services (USCIS) published a Federal Register notice on April 28, 2009 that changed the filing location and filing instructions for the Application to Replace Permanent Resident Card (Form I-90).  The revised filing instructions require applicants to submit supporting documentation with their applications.  Prior to this change, applicants were instructed to bring their supporting documentation to their biometrics appointments.  The notice also revises the Direct Mail address for the Form I-90.  Applicants must now file their Form I-90 and supporting documentation with the USCIS Lockbox facility in Phoenix.

This change in filing location affects all I-90 applicants filing a paper form, including those applicants filing the I-90 because their previously issued card was never received or because their existing card has incorrect data due to a USCIS error.  This notice does not affect applicants filing an I-90 electronically or whose place of residence is outside the United States.

Beginning on April 27, 2009, applicants must submit their Form I-90 and supporting documentation to the USCIS Lockbox facility in Phoenix for initial processing, using the following addresses:

USCIS
P.O. Box 21262
Phoenix, AZ 85036

For USPS Express Mail and Courier Service deliveries, use the following address:

USCIS
ATTN: I-90
1820 Skyharbor Circle S Floor 1
Phoenix. AZ 85034