Form I-94 is a key document for demonstrating lawful US immigration status and for obtaining various benefits including, but not limited to, the following:

• proof of lawful US immigration status;
• US employment eligibility;
• extensions and/or changes of status;
• social security number applications; and,
• driver license applications and renewals.

CBP has said that travelers will be able to print electronic I-94s at this link, which is supposed to go live and be fully functional as of April 26, 2013. It is unclear what information will be necessary to access the electronic Form I-94, but we recommend that individuals entering the US retain any evidence of entry to the US available, such as baggage claim stubs, boarding passes and travel itineraries, until they actually access and print an electronic Form I-94.

Upon request, travelers to the US can still obtain a paper-based Form I-94 upon entry to the US. We strongly recommend that travelers request a paper Form I-94 when entering until further notice. At this time, we do not encourage reliance on CPB’s electronic system to obtain this critical Form I-94 document–at least not during the system’s infancy, given the snags that often plague such government electronic systems as they are rolled out (and long after).

Those who forget to request a paper-based Form I-94 record when entering the US, and who are subsequently unable to print an electronic version of Form I-94, may find it extremely difficult to extend US immigration status, prove US employment eligibility, obtain a new US driver license, or obtain a host of other benefits. So attention to this Form I-94 issue is critical.

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How Many Cap-Subject FY-2014 H-1B Petitions did USCIS receive the first week of April 2013?

From April 1, 2013, to April 5, 2013, USCIS received approximately 124,000 FY-2014 H-1B petitions, including petitions filed under the advanced degree exemption.

FY-2014 H-1B Lottery

On April 7, 2013, USCIS used a computer-generated random selection process (a lottery) to select a sufficient number of H-1B petitions to meet the general 65,000 annual H-1B cap and 20,000 for the FY-2014 advanced degree H-1B cap.

USCIS conducted the FY-2014 H-1B lottery for advanced degree exemption H-1B petitions first. All advanced degree petitions not selected in the first lottery were then also part of the FY-2014 H-1B lottery for the 65,000 H-1B cap.

USCIS will reject and return each cap-subject FY-2014 H-1B petition that has not been randomly selected in the FY-2014 H-1B lottery along with filing fees, unless that petition is found to be a duplicate filing.

Premium Processing for FY-2014 H-1B Petitions

As announced on March 15, 2013, USCIS has temporarily adjusted its premium processing practice with regard to FY-2014 H-1B petitions. To facilitate prioritized data entry of cap-subject H-1B petitions requesting premium processing, USCIS will begin premium processing for FY-2014 cap-subject H-1B cap cases on April 15, 2013.

Cap-Exempt H-1B Petitions

USCIS will continue to accept and process H-1B petitions that are otherwise exempt from the annual H-1B cap. H-1B petitions filed on behalf of current workers who have been counted previously against the annual H-1B cap will not be counted towards the congressionally-mandated FY-2014 H-1B cap. Accordingly, USCIS will continue to accept and process petitions filed to:

• extend the amount of time a current H-1B worker may remain in the US;
• change the terms of employment for current H-1B workers;
• allow current H-1B workers to change employers; and,
• allow current H-1B workers to work concurrently in a second H-1B position.

More Information on the H-1B Visa

US businesses use the H-1B visa to employ foreign workers in specialty occupations that require theoretical or technical expertise in specialized fields including, but not limited to: scientists, engineers, and computer programmers.

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After April 5, 2013, USCIS will not accept either regular or advanced degree cap-subject FY-2014 H-1B petitions. This means that, unless Congress acts to increase the annual H-1B cap, those who have not yet filed cap-subject H-1B petitions will be effectively locked out of the H-1B program for the next 18 months until the following fiscal year (FY-2015), which begins October 1, 2014 (the first filing date for cap-subject FY-2015 H-1B petitions is April 1, 2014).

Beginning in the coming weeks, USCIS will use a computer-generated random selection process (commonly known as the “lottery”) for all cap-subject FY-2014 H-1B petitions received from April 1, 2013, through April 5, 2013. USCIS will conduct the lottery selection process for advanced degree exemption cap-subject FY-2014 H-1B petitions first. All advanced degree petitions not selected in this initial FY-2014 H-1B lottery will be part of the random selection process for the regular 65,000 H-1B cap.

Due to the high number of petitions they have received, USCIS has not yet announced the exact day of the random FY-2014 H-1B lottery selection process.

Neither are USCIS currently providing the total number of cap-subject FY-2014 H-1B petitions received, as they continued to accept cap-subject H-1B filings for FY-2014 on the day of their announcement (April 5, 2013). Finally, USCIS continues to accept and process FY-2014 H-1B petitions that are otherwise exempt from the annual H-1B cap.

USCIS will provide more detailed information about the FY-2014 H-1B cap, including details regarding the FY-2014 H-1B lottery, in the second week of April 2013, and we will post that information as it comes.

The post FY-2014 H-1B Cap Reached appeared first on Immigration Lawyer | Kirberger PC.

As mentioned above, based on feedback from a number of stakeholders, USCIS anticipates that it may receive more petitions than the H-1B cap allows between April 1, 2013 and April 5, 2013. The Service will therefore monitor the number of FY2014 H-1B petitions they receive, and they will notify the public of the date on which the numerical limit of the FY2014 H-1B cap has been reached. This date is known as the “final receipt date.”

If USCIS receives more petitions than it can accept under the annual H-1B cap requirements, they will use a lottery system to randomly select the number of H-1B petitions required to reach the annual H-1B cap. The Service will deem FY2014 H-1B petitions “accepted” on the date that they receives a properly filed H-1B petition including all applicable fees, not the date a FY2014 H-1B petition is postmarked. USCIS will reject cap-subject FY2014 H-1B petitions that are not selected in the H-1B lottery, as well as H-1B petitions received after they receive the number of petitions necessary to meet the FY2014 H-1B cap. USCIS last instituted a lottery for cap-subject H-1B petitions in April 2008.

In addition, cap-subject H-1B petitions can continue to request premium processing. Due to historic premium processing receipt levels, combined with the possibility that the FY2014 H-1B cap will be met in the first 5 business days of the H-1B filing season, USCIS has temporarily adjusted its current premium processing practice with regard to H-1B petitions. To facilitate the prioritized data entry of cap-subject H-1B petitions requesting premium processing, USCIS will begin premium processing for cap-subject H-1B petitions on April 15, 2013.

H-1B petitioners should follow all statutory and regulatory requirements as they prepare petitions to avoid processing delays and possible requests for further evidence (RFE’s)

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Beginning March 16, US visa applicants will only pay the existing, unchanged, visa processing fee of $160 for most nonimmigrant visa types. Previously, in addition to the processing fee, US visa applicants faced additional costs for scheduling appointments and arranging for the return of their passports. With the new US visa system, applicants will have the option to pay online using any debit card issued in China. Applicants will also be able to pay with a Union Pay ATM card at any CITIC automatic teller machine or in cash at any CITIC Bank branch.

US visa applicants in China will also be able to use a new online system to make visa interview appointments and to check on the status of their US visa applications. They will be able to call the new Call Center to make an appointment or to ask questions at no extra charge. The new system allows US visa applicants to pick up their passports at any one of more than 800 CITIC Bank branches across China. Under the new US visa appointment process, the US Embassy Beijing and US Consulates throughout China will continue to offer a drop-off nonimmigrant visa renewal service for most US visa applicants who are eligible to renew their visas without a personal interview.

The United States is committed to meeting the growing demand for US visas. In 2012, the US Mission China processed more than 1.34 million nonimmigrant visa applications, a growth rate of 34% over 2011. Nonetheless, wait times for interview appointments have averaged just five days for the past year. The new appointment, fee payment and passport return system is just part of the US Mission China effort to continually improve service to the Chinese traveling public.

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Of course, at this time, these are Senate and White House proposals only, and they are likely to undergo significant hurdles and further changes as they move forward in the legislative process. We will post those changes as they happen.

Bipartisan Framework for Immigration Reform

The US Senate’s Bipartisan Framework for Immigration Reform 2013 outlines a framework for comprehensive immigration reform. The Framework has 4 basic components:

1. Path to US citizenship for unauthorized immigrants already in the US; this is contingent upon securing the US border and dealing with US visa overstays. The contingency on “securing the US border” and “combating visa overstays” could be a major hurdle, but it is a necessary element to obtain bipartisan support for the path to citizenship.
2. Improving US Legal Immigration System to attract the world’s best and brightest. Included here, among other things (presumably) would be some simplification of the path to a green card for STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) graduates with Masters or PhD degrees from US universities.
3. Strong Employment Verification. Requiring eVerify or some eVerify-like program for all US employers to ensure hiring of documented workers. This would also include, hopefully, improving the existing eVerify program–safeguarding it from identify theft, decreasing errors, etc.
4. Admitting New Workers, Protecting US Workers’ Rights. Creating new provisions or reforming existing provisions on admitting new workers to the US, and protecting the rights of existing US workers.

Immigration Innovation Act of 2013 (I2)

The US Senate’s Immigration Innovation Act of 2013 (I2 Summary; I2 Text) focuses on legal immigration, and includes the following provisions:

H-1B Visas

• Nearly doubling the annual H-1B cap and establishing a market-based H-1B escalator so that the annual H-1B cap can be easily adjusted in accordance to the demands of the US economy.
• Uncapping the existing 20,000 annual H-1B cap on candidates with US advanced degree.
• Authorizing employment for dependent spouses of H-1B holders.
• Increasing H-1B employment portability by removing impediments and costs of changing employers; by establishing clear transition period for H-1B workers to change jobs; and by restoring visa revalidation for E, H, L, O and P visa holders.

Student Visas

• Allowing dual intent for foreign students at US colleges and universities, that is, the intent to remain indefinitely–rather than just temporarily–in the United States.

Immigrant Visas and Green Cards

• Enabling recapture of unused green card numbers from previous years.
• Exempting certain categories of individuals from annual employment-based green card quota, including: dependents of employment-based green card recipients; US STEM advanced degree holders; individuals with extraordinary ability; and outstanding professors and researchers.
• Allowing rollover of unused employment-based green card numbers to following fiscal year.
• Eliminating annual per-country limits for employment-based green card applications.
• Adjusting per-country caps for family-based green cards.

US STEM Education and Worker Retraining Initiative

• Reforming H-1B and employment-based green card fees; use money from those to fund grant program to promote US STEM education and worker retraining.

White House Blueprint for Immigration Reform 2013

The White House’s Blueprint for Immigration Reform 2013 contains a four-part plan, closely tracking the US Senate’s Bipartisan Framework for Immigration Reform 2013. The plan includes the following:

1. Strengthening US borders.
2. Cracking down on employers hiring undocumented workers.
3. Holding undocumented immigrants accountable before they can earn US citizenship, i.e., require undocumented workers to pay US taxes and a penalty, move to the back of the immigration line, learn English, and pass background checks.
4. Streamlining the legal immigration system for families, workers, and employers.

Legal Immigration

More specifically, President Obama’s plan for legal immigration includes:

• New green card provisions for US advanced degree STEM workers.
• Passing legislation similar to the DREAM Act allowing young people brought to the US as minors to earn legal status.
• Creating a Start-Up Visa category allowing entrepreneurs with financing from US investors to come to the US to start businesses and remain permanently if their start-ups create US jobs and generate revenue.
• Reforming existing employment-based and family-based immigration system, including exempting immediate relatives of US citizens from annual caps, changing categories and per country caps, and ensuring high-skilled immigrants are able to remain in the US and reunite with their families more quickly.
• Eliminating existing backlogs in family-sponsored green card categories by recapturing unused visas and temporarily increasing annual visa numbers; raise existing annual country caps from 7 to 15% for family-sponsored immigration system.
• Treating same-sex families as families by giving US citizens and lawful permanent residents the ability to sponsor a same-sex partner on the basis of a permanent relationship.
• Revising current unlawful presence bars and provides broader discretion to waive bars to entry in cases of hardship.
• Changing H-2A temporary agriculture worker program balancing needs of US business and US worker rights.
• Changing H-1B program to fill need for high-skilled workers when US employees are unavailable, increasing US worker protections and improving enforcement mechanisms.
• Establishing new, small, targeted temporary worker program for hiring lower skilled, non-seasonal, non-agricultural workers when US workers are unavailable.

For further details, see Fact Sheet on the White House’s Immigration Reform 2013 proposals, and Full Text of the White House’s Blueprint for Immigration Reform 2013.

The post Immigration Reform 2013: First Look appeared first on Immigration Lawyer | Kirberger PC.

Beginning January 6, 2013, US visa applicants will work, either online or via telephone, with a service provider to schedule an interview, pay the visa application fee, and arrange for the delivery of documents and passports. The new appointment service will also allow US visa applicants to schedule a visa interview, pay the visa application fee and arrange for delivery of documents and passports. This new visa appointment service will also allow applicants to schedule a visa interview with more flexibility and up to 6 months in advance of travel plans.

Under the new process, US visa applicants can go online and complete the US visa application, pay the visa application fee, schedule an appointment and arrange to have their passport delivered at the end of the application process to an Empost office anywhere in the UAE. The entire process can be done 24 hours a day using the online system. During day time hours, applicants can also obtain assistance from a live operator call center with services in Arabic, English and Farsi. The call center can also assist with scheduling an appointment, provided the visa applicant has already paid the visa application fee. After that, the applicant must then attend the scheduled interview at the US Embassy Abu Dhabi or Consulate General Dubai.

As part of the transition from the current US visa application process, those seeking interviews in December 2012 will notice that no appointments are available online after December 31, 2012. There will be a brief interim period before the transition takes place during which it will not be possible to schedule a US visa interview. The new visa appointment system will debut January 6, 2013, after which visa appointments will be available at both the US Embassy Abu Dhabi and the US Consulate General Dubai well into the first 6 months of 2013.

The United States Mission to the United Arab Emirates wants to ensure that visa applicants already in the scheduling process are not negatively impacted by the change. If applicants have not already made an appointment and do not have immediate travel plans, they may choose to wait fo the new system to become available on January 6, 2013. However, if a visa applicant has already paid the US visa application fee and made an appointment, that appointment will be honored. Visa applicants should arrive at the US Embassy Abu Dhabi or US Consulate Dubai as instructed in their appointment confirmation, bringing with them their DS-160 application confirmation page, passport and National Bank of Abu Dhabi visa application fee payment receipt. Since the process for paying the visa fee will be very different under the new visa appointment system, we recommend that visa applicants not pay the fee unless they are sure they will receive an appointment prior to December 31, 2012. Those who pay the fee and do not have an interview before December 31, 2012, may have to pay the visa fee again under the new visa appointment system. Please note that the US Mission UAE will be unable to refund the National Bank of Abu Dhabi visa application fees if unused.

For more information and a full list of Frequently Asked Questions, please visit the website of the US Embassy Abu Dhabi or the US Consulate General Dubai.

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US Ambassador Lawrence Wohlers and his diplomatic team left Bangui on December 27, 2012, along with several private United States citizens. As a result of the suspension of operations at the US Embassy Bangui, the Embassy will be unable to provide routine consular services to United States citizens in the Central African Republic until further notice.

The decision to suspend operations at the US Embassy Bangui was made solely due to concerns regarding the security of United States personnel, and it has no relation to the United States’ continuing and long-standing diplomatic relations with the Central African Republic.

The United States encourages all parties in the Central African Republic to participate in the dialogue to be held under the auspices of the Economic Community of Central African States (CEEAC) to develop a comprehensive agreement that will offer a new vision of peace and security for the Central African Republic.

See BBC Profile of Central African Republic (CAR).

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Canadian TN Filing

USCIS began accepting Form I-129 filed on behalf of Canadian citizens outside the US who are seeking TN classification on October 1, 2012. Prior to that time, USCIS only accepted Form I-129 in connection with a request to extend a stay in TN status or to change nonimmigrant visa status to TN.

Canadian citizens will continue to have the option of applying to US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) for TN classification in conjunction with an application for admission in TN status to the United States.

Please see the CBP website for further information and requirements for applying for admission to the United States.

Canadian L-1 Nonimmigrants

Employers also have the option of filing a Form I-129 individual petition with USCIS on behalf of a Canadian L-1 nonimmigrant. A US employer with an approved L-1 blanket petition may also file Form I-129S Nonimmigrant Petition Based on Blanket L Petition, along with supporting documentation, with the USCIS service center that approved the L-1 blanket petition, on behalf of a Canadian citizen (or any visa-exempt beneficiary) who is outside the US. Canadian citizens may apply for L-1 classification in conjunction with an application for L-1 admission to the US by presenting Form I-129 (individual L-1 petition) or I-129S (under approved blanket L-1 petition) and supporting documentation to CBP.

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