H-1B Cap 38,000 H-1B visas remaining for FY 2001 [ending on September 30, 2001].

As of May 23, 2001, the Immigration & Naturalization Service (INS) reported that about 117,000 H-1B workers have been approved against the limit of 195,000 for FY 2001 [ending on September 30, 2001]. There were 40,000 cap-subject H-1Bs pending with the four service centers, which mean that as of May 23, 2001 there were 38,000 H-1B visas remaining for FY 2001.

Premium Processing Program to Start June 01, 2001

The INS has announced that it will start its Premium Processing Program on June 1, 2001. The INS guarantees with payment of a fee of $1000, completion of the case within 15 calendar days unless a request for evidence is sent to the Petitioner. To begin with, the INS will process E-1 Treaty Trader, E-2 Treaty Investor, H-2A Agricultural Worker, H-2B Temporary Worker, H-3 Trainee, L-1 Intracompany Transferree, O-1 and O-2 Aliens of Extraordinary Ability or Achievement, P-1, P-2, and P-3 Athletes and Entertainers and Q-1 International Cultural Exchange Aliens. As of July 30, 2001 the INS will commence processing H-1B Temporary Workers with Specialty Occupation, R-1 Temporary Workers in Religious Occupations and TN NAFTA Professional visas.

If a family members application is filed concurrently with the Premium Processing petition, the INS will process the application for the family members with the Premium Processing petition in 15 calendar days without requiring an additional $1,000 fee for the family member’s application.

Premium Processing Service can be requested for Pending Petitions with the INS. The 15 calendar days processing period will begin when the INS receives the Application for Premium Processing.

Alien Labor Certification (Green Card) Processing at the Employment Development Department (EDD), Sacramento, California

The EDD received 50,167 Permanent Alien Labor Certification cases from March 18, 2001 to April 30, 2001 due to the deadline of 245(i) filings on April 30, 2001 (whereby out of status Aliens could adjust status in the US upon filing a valid Alien Labor Application Certification application or immigration petition and paying a fine of $1000). Of the aforementioned 50,167 cases filed, 6,772 were filed under Reduction in Recruitment (RIR) and the remaining 43,395 were regular Alien Labor Certification applications. On April 30, 2001 itself, the EDD received 24,395 cases, including cases accepted at EDD offices throughout California. All 24,899 cases will be assigned a priority date of April 30, 2001, assuming the filing included a valid signed ETA Form 750A & 750B.

As of May 22, 2001, the EDD was doing intake on cases received on April 23, 2001. When all cases received through April 30, 2001 have been input, the RIR team will begin processing RIR cases in order of date received. There is no specific date as yet as to when processing of traditional cases will resume, however, good cases with no major issues identified, will be worked before bad cases, such as skeletal applications.

Other than a few cases in progress that are still being worked on, the entire staff is dedicated solely on sorting, intake, and computer entry of cases received through April 30, 2001. Attorneys and Employers are requested to refrain from contacting the EDD office for status of pending cases for at least 180 days after filing of RIR cases and 365 days after filing traditional cases. Actual processing may be sooner, however, EDD would prefer to focus its resources on working through the backlog, rather than responding to status inquiries.

State Department Visa Bulletin for July 2001 shows all EB categories current

The State Department Bulletin for July 2001 shows all EB categories current. The July Visa Bulletin can be found at our website at www.avlawoffice.com

H-1B Filings without Certified LCA

The INS will continue with its policy of accepting H-1B petition only when filed with a copy of the Labor Condition Application (LCA) and proof that it has been filed with the Department of Labor. The INS will also continue with its practice of sending a request for evidence to get LCA before it processes the petition. The INS has taken the stand that as such petitions would continue to be properly filed, Beneficiaries filing a change of employment petition could benefit by using AC21 section 105 portability provisions when filing a petition in such a situation.

Latest Service Center Processing Time Report and Visa Cut Off Dates

Please visit our website at www.avlawoffice.com for the latest Service Center Processing Time Report and Visa Bulletin.