528

Pageviews last month

August 14, 2015

IMMIGRATION AND POLICY BY NYC BUSINESS IMMIGRATION LAWYER - Phone (212) 564-1589: 2015 SEPTEMBER BULLETIN VISA UPDATE

IMMIGRATION AND POLICY BY NYC BUSINESS IMMIGRATION LAWYER - Phone (212) 564-1589: 2015 SEPTEMBER BULLETIN VISA UPDATE: LAW OFFICES OF NORKA M. SCHELL BLOG 11 Broadway, Suite 615 New York, NY 10004 Tel. (212)564-1589 / (973)621-9300 Website www.law...

2015 SEPTEMBER BULLETIN VISA UPDATE


LAW OFFICES OF NORKA M. SCHELL BLOG

11 Broadway, Suite 615
New York, NY 10004
Tel. (212)564-1589 / (973)621-9300



Here is a summary of the availability of immigrant visas during the September 2015 released by the U.S. Department of State.


FAMILY-SPONSORED PREFERENCES
Family-SponsoredAll Chargeability Areas Except Those ListedCHINA-mainland bornINDIAMEXICOPHILIPPINES
F115DEC0715DEC07 15DEC0715NOV9422OCT00
F2A01MAR1401MAR1401MAR1401FEB1401MAR14
F2B22DEC0822DEC0822DEC0815JUL95 08SEP04
F308MAY0408MAY0408MAY0422MAY9415SEP93
F415JAN0315JAN0315JAN0315MAR9701MAR92



EMPLOYMENT-BASED PREFERENCES

Employment- Based
All Chargeability Areas Except Those Listed
CHINA - mainland bornINDIAMEXICOPHILIPPINES
1stCCCCC
2ndC01JAN0601JAN06CC
3rd15AUG1522DEC0422DEC0415AUG1522DEC04
Other Workers15AUG1501JAN0422DEC0415AUG1522DEC04
4thCCCCC
Certain Religious WorkersCCCCC
5th
Targeted
Employment
Areas/
Regional Centers
and Pilot Programs
C22SEP13CCC
LAW OFFICES OF NORKA M. SCHELL BLOG

11 Broadway, Suite 615
New York, NY 10004
Tel. (212)564-1589 / (973)621-9300


The U.S. District Court for the District of Colombia significantly curtailed        immigration benefits for foreign students in the United States on F-1 visas. In her opinion in the case Washington Alliance of Technology Workers vs. U.S. Department of Homeland Security, U.S. District Judge Ellen Segal Hovelled        invalidated USCIS’s 2008 17-month Optional Practical Training (OPT) extension rule. DHS argued that it had good cause to publish the regulation in 2008 as an emergency rule because thousands of highly skilled individual educated at U.S.
colleges and universities would otherwise have been forced to leave the U.S.  Judge Hovelled held that DHS failed to show it faced an emergency situation in 2008 that exempted it from carrying out the notice and comment requirement, 
thus making DHS’ rule invalid.

Judge Hovelled stayed her decision until February 12, 2016 because the “immediate vacatur of the 2008 Rule would be seriously disruptive” and “would force ‘thousands of foreign students with work authorizations . . . to scramble to depart the United States.’” 

Unless DHS passes a new rule this decision will adversely affect three key areas of business immigration:

1.  F-1 STEM work authorizations will stop being valid on February 12, 2016. This will affect both F-1 students who currently hold STEM OPT as well as individuals who would be eligible for STEM OPT as of February 12, 2016.
2.  H-1B/F-1 cap gap will no longer be automatic.  DHS will have to formally announce that the H-1B cap is met and then publish a notice in the federal register. This will result in uncertainty for both employers and F-1 students, as “cap Gap” protections will no longer be automatic but will instead depend on affirmative action by DHS.

3.  F-1 students will only be permitted to apply for work authorization while still in school; post- graduation applications will be no longer available.

The litigation continues and hopefully, STEM OPT will not be interrupted.