LitwinLawNewsletter-7-1-07
July 1, 2007
Headlines:
- 1. Immigration Reform Bill Dies in Senate – On a procedural vote, the Senate killed the bipartisan bill on comprehensive immigration reform that has been the subject of much debate and controversy and that had the support of President Bush. We’ll see if it gets resurrected once more – I think we have not heard the end of it.
- 2. DOS Suddenly Announces No More Employment-Based Visa Numbers – In a stunning policy reversal, the Department of State suddenly announced that, effective July 2, 2007, all employment-based immigrant visa preference numbers are unavailable until October 1. What a ridiculous turn of events! This is something to strongly complain to your congressman about!
- 3. USCIS Issues Interim Guidance on Final Labor Certification Rule – USCIS has released interim guidance on the DOL’s final rule, effective July 16, 2007. Substitution of foreign nationals will not be allowed for labor certifications filed after July 16th. Labor certifications will expire 180 days after approval, if a form I-140 is not filed by then. Also, after that date, no foreign nationals’ company attorney’s fees related to a labor certification.
- 4. Premium Processing Service Suspended Through July – The suspension of premium processing service will last for at least 30 days, beginning on July 2.
- 5. USCIS Issues Reminder on New Fees – USCIS has issued a reminder that the agency’s new fee schedule takes effect on July 30, 2007. Just keep in mind: Filing fees are going up!
- 6. California Service Center Experiencing Delays – The California Service Center is experiencing system problems that are causing delays in the printing of certain notices. So what else is new?!
- 7. SSA Releases Guidance on Social Security Number Matches – The SSA has released new technical guidance on the return file format for online Social Security Number verifications, effective August 25, 2007.
Also in this issue:
Details…
1. Immigration Reform Bill Dies in Senate
On a procedural vote on June 28, 2007, the Senate killed (46-53) the bipartisan bill on comprehensive immigration reform that has been the subject of much debate and controversy and that had the support of President Bush. Comprehensive immigration reform legislation is not likely to be taken up again before the 2008 election. Democratic majority leader Harry Reid, however, held out hope that pieces of the legislation could be passed separately, such as a program for agricultural workers. According to sources, Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Cal.) plans to attach that program, dubbed AgJobs, to other legislation in upcoming months.
Among other things, the new bill would have established a temporary guest worker program, and would have introduced a “points system” instead of many of the current employment-based visa categories. Those with education and experience, particularly in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields, and those with English skills would have been be favored under the legislation. The bill, which contained additional enforcement provisions, also would have allowed many of the estimated 12 million undocumented immigrants currently in the United States to eventually legalize their status. The cap on H-1B temporary professional workers would have been increased from 65,000 to 115,000 for fiscal year 2008, with a possible increase to 180,000 in following years.
Jack Shandley, vice president of meatpacker Swift & Company, seemed to sum up the sentiments of many who feel that business owners are between a rock and a hard place under the current system: “Immigration policy is divorced from enforcement, and the American employer, for one, is caught in the middle,” he said.
The defeated Senate bill’s text is available at
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d110:SN01639 :.
2. DOS Suddenly Announces No More Employment-Based Visa Numbers
After having stated on June 13 that the EB-1, EB-2, and EB-3 employment-based visa categories would be current for all countries in July, the Department of State (DOS) suddenly announced that effective July 2, 2007, all employment-based green card numbers have been used up for the rest of this fiscal year. DOS blamed the reversal on “sudden backlog reduction efforts” by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) during the past month, which resulted in the use of almost 60,000 employment-based numbers. DOS said that employment-based numbers once again will be available beginning October 1, 2007, under the FY 2008 annual numerical limitation.
In light of this revision of the July Visa Bulletin, USCIS has announced that it is rejecting applications to adjust status filed by foreign citizens whose priority dates are not current under the revised July Visa Bulletin.
The Academy of Business Immigration Lawyers (ABIL) believes the actions by DOS and USCIS are illegal. The revision to the July Visa Bulletin in effect is a new agency “rule” that required prior public notice and an opportunity to comment before the change could take effect under the Administrative Procedure Act. In ABIL’s view, the revision to the July Visa Bulletin and the actions in response taken by USCIS violate the requirements of President Bush’s January 18, 2007, Executive Order requiring prior review of “significant guidance documents” by the Office of Management and Budget.
ABIL also believes that these agency actions are contrary to settled agency practice. For many years, DOS’s practice has been to maintain the immigrant visa cut-off dates in place during the entire month for which the Visa Bulletin is published. The public, employers, foreign nationals, and the legal community all have relied on the agency’s longstanding practice. Because DOS and USCIS provided no advance notice or opportunity for comment, ABIL believes the revised July Visa Bulletin should not be given legal effect.
The Legal Action Center of the American Immigration Law Foundation (AILF) will file a lawsuit this week seeking to reverse these agency actions and require the acceptance of adjustment of status applications during the month of July. AILF is seeking plaintiffs who can show the hardships and costs they incurred as a result of the agencies’ actions. The American Immigration Lawyers Association and others are also working with USCIS and DOS to try to reach some sort of agreement. These organizations are also pushing for legislation that will address the EB retrogression and H-1B cap issues that Congress seemed willing to pass before comprehensive immigration reform legislation failed in the Senate. Now that the legislation is dead, the EB retrogression and H-1B provisions could be tacked onto another bill, with enough pressure from companies and individuals. Please contact your ABIL member for legal advice or if you’d like to help these organizations continue this fight on your behalf. Please also contact your representatives in Congress.
Meanwhile, Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Cal.) issued a statement in response to DOS’s update of the July Visa Bulletin and the subsequent rejection of applications for adjustment of status by USCIS. She said that DOS and USCIS “have seriously undermined the stability and predictability of U.S. immigration law. Thousands of individuals and businesses rely on the monthly bulletins to prepare and plan for the submission of applications. In addition, thousands of dollars in legal fees and other application-related expenses are incurred in preparation for filing applications based on the these monthly bulletins.” Rep. Lofgren wrote letters to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff asking them to reconsider. The USCIS announcement stating that it will reject all adjustment of status applications filed by individuals whose priority date is not current per the revised Visa Bulletin.
3. USCIS Issues Interim Guidance on Final Labor Certification Rule
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has released interim guidance on the Department of Labor (DOL)’s final rule, effective July 16, 2007, which applies to permanent labor certification applications and approved certifications filed under both the Program Electronic Review Management (PERM) program and previous regulations governing the permanent labor certification program.
The DOL rule’s major provisions include a prohibition on the substitution of beneficiaries, a 180-day validity period for approved labor certifications, a requirement that employers pay the costs of labor certification, the establishment of procedures for debarment from the permanent labor certification program, and clarification of the DOL’s “no modifications” policy for applications filed on or after March 28, 2005, under the PERM process.
USCIS said it will continue to accept Immigrant Petitions for Alien Worker (Forms I-140) that request labor certification substitution that are filed before July 16, 2007. I-140 petitions that request labor certification substitution and are filed before July 16, 2007, will be adjudicated to completion according to the procedures outlined in the March 1996 DOL Delegation Memorandum of Understanding, to include the adjudication of any relating motions to reopen or reconsider, or an appeal (Form I-290B) by the Administrative Appeals Office.
With the exception noted below, USCIS will reject I-140 petitions that require an approved labor certification that are filed with a supporting approved labor certification that has expired. Such petitions that are accepted by USCIS in error will be denied based on the fact that the petition was filed without a valid approved labor certification. Exception: USCIS will continue to accept amended or duplicate I-140 petitions that are filed with a copy of a labor certification that is expired at the time the amended or duplicate I-140 petition is filed, if the original approved labor certification was filed in support of a previously filed petition during the labor certification’s validity period. Such filings may occur when a new petition is required due to successor-in-interest, where the petitioning employer wishes to file a new petition subsequent to the denial, revocation, or abandonment of the previously filed petition and the labor certification was not invalidated due to material misrepresentation or fraud relating to the labor certification application; in instances where the amended petition is requesting a different visa classification from the one requested in the previously filed petition; or when the previously filed I-140 has been determined to have been lost by USCIS or the Department of State.
USCIS’s press release, dated June 1, 2007
4. Premium Processing Service Suspended Through July
Effective July 2, 2007, USCIS has temporarily suspended premium processing service for the Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker (Form I-140). USCIS said it anticipates a substantial increase in the number of petitioning employers that will file such petitions because of “pent up demand for preference visa categories.” The volume of I-140 petitions filed that request premium processing service is expected to exceed USCIS’s capacity to provide the service, which guarantees that within 15 calendar days of receipt of a petition, USCIS will issue an approval notice, a notice of intent to deny, or a request for evidence, or will open an investigation for fraud or misrepresentation.
The suspension of premium processing service will last for at least 30 days, beginning on July 2, 2007, and ending on August 1, 2007. During t
his period, USCIS will determine whether it is able to process these cases within 15 calendar days of receipt. If so, premium processing service once again will be made available for I-140 petitions.
5. USCIS Issues Reminder on New Fees
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has issued a reminder that the agency’s new fee schedule takes effect on July 30, 2007. Applications or petitions postmarked or otherwise filed on or after that date must include the new fees. USCIS announced the new fee schedule last month. Under the new schedule, application and petition fees will increase, on average, about 66 percent.
6. California Service Center Experiencing Delays
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services’ California Service Center (CSC) is experiencing system problems that are causing delays in the printing of certain notices. USCIS said it believes the delays are primarily affecting approval notices for cases decided between April 2007 and the present, although production of some receipt notifications may be affected as well. USCIS said it “is attempting to identify the source of the problem and generate the delayed notices as quickly as possible.”
7. SSA Releases Guidance on Social Security Number Mismatches
The Social Security Administration (SSA) has released new technical guidance on the return file format for online Social Security Number verifications, effective August 25, 2007.
In general, there are two Internet verification options employers may use to verify that employee names and Social Security numbers match the SSA’s records. An employer may verify up to 10 names and SSNs (per screen) online and receive immediate results, such as to verify new hires. An employer also may upload overnight files of up to 250,000 names and SSNs and usually receive results the next government business day, the SSA said. This option may be used to verify an entire payroll database or when hiring a large number of workers. Although the service is available to all employers and third-party submitters, it can only be used to verify current or former employees and only for wage reporting (Form W-2) purposes.
The SSA’s new guidance is available at http://www.ssa.gov/employer/SSNVSTechfactSheet07.pdf. Additional information and instructions on how to use the Social Security Number Verification Service are available at http://www.ssa.gov/employer/ssnv.htm.
Follow these links to access current processing times of the USCIS Service Centers and the Department of Labor, or the Department of State’s latest Visa Bulletin with the most recent cut-off dates for visa numbers:
USCIS Service Center processing times online: https://egov.uscis.gov/cris/processTimesDisplayInit.do
Department of Labor processing times and information on backlogs:
Disclaimer/Reminder
This does not constitute direct legal advice and is for informational purposes only. The information provided should never replace informed counsel when specific immigration-related guidance is needed.
