CGFNS Prices Increase

CGFNS announced a new pricing structure for its core services and several ancillary services effective January 1, 2010.

The new fee structure includes increases to almost all programs. Included in the price increase are Applications for the Certification Program, the Credentials Evaluation Service, the Visa Credentials Assessment program, the Credential Verification Service for New York State and other ancillary services.

The standard Visa Screen price increases to $540, from $498. The renewal Certificate price is increasing from $250 to $275.

H-1 Cap Has Been Reached

The H-1 cap has been reached. As of December 21, 2009, USCIS has received sufficient petitions to reach the statutory cap for FY2010. USCIS has also received more than 20,000 H-1B petitions on behalf of persons exempt from the cap under the advanced degree exemption. USCIS will reject cap-subject petitions for new H-1B specialty occupation workers seeking an employment start date in FY2010 that are received after December 21, 2009. USCIS will apply a computer-generated random selection process to all petitions that are subject to the cap and were received on December 21, 2009.

Employees that may need an H-1B visa 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; and
- Prospective international employees currently living abroad.

International workers who are working here 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 “transfer” cases and may be filed at any time throughout the year.

Holiday Reading

CIR ASAP (HR 4321) has been published. I have uploaded a copy of it to my docstoc page. Please feel free to download, share, print out, or otherwise distribute. At 640+ pages, it is lengthy.

The Library of Congress’ Thomas database has a hyperlinked version that is better to use if you’re just trying to focus on any one section. The important sections for Healthcare immigration are Chapter I, Title III.

Sec. 301 – Recaptures past unused visa numbers
Sec. 302 – Exempts LPR dependents from the IV quotas.
Sec. 303 – Slightly increases the per country quotas.
Sec. 320 – Provides IV cap exemptions for certain STEM and shortage occupations
Sec. 321 – Allows those with pending IVs to file Adjustment of Status even if their priority date is not current.

Happy Holiday reading!

Summary of CIR ASAP

Both Reform For America and the Immigration Policy Center have summarized CIR ASAP. According to the IPC summary, the ENSRA has been included in CIR ASAP. This means that nursing petitions will be exempt from the Immigrant Visa numbers, which is the legislation that groups such as the AAIHR have been pushing all along.

Here are the other highlights for Healthcare workers and Employers:

- Recapture of all Immigrant Visas (Family & Employment) from 1998-2008. Unfortunately this does not include the largest numbers from the 1990s; (UPDATE- The IPC summary says that the recapture is 1992-2008, which makes more sense and is better)

- STEM occupations exempt from the Immigrant Visa numbers.

- Immediate relatives exempt from Immigrant Visas quotas (this could be enormous and would be responsible for slicing the immigrant visa retrogression backlogs);

- Increases the per country visa cap, thus ameliorating the Indian, Chinese, and Mexican retrogressions;

- Spouses and Children of LPRs are Immediate Relatives and therefore IV quota-free;

- Employers have affirmative obligation to report recruiters working on their behalf and can be held liable for the crimes of the recruiter;

- Before an employer can hire an H-1B worker, the employer must meet strict requirements for the recruitment of American workers. This would also likely help Healthcare Petitions since the Healthcare staffing shortages are well-documented.

Updated from prior posting.

The CIR Battle Begins

On Tuesday, Rep. Luis Gutierrez will unveil his version of Comprehensive Immigration Reform, which he calls CIR ASAP (Comprehensive Immigration Reform for America's Security and Prosperity Act of 2009). CIR ASAP immediately has 10+ co-sponsors.

Rep. Gutierrez has long been a pro-immigration stalwart. The initial version of CIR ASAP is likely more liberal than any future bill. The initial list of co-sponsors does not include any Republican members of Congress.

It will be interesting to see if the Obama Administration comments on CIR ASAP or whether they wait for the Senate version of the bill to weigh in. It is assumed that Sen. Schumer’s office has been working on a tamer version of CIR.

Once CIR ASAP is published, I will review it for impact on Healthcare occupations. CIR ASAP comes on the heels of an impressive study by the Immigration Policy Center that highlights the critical role immigrants play on US healthcare.

The Most Important Visa Bulletin Ever

The January 2010 Visa Bulletin has just been released and it is the most important Visa Bulletin ever released. For the first time, the Department of State has projected future months’ visa numbers.

Based on current indications of demand, the best case scenarios for cut-off dates which will be reached by the end of FY-2010 are:

EB2:
China: July through October 2005
India: February through early March 2005

EB3:
Worldwide: April through August 2005
China: June through September 2003
India: January through February 2002
Mexico: January through June 2004
Philippines: April through August 2005


FY2010 runs until September 30, 2010. Based on these projections, EB3 priority dates should move to mid-2005 by the end of FY-2010. This means that there is a five year processing time for EB3 professions, such as most nursing positions. This is a horrendous processing time. Congress plainly has to enact positive legislation aimed at progressing processing times for shortage occupations such as nursing.

The consolation is that intending immigrants can now plan for when their immigrant visa number will come. Those with EB3 priority dates beyond Summer 2005 should not expect their IV appointment in 2010. Charlie Oppenheim and the Visa Bulletin team deserve credit for producing these estimates. The fault for the long retrogression is with Congress, not with the DOS.

The Visa Bulletin also contains an explanation of the visa number calculation that is required reading for anyone interested in immigrant visa allocation.

H-1 Cap at 61,500 (12/8 Update)

As of December 8, 2009, there are approximately 3,000 H-1Bs still available, which is when the USCIS last updated their page. MU is predicting that the H-1B cap will be reached by next week. Accordingly all MU clients are encouraged to send us their H-1B cap-subject filings ASAP.

Employees that may need an H-1B visa 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; and

- Prospective international employees currently living abroad.International workers who are working here 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 “transfer” cases and may be filed at any time throughout the year.

Many healthcare professions ordinarily qualify for H-1(b) status, including Physical Therapists, Occupational Therapists, Speech Language Therapists, and some Registered Nursing jobs.

From USCIS:

As of December 8, 2009, approximately 61,500 H-1B cap-subject petitions had been filed. USCIS has approved sufficient H-1B petitions for aliens with advanced degrees to meet the exemption of 20,000 from the fiscal year 2010 cap. Any H-1B petitions filed on behalf of an alien with an advanced degree will now count toward the general H-1B cap of 65,000. USCIS will continue to accept both cap-subject petitions and advanced degree petitions until a sufficient number of H-1B petitions have been received to reach the statutory limits, taking into account the fact that some of these petitions may be denied, revoked, or withdrawn.

The DOL Takes One Step Forward, Two Steps Back

The US Department of Labor (DOL) is about to roll out a new Prevailing Wage Determination (PWD) system that centralizes the process. Unfortunately, the DOL is unable to process electronic forms or even faxes. The new process calls for employers to mail in the PWD to the central office. The new regulation, which goes into effect on January 1, 2010, is available on-line.

The PWD is a mandatory part of the immigrant visa process (permanent residency or green card). While employers must still pay a prevailing wage in the nonimmigrant process (e.g. H-1B), it is not a mandatory part of the nonimmigrant process; employers are afforded safe harbor benefits by using the PWD process in nonimmigrant matters.

The present PWD process is straightforward. Employers (or their attorneys) file a PWD with the State Workforce Agency (SWA) that controls the worksite. This has not been ideal. Different states have different processing times, different forms, and different processes. For many years the DOL has contemplated a centralized program.

PWDs will be submitted directly to the new National Prevailing Wage and Helpdesk Center (NPWHC) in Washington D.C. starting January 1, 2010. This should improve the process by adding consistency and uniformity.

The new PWD is the Form ETA-9141, the Application for Prevailing Wage Determination. The PWD must be sent by mail or delivery service to: U.S. Department of Labor-ETA, National Prevailing Wage and Helpdesk Center, Attn: PWD Request; 1341 G Street, NW., Suite 201, Washington, DC 20005- 3142.

The DOL indicated that it is developing an on-line PWD, but it did not commit to a date when the on-line PWD will be available. It is expected that until the on-line Form is ready, the PWD process will slow, perhaps quite considerably if past history is any guide. This is especially disheartening for green card cases, whose processing times have dramatically risen in recent years.

H-1B Cap Running Out

The latest H-1B cap numbers show yet another dramatic uptick in filings. There are approximately 6,000 H-1Bs still available as of November 27, which is when the USCIS last updated their page.

MU is predicting that the H-1B cap will be reached in the next 2 weeks, perhaps sooner. Accordingly all MU clients are encouraged to send us their H-1B cap-subject filings ASAP.

USCIS is allowed to approve 65,000 H-1B visas, but they have to withhold 6,800 visas for the special Singapore and Chile H-1B1 visas. This leaves 58,200 H-1B visas

USCIS then adds back any unused Singapore and Chile H-1B1 visas. In most years, this is 6,500+ visas. In other words there are only a few hundred Singapore/Chile H-1B1s used every year. So then we add 57,800 + 6,500 and this means that the actual H-1B cap is around 64,000 H-1Bs.

Employees that may need an H-1B visa 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; and
- Prospective international employees currently living abroad.

International workers who are working here 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 “transfer” cases and may be filed at any time throughout the year.

Many healthcare professions ordinarily qualify for H-1(b) status, including Physical Therapists, Occupational Therapists, Speech Language Therapists, and some Registered Nursing jobs.

From USCIS:

As of November 27, 2009, approximately 58,900 H-1B cap-subject petitions had been filed. USCIS has approved sufficient H-1B petitions for aliens with advanced degrees to meet the exemption of 20,000 from the fiscal year 2010 cap. Any H-1B petitions filed on behalf of an alien with an advanced degree will now count toward the general H-1B cap of 65,000. USCIS will continue to accept both cap-subject petitions and advanced degree petitions until a sufficient number of H-1B petitions have been received to reach the statutory limits, taking into account the fact that some of these petitions may be denied, revoked, or withdrawn.

CGFNS Reauthorized

CGFNS was reauthorized by the Department of Homeland Security to issue Visa Screens and Healthcare Worker Certificates, effective November 19, 2009. The reissuance is valid for seven years and covers all seven occupations covered under INA 212(a)(5)(C). The seven occupations are: registered and licensed vocational nurses, physical therapists, speech language pathologists, audiologists, medical technologists, medical technicians, occupational therapists, and physicians assistants.

The full press release is available on CGFNS’ website.