BAGON LAW FIRM

WASHINGTON—U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced on March 15, 2013 that it will begin accepting H-1B petitions subject to the Fiscal Year (FY) 2014 cap on Monday, April 1, 2013. Cases will be considered accepted on the date that USCIS receives a properly filed petition for which the correct fee has been submitted; not the date that the petition is postmarked. The cap (the numerical limitation on H-1B petitions) for FY 2014 is 65,000. In addition, the first 20,000 H-1B petitions filed on behalf of individuals with U.S. master’s degree or higher are exempt from the fiscal year cap of 65,000. Based on feedback from a number of stakeholders, USCIS anticipates that it may receive more petitions than the H-1B cap between April 1, 2013 and April 5, 2013 .  USCIS will monitor the number of petitions received and notify the public of the date on which the numerical limit of the H-1B cap has been met. This date is known as the final receipt date.  I...

FAMILY-BASED PREFERENCES ...

FAMILY-BASED PREFERENCES Family-Sponsored All Charge-ability Areas Except Those Listed CHINA- mainland born INDIA MEXICO PHILIPPINES F1 15FEB06 15FEB06 15FEB06 22JUL93 15OCT98 F2A 22NOV10 22NOV10 22NOV10 ...

Undocumented immigrants would be able to seek legal status without first going home under a compromise framework floated Monday by a bipartisan group of senators, according to a source familiar with the plan. The outline for a possible immigration reform bill reflects a mainstream Republican willingness to compromise on what President Barack Obama calls a top priority of his second term. However, conservatives immediately voiced their opposition to providing undocumented immigrants a path to legal status, especially in the Republican-led House. The legislators based the proposal on four "pillars." These include: -- A "tough but fair" path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants already living in the United States, after bolstering the nation's border security; --Overhauling the country's legal immigration system, including attaching green cards to advanced degrees in science, technology, engineering, or math from U.S. universities; ...

FEBRUARY 2013 VISA BULLETIN FAMILY-SPONSORED PREFERENCES   Family-Sponsored All Charge-ability Areas Except Those Listed CHINA- mainland born INDIA MEXICO PHILIPPINES F1 15JAN06 15JAN06 15JAN06 15JUL93 08MAR98 F2A 22OCT10 22OCT10 22OCT10 08OCT10 22OCT10 F2B 15JAN05 15JAN05 15JAN05 15DEC92 15MAY02 F3 08JUL02 08JUL02 08JUL02 08MAR93 22AUG92 F4 15APR01 15APR01 15APR01 01AUG96 01JUN89   Summary of the February 2013 Visa Bulletin – Family-Based (F) F1 Good forward movement for all chargeability areas, China and India (22 Dec 2005 to 15 Jan 2006). A week of forward movement for Mexico (08 Jul 1993 to 15 Jul 1993) and a significant movement for the Philippines (22 Dec 1997 to 08 Mar 1998). F2A Forward movement for all chargeability areas, China, India and Philippines (22 Sep 2010 to 22 Oct 2010). Good forward movement for Mexico as well (01 Sept 2010 t...