John Valdez’s Legal Blog

It is only February, but already the direction of immigration is shaping up.  Once again, there are no H-1B visas, as the cap has been filled.  The visa bulletin is extremely backlogged, which means that the wait for most immigrant visas is very, very long.  The government is readying to conduct a record number of […]

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One of the pleasant surprises for nonimmigrants this year has been the availability of H-1B visas.  Normally, the H-1B Cap is reached long before people can begin using them on October 1st of each new fiscal year.  This year, because of the weak job market, many fewer people have applied for H-1B status.  The result […]

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It is always nice to pass along good immigration news.  The good news is that Congress has extended some immigration programs that help foreign nationals come to the United States.  In the 2010 Homeland Security Appropriations Act (H.R. 2892), Congress extends, for three years, the EB-5 permanent resident program for immigrant investors, the Conrad 30 […]

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On October 23, 2009, the USCIS announced that, in certain circumstances, it would allow H-1B sponsors to file H-1B petitions without an approved Labor Condition Application (”LCA”).  In particular, in the notice the USCIS adopts the Ombudsman’s recommendations to allow the following:
(1) Reinstate USCIS’ previous practice of temporarily accepting an H-1B petition (Form I-129) supported […]

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Good news in the immigration field is hard to come by lately.  Indeed, it seems that the lines for green cards are hopelessly long.  The November Visa Bulletin did little to change things.
The new Visa Bulletin reports that the wait for a 3rd preference immigrant visa is seven years for those in the world-wide category.  If […]

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