The Department of State has just released the April 2012 Visa Bulletin.
| April 2012 Visa Bulletin | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| All Other Countries | China | India | Mexico | |
| EB-2 | Current | 01MAY10 | 01MAY10 | Current |
| EB-3 | 08APR06 | 01MAR05 | 01SEP02 | 08APR06 |
The Fiscal Year 2013 (FY2013) H-1B cap season will begin on April 1, 2012. Last year (FY2012), the H-1B cap moved very slowly — only 8,000 H-1Bs were received in April 2011. The slow pace continued through the spring and summer. As the US economy improved, the H-1B pace quickened. The H-1B cap was reached in November 2011.
On a histocial basis, FY2012 moved very slowly. In FY 2011, which began April 1, 2010, the USCIS had receipted about 20,000 H-1Bs through May 1, 2010. In FY 2009, there were about 40,000 H-1Bs receipted in by USCIS through May 1, 2009. For the prior three fiscal years (FY 2006-08), the H-1B cap was reached on the very first day of filing.
It is unknown what the FY2013 H-1B demand will be. In speaking with some clients, MU expects the H-1B cap to move quicker than last year. However, MU expects that the H-1B cap will remain open until at least mid-summer.
If you are considering filing an H-1B cap-subject petition, MU urges you to begin that process now.
Many healthcare professions ordinarily qualify for H-1B status, including Physical Therapists, Occupational Therapists, Speech Language Therapists, and some Registered Nursing positions.
International workers who are working in the U.S. on an H-1B visa with another cap-subject employer are not subject to H-1B cap. These cases are commonly referred to as “H-1B transfer” cases and may be filed at any time throughout the year.
Employees that need a “cap-subject” H-1B include:
* International students working on an EAD card under an OPT or CPT program after having attended a U.S. school
* International employees working on a TN may need an H-1B filed for them in order for them to pursue a permanent residency (green card) case
* Prospective international employees in another visa status e.g. H-4, L-2, J-1, F-1
* H-1B workers with a cap exempt organization
* Prospective international employees currently living abroad
MU receives many emails about the nurse immigration process and retrogression. We have prepared this article explaining these issues.
Part One
Registered Nurses must clear many hurdles before they are eligible for a US immigrant visa (Green card). The nurse must get into a good university and work hard to take and pass their exams. They must then have their education evaluated against the American standard.
Once that happens the nurse must pass the US licensing exam: the National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX). This is the same examination taken by thousands of US nurses every year. Foreign-trained nurses must also take and pass an English fluency examination. All of these items must be evaluated by an independent organization, the Commission on Graduates of Foreign Nursing Schools (CGFNS).
Lastly, the nurse must find a US employer who is willing to extend an offer of employment where the wage is not less than the average of similarly employed nurses. Once the offer is extended and the nurse accepts the offer, she is fully eligible to have a US EB-3 green card filed on her behalf.
The lawyer works with the nurse, the employer, and the recruiter to properly file a green card petition. This establishes the nurse’s “priority date.” The green card petition is reviewed by a qualified USCIS officer who may ask for further evidence in the event that there are additional data needed to approve the petition. Finally, the EB-3 green card petition approved!
And then the nurse waits. And waits. And waits. Presently the US Consulates and Embassies are allowed to issue an EB-3 green card to a nurse whose green card petition was filed with a priority date from early 2006 – essentially a six year wait.
Musillo Unkenholt is pleased to announce that we will be moving our office. Effective Monday February 27, 2012 our new address will be:
Musillo Unkenholt, LLC
205 West Fourth Street, Suite 1200
Cincinnati, OH 45202
We are moving into the historic Cincinnati Textile Building. As a result of the move we will be clsoing our office at 2PM ET on Friday and we also expect to be closed on Monday.
Our phone number, fax number, and email addresses will remain the same. If you are in the Cincinnati area, please let us know; we would love to show off our new larger modern office!
| March 2012 Visa Bulletin | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| All Other Countries | China | India | Mexico | |
| EB-2 | Current | 01MAY10 | 01MAY10 | Current |
| EB-3 | 15MAR06 | 01JAN05 | 22AUG02 | 15MAR06 |
The American Immigration Lawyers Association’s Business Committee Chairs met with the Department of State’s Charles Oppenheim last week. Based on the meeting, AILA predicts that EB-2 numbers will jump another six months when the March 2012 Visa Bulletin is published in mid-February. This jump of priority dates comes after several months of rapid progression of priority dates in the EB-2 category. The EB-2 progression will stop at that point until the summer. There was no prediction about the progression of EB-3 petitions.
Charles Oppenheim is the Department of State’s Chief of the Control and Reporting Division. He is the officer who is responsible for producing the Visa Bulletin each month. Both Mr. Oppenheim and the USCIS are surprised at how low the demand has been for employment-based green cards in 2011-12. Mr. Oppenheim says that about 10-15% of all employment-based green cards are Consular Processed and 85-90% are Adjustment of Status petitions.
There has been anecdotal evidence that there are many EB-3 to EB-2 upgrades, although the true impact on EB-3 priority dates is still unknown. The slow advancement of priority dates in early Fiscal Year 2011 was due in part by these upgrades. Mr. Oppenheim’s office does not clear an upgraded EB-3 number until the upgraded EB-2 petition is approved.
