BAGON LAW FIRM

WASHINGTON - U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced today that it has received a sufficient number of H-1B petitions to reach the statutory cap of 65,000 for fiscal year (FY) 2012. USCIS is notifying the public that yesterday, Nov. 22, 2011, was the final receipt date for new H-1B specialty occupation petitions requesting an employment start date in FY 2012. Properly filed cases will be considered received on the date that USCIS physically receives the petition; not the date that the petition was postmarked. USCIS will reject cap-subject petitions for new H-1B specialty occupation workers seeking an employment start date in FY 2012 that arrive after Nov. 22, 2011. As of Oct. 19, 2011, USCIS had also received more than 20,000 H-1B petitions filed on behalf of persons exempt from the cap under the ‘advanced degree’ exemption. USCIS will continue to accept and process petitions that are otherwise exempt from the cap. In addition, petitions filed on be...

Visa Bulletin For December 2011 FAMILY F1 : There is a forward movement for all chargeability areas, China, India and Philippines and a week of movement for Mexico (01APR93 to 08APR93). F2A:  Forward movement for MEXICO (01DEC08 to 08FEB09) and for all others (15FEB09 to 22MAR09). F2B: Same forward movement for all chargeability areas, China and India (01AUG03 to 15AUG03)and also forward movement for  the Philippines (15JUL01 to 15AUG01). No movement for Mexico.                F3: Same forward movement for all chargeability areas, China and India (22SEP01 to 08 OCT01), also forward movement for the Philippines (22JUN92 to 08JUL92) and slight movement for Mexico (08DEC92 to 15DEC92).         F4: Same forward movement for all chargeability areas, China and India (15JUN00 to 15JUL00), also slight forward movement for the Philippines (22AUG88 to 08SEP88) and Mexico (22APR96 t...

WASHINGTON - U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Director Alejandro Mayorkas announced on October 25, 2011 the launch of an enhanced Employment Authorization Document (EAD) and a redesigned Certificate of Citizenship (Form N-560) with new features to strengthen security and deter fraud. As part of USCIS’s ongoing efforts to enhance the integrity of the immigration system, the state-of-the-art technology incorporated into the new documents will deter counterfeiting, obstruct tampering, and facilitate quick and accurate authentication. USCIS began issuing the new EADs today and will begin using the redesigned certificates on Oct. 30. The agency anticipates that more than 1 million people will receive the new documents over the next year. The new features of the EAD will better equip workers, employers and law enforcement officials to recognize the card as definitive proof of authorization to work in the United States. Additionally, USCIS employs a n...