Law Offices of Tsirina Goroshit & Associates, P.C.

 NEWS RELEASE

 H1-B FY 2010 news

USCIS has received approximately 42,000 H-1B petitions counting toward the Congressionally-mandated 65,000 cap.  The agency continues to accept petitions subject to the general cap. 

Additionally, the agency has received approximately 20,000 petitions for aliens with advanced degrees; however, uscis continues to accept advanced degree petitions since experience has shown that not all petitions received are approvable.  Congress mandated that the first 20,000 of these types of petitions are exempt from any fiscal year cap on available H-1B visas. 

On March 20, 2009 U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced that it will begin accepting H-1B petitions subject to the fiscal year 2010 (FY 2010) cap on April 1, 2009.  Cases will be considered accepted on the date that USCIS takes possession of the petition; not the date that the petition is postmarked.

The numerical limitation on H-1B petitions for fiscal year 2010 is 65,000.  Additionally, the first 20,000 H-1B petitions filed on behalf of aliens who have earned a U.S. masters’ degree or higher are exempt from the fiscal year cap.

 Petitions for new H-1B employment are exempt from the annual cap if the beneficiaries will work at institutions of higher education or a related or affiliated nonprofit entities, or at nonprofit research organizations or governmental research organizations.  Thus, employers may continue to file petitions for these exempt H-1B categories seeking work dates starting in FY 2009 or 2010.

Citizenship through the U.S army.

On November 25, 2008, US Secretary of the Defense Robert Gates signed a memo authorizing the Secretary of Army, Navy, and Air Force to implement a new non citizen recruiting pilot program for the US Armed Forces, titled MAVNI, this new program allows health care professionals nationwide and persons who speak certain languages in NY City only to join the Army and IMMIDIATELY apply for US citizenship  without first obtaining permanent resident status. Recruit begins on February 23, 2009. 1,000 people will be selected.

USCIS INCREASES PERIOD OF STAY FOR TRADE-NAFTA PROFESSIONAL WORKERS FROM CANADA AND MEXICO FROM ONE YEAR TO THREE YEARS.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has increased the maximum period of time a Trade-NAFTA (TN) professional worker from Canada or Mexico may remain in the United States before seeking readmission or obtaining an extension of stay. This final rule changes the initial period of admission for TN workers from one to three years, making it equal to the initial period of admission given to H-1B professional workers. Eligible TN non immigrants may now be allowed to receive extensions of stay in increments of up to three years instead of the prior maximum period of stay of one year.

A new Naturalization test

On October 1, 2008, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will begin administering a new naturalization test. If your application Form N-400 was filed BEFORE October 1, 2008, and you are scheduled for your naturalization interview ON or AFTER October 1, 2008 up until October 1, 2009, you can choose to take the old test or the new test. If you filed your application N-400, ON or AFTER October 1, 2008, you will take the new test.

Security Name Check

USCIS and FBI announced a joint plan to eliminate the backlog of the name checks pending with the FBI. As per a news release dated 4/2/08 the FBI has already eliminated all name checks cases pending more than 4 years.

The are still cases which are pending for more than 2 years, for those cases it seems that the only solution is to file Mandamus Claim in the U.S. Federal District Court.

If your case is pending about 2 years, please contact us to discuss your matter.

VAWA

The April 11, 2008 USCIS guidance allows an approved VAWA self petitioners whose denied adjustments of status application was filed on or after January 14, 1998, to file a MOTION TO REOPEN OR RECONSIDER, if the reason of denial was based on his/her illegal entry in the U.S.

H1-B NEWS

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced that it has received enough H-1B petitions to meet the congressionally mandated cap for fiscal year 2009.

USCIS will carry out the computer-generated random selection process for all cap-subject petitions received. USCIS will select the number of petitions needed to meet the caps of 65,000 for the general category and 20,000 under the “advanced degree” exemption limit.

SSI Beneficiaries can request expedited processing of Forms I-485 and N-400

WASHINGTON—U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has entered into a settlement agreement in a national class action, Kaplan, et al. v. Chertoff, et al., CV 06-5304, which was filed in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. The settlement agreement took effect March 5, 2008, and will remain in effect until February 5, 2011.

Under the settlement agreement USCIS will expedite Applications to Register Permanent Status or Adjust Status (Form I-485) – commonly referred to as ‘green card’ applications – and Applications for Naturalization (Form N-400) of current or former SSI beneficiaries if the application has been pending with USCIS for more than six months. Expedited processing includes requesting an accelerated FBI Name Check as well as prioritizing any USCIS internal actions, such as the scheduling of an interview. USCIS will work with SSA to identify individuals who have lost or who will lose their SSI benefits within the next Naturalization (Form N-400) of current or former SSI beneficiaries if the application has been pending with USCIS for more than six months.