Labor Immigration Law

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (“USCIS”) has provided some updates and insight into their operations and future plans during the annual AILA conference:

• Premium Processing for I-140.  Some I-140s which were previously eligible for premium processing may be made again eligible.  Expected this summer.

• H-1B Application Process to be Redesigned.  USCIS is working on reengineering the H-1B application process to go into effect for the FY2011 H-1B filings.  Under the planned H-1B application process, employers will file a petition online with limited information and if the limited-information petition is selected, then the remaining forms and full documentation will be requried to be submitted.

• Case Resolution Problems.  USCIS has changed the case problem resolution process.  Under the new system, customers are required to call the National Customer Service Center (“NCSC”, at 1-800-375-5283) and make an inquiry.  If the inquiry is not resolved within 30 days, customers may contact the applicable service center by email and provide the date the initial inquiry was made, the referral NCSC number and the ID of the customer service rep.  Email inquiries should be directed as follows:  CSC – csc-ncsc-followup@dhs.gov;  NSC – ils.nebraska@dhs.gov; TSC – tsc.ncscfollowup@dhs.gov; and VSC – vsc.ncscfollowup@dhs.gov.

• As we reported previously, the Nebraska and Texas Service Centers are pre-adjudicating I-485 adjustment cases.  USCIS reports that as of May 30, 2009, they have pre-adjudicated 110,000 EB adjustment cases and such cases are now awaiting a visa number to be approved.

• USCIS is in the process of introducing a new I-551 card (the green card) and they are updating equipment for the enhanced features.  As a result, there is a delay in issuing I-551 cards. Field offices are being authorized to issue temporary I-551 stamps in family cases at the conclusion of interviews when the case is approved.   Employment-based I-551s are being issued first as these individuals are not generally interviewed. Employment-based immigrants may obtain a temporary stamp by making an InfoPass appointment.

Last week we provide a number of updates from the Nebraska Service Center.  This week we provided some updates from the Texas Service Center (“TSC”).  The TSC updates come from the senior management and are as of May 19, 2009.

Processing Numbers.   TSC has shown improvement in the processing numbers.  Previously, TSC was processing between 3,000-4,000 I-140s and concurrent I-140/I-485sper month.  Recently, TSC has improved to 3,500-4,500 such cases per month.  TSC’s goal is to improve the processing of I-140s down to 4 months by June 2009 (this month!).

Pre-processing.  Similarly to the Nebraska Service Center, TSC is pre-processing (or “pre-adjudicating”) I-485s.  TSC reported that they have pre-processed 85,000 I-485s which are in queue for processing and are waiting for a visa number to be available.

July 2007 “tsunami”.  TSC reported that they have “almost completed”  adjudication of I-140s filed during the “visa tsunami” of July and August 2007.

We have received some general updates from the Nebraska Service Center (NSC) and we would like to share them with you as they provide some useful insight into NSC’s operations:

Backlog.  The net overall backlog at the end of first quarter of FY2009 was 250,000 cases; reduced to 87,500 cases by the end of the 2nd quarter of FY2009.  NSC expects that by June 2009 there would be no case backlog.  Additionally, the I-140 backlog was 40,000 in October 2008, as of May 2009 it is down to 10,000.

Receipts.  There has been a notable decrease in receipts in new cases.  There were 80,000 issued in October 2008 while there were less than 40,000 receipts issued in January 2009.  There has been a slight increase since January to about 50,000 receipts per month.  Since receipts have decreased, the adjudicators have been able to catch up and even review cases from other centers.  NSC has been reviewing I-130 from the California Service Center and some standalone I-140s from the Texas Service Center to help reduce the national backlog.

Preadjudicating I-485s.  The EB-485 at NSC has been “pre-adjudicating” cases to try and have them done but-for the priority date being current.  This means that it is possible to obtain RFEs or NOIDs on cases which do not have current priority dates.

We have received some inquiries about transfers of I-140s from the Texas Service Center (TSC) to the Nebraska Service Center (NSC).  There also seems to be some discussion on various Internet discussion boards as to what is the reason behind this transfer.

The NSC Liaison has confirmed that TSC transferred a number of standalone I-140s to NSC in order to help achieve the target 4-month processing time.

The Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Immigration Statistics has released its annual U.S. Permanent Residents: 2008 report.   The report provides a summary of the approvals of the various types of legal permanent resident (LPR) petitions.  According to the report, in 2008, a total of 1,107,126 persons became LPRs.  Of these, 58% already lived in the U.S. (and adjusted status, Form I-485).  Nearly 65% were granted LPR based on family relationship with a U.S. citizen or LPR.  The leading countries were Mexico (17%), China (7%) and India (6%).

The report provides a very useful breakdown by category and year which allows us to analyze the trends in green card approvals.  It is important to note that both 2007 and 2008 noted a slight decrease in the total number of green cards given.  In 2006, DHS recorded  1,266,129 green cards.  The decrease in 2008 is wholly attributed to a decrease in the family-based petitions. Despite this slight decrease, the numbers of green cards approved for each of the family-based categories remained fairly stable over the past three years.

The employment-based petitions in 2008 increased from 159,081 (2006) to 162,176 (2007) to 166,511 (2008).  It is interesting to note that the number of EB-1 petitions remained stable, while the number of EB-2 green cards approved increased significantly, more than 3 times from 21,911 (2006) to 70,046 (2008).   On the other hand, EB-2 recorded a significant decrease, from 89,922 (2006) and 85,030 (2007) to only 48,903 in 2008.  What do these numbers mean?  We think that they suggest a trend in that many applicants for green cards who are in EB-3 are, after many years of waiting, trying to upgrade and ultimately succeeding in obtaining their green cards approved under the EB-2 category.

We have been receiving calls and emails from employment-based applicants for green card asking us whether they have a second green card process started by a new company.  Generally, the inquiries are from EB-3 beneficiaries who are eligible and would like to start an EB-2 application.  Most of these inquiries come from individuals from countries for which visa numbers are not available or severely backlogged (India, for example).

Beneficiaries who have an I-140 approved are eligible to retain their priority date if they have another I-140 approved for the same or a different EB category.   Under 8 CFR § 204.5(e), if more than one I-140 is approved for a single beneficiary, the beneficiary gets the benefit of the earliest priority date even if the I-140s are approved in different EB categories.

In a recent USCIS/AILS Liaison exchange, USCIS has acknowledged that the approval notice for the second I-140 should automatically reflect the earlier priority date if the beneficiary is eligible to retain it.  However, USCIS has confirmed our practice at the Capitol Immigration Law Group to clearly mark the the second I-140 filing (by bright cover sheet and including a copy of the earlier I-140 approval notice showing the earlier priority date).   USCIS has advised that second I-140s which do not retain the earlier priority date should be corrected by calling the NCSC (or Division 12 at CSC).

About 6 months ago, USCIS made premium processing available to certain cases where the I-140 beneficiary is in danger of  H-ing out. (Our original stories.)  USCIS has just announced that it is expanding the I-140 premium processing program.  Currently, only beneficiaries who are in H-1B status at the time of  the filing of the I-140 may request premium processing.  The new program, which becomes effective March 2, 2009, will allow beneficiaries who have reached or are reaching the limitation on their stay in H-1B nonimmigrant status to request premium processing.

Eligibility Criteria

I-140 Premium Processing, starting March 2, 2009, will be available to beneficiaries who, as of the date of filing the premium processing request:

• are the beneficiary of a Form I-140 petition filed in a preference category that has been designated for premium processing service;
• have reached the sixth-year statutory limitation of their H-1B stay, or will reach the end of their sixth year of H-1B stay within 60 days of filing;
• are only eligible for a further H-1B extension under section 104(c) of the American Competitiveness in the Twenty-first Century Act of 2000 (AC21) (which allows beneficiaries to extend H-1B in 3-year increments if I-140 is approved and a visa number is not immediately available); and
• are ineligible to extend their H-1B status under section 106(a) of AC21.

Documents Needed by USCIS to Determine Eligibility

USCIS has indicated that certain documents are helpful to determine the premium processing eligibility of a particular  I-140 application:

• Copies of all Forms I-94, Arrival/Departure Record and I-797 H-1B or L approval notices that have been issued on his or her behalf;
• A copy of the relating Form I-140 petition receipt notice if the form was previously filed; and,
• A copy of the labor certification approval letter issued by the Department of Labor, if filing under the EB-2 or EB-3 classifications.

Conclusion

By expanding the premium processing program for I-140s, USCIS effectively expands the window in which the premium processing request may be filed.  Previously,  only holders of valid H-1B status who had 60 days or less remaining on their status were eligible.  Now, under the new rule, premium processing can be filed 60 days before the expiration of H-1B status or after it expires.

The current Processing Times Report for the Nebraska Service Center (NSC) as of September 30, 2008 indicates that NSC is processing I-140 (EB-3) petitions filed on or before August 2, 2007.  However, NSC has indicated that they are still processing cases filed from July 1, 2007 through August 2, 2007, and it will be a couple of months before the cases filed during the 2007 Visa Bulletin “window of opportunity” are fully in process.

The Vermont Service Center (VSC) has issued a practice pointer on the circumstances under which VSC will transfer a priority date to a subsequent petition.

Retaining an earlier priority date is possible when:

1. If the same petitioner (employer) and beneficiary (employee) are parties to both the original and the subsequent petitions (under 8 C.F.R. 204.2(h)(2)) and:
   1. the subsequent petition is for the same preference classification;
   2. the original petition has not been terminated pursuant to 203(g);
   3. the original petition has not been revoked pursuant to 205; and
   4. an immigrant visa has not been issued to the beneficiary based on the original petition.
2. If the Service erred in any way on the prior petition, an earlier priority date may be granted to correct the error on the subsequent petition.
3. If derivative beneficiary of a family-based second preference immigrant petition (F2A) ages out (under 8 C.F.R. 204.2(a)(4)).

The Texas Service Center (TSC) has introduced a new email procedure that which is available to attorneys who are AILA members and allows the Texas Service Center to identify I-485s and I-140s which have remained pending beyond TSC processing times posted on USCIS’S website.

According to the new procedure, which is effective immediately, I-485s are subject to the new procedure only when an immigrant visa has been made available, according to the State Department Visa Bulletin.   The new procedure allows submission via email of I-485 cases which are subject to review based on the visa numbers.  An automatic system picks up the cases and determines whether they are subject to review.  If they are, it has some mechanism to prioritize them and distribute the case to a case worker.

The procedures are as follows:

EB I-485 Cases

The procedure may be used by AILA-member  attorneys who see that a visa number is available to his or her client according to the Visa Bulletin.  The inquiry can be submitted as soon as the Visa Bulletin is published.

1. Identify all clients on one email whose visa numbers will be available according to the visa bulletin.
2. Send an email to streamline.tsc@dhs.gov
3. On the subject line, write “EB I-485/”MM” (Example:EB I-485/OCT)
4. In the body of the email, provide A numbers only. The system will use these A numbers to pull cases and distribute them to floor case workers.
5. If the applicant has more than one A number, type both separated by a “/” (Example: A111222333/A444555666)
6. If there are multiple family members, type them all on the same line separated by commas (Example: A111222333, A222333444, A444555666)

I-140 Cases

Attorneys who are AILA members can use this procedure when the filing date is prior to the processing time date for the I-140 as published on the USCIS website.

1. Identify all clients on one email whose filing dates are prior to the published timeframe
2. Send an email to streamline.tsc@dhs.gov
3. On the subject line write “I-140″
4. In the body of the email, provide A numbers only. If there is no A number on the receipt, provide the receipt number only.  (For stand-alone I-140s where the beneficiary is out of the U.S. and will be applying for a visa at the consulate).  Do not provide any additional information as the text of the email will be used to automatically check the submitted cases and pull the cases for distribution to floor case workers.
5. If the applicant has more than one A number, type both separated by a “/” (Example: A111222333/A444555666)

Full text of these instructions is available here.

We are AILA members and we will be happy to assist you in moving your case along using the new TSC streamline procedure.  Please contact us.