Labor Immigration Law

Our firm handles a fair amount of appeals with the Administrative Appeals Office (AAO) and we often receive inquiries not only about about the procedural aspects of an AAO appeal but also about the current processing times for AAO cases.

About the AAO

The AAO is an appeals office which handles appeals of certain decisions made by USCIS field offices and regional procssing centers.  The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requires that all AAO decisions be made available to the public.  As a result, AAO decisions are accessible in reading rooms at USCIS headquarters here in Washington, DC and at field offices.  Also, some (but not all) AAO decisions are available online.

Current AAO Processing Times

USCIS has released the average processing times for cases pending at the Administrative Appeals Office (AAO) as of October 1, 2009  Overall, we notice delays across all categories.

Among the most notable AAO processing times:

• H-1B appeal takes 13 months (decrease from the 16 months processing last reported as of September 1, 2009);
• I-140 EB1 Extraordinary Ability takes 5 months (compared with 8 months as of September 1, 2009), Multinational Manager or Executive takes 10 months (no change) while EB1 Outstanding Professor or Researcher category is current (meaning less than 6 months);
• I-140 EB2 (Advanced Degree) takes 27 months (compared to 26 months as of September 1, 2009) while EB2 (NIW) is current (meaning less than 6 months); and
• I-140 EB3 Skilled Worker takes 23 months (compared to 22 months as of September 1, 2009) while EB3 Other Worker takes 21 months on appeal (compared to 20 months as of September 1, 2009) on appeal.

Read the full AAO Processing Times report.

USCIS released updated information on the numbers of cap-subject H-1Bs filed since April 1.  As of Friday, September 25, USCIS has received approximately 46,700 H-1B petitions counting toward the 65,000 cap.   USCIS will continue to accept petitions subject to the general cap.   Additionally, USCIS has received approximately 20,000 petitions for aliens with advanced degrees; however, it will continue to accept advanced degree petitions since experience has shown that not all petitions received are approvable.

The numbers, as of September 25th, indicate that there was a notable increase (of about 700) in the number of H-1B petitions, compared to September 18, 2009 (or for the past one week).    Based on our tracking of the H-1B numbers, this increase shows a notable weekly uptick in the numbers of H-1B filings.  Despite this weekly increase of 700 H-1B petitions, the rate of new H-1B filings is expected to remain steady and the H-1B cap to remain open for some months ahead.

The Department of State opens the DV-2011 Diversity Visa (a.k.a. “green card”) lottery.  The entries for this year’s lottery must be submitted electronically between noon, Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) (GMT-4), Friday, October 2, 2009, and noon, Eastern Standard Time (EST) (GMT-5), Monday, November 30, 2009.

Applicants may access the electronic Diversity Visa entry form (E-DV) at www.dvlottery.state.gov during the registration period. Paper entries will not be accepted. Applicants are strongly encouraged not to wait until the last week of the registration period to enter. Heavy demand may result in website delays. No entries will be accepted after noon EST on November 30, 2009.

About the DV Lottery

The congressionally mandated Diversity Immigrant Visa Program is administered on an annual basis by the Department of State and conducted under the terms of Section 203(c) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA). Section 131 of the Immigration Act of 1990 (Pub. L. 101-649) amended INA 203 and provides for a class of immigrants known as “diversity immigrants.” Section 203(c) of the INA provides a maximum of 55,000 Diversity Visas (DVs) each fiscal year to be made available to persons from countries with low rates of immigration to the United States.

The annual DV program makes visas available to persons meeting simple, but strict, eligibility requirements. A computer-generated, random lottery drawing chooses selectees for DVs. The visas are distributed among six geographic regions, with a greater number of visas going to regions with lower rates of immigration, and with no visas going to nationals of countries sending more than 50,000 immigrants to the United States over the period of the past five years. Within each region, no single country may receive more than seven percent of the available DVs in any one year.Countries Ineligible

For DV-2011, natives of the following countries are not eligible to apply because the countries sent a total of more than 50,000 immigrants to the United States in the previous five years:

BRAZIL, CANADA, CHINA (mainland-born), COLOMBIA, DOMINICAN REPUBLIC, ECUADOR, EL SALVADOR, GUATEMALA, HAITI, INDIA, JAMAICA, MEXICO, PAKISTAN, PERU, PHILIPPINES, POLAND, SOUTH KOREA, UNITED KINGDOM (except Northern Ireland) and its dependent territories, and VIETNAM. Persons born in Hong Kong SAR, Macau SAR, and Taiwan are eligible.