Topics in this Issue:
2. Attorney General Vacates Decision in Matter of Compean 3. State Department Releases Visa Bulletin for July 2009 4. Chamber of Commerce Announces Delay in Implementation of E-Verify 5. iCert Visa Portal System: By the Office of Foreign Labor Certification
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1. Department of Labor Publishes Final Rule Reinstating H-2A Regulations
On May 29, 2009, the Department published a final rule suspending the H-2A final rule published on December 18, 2008, effective January 16, 2009. Employers should be aware that all applications filed prior to June 29, 2009 will be subject to and adjudicated under the December 2008 Rule. Applications filed on or after June 29, 2009 will be subject to and adjudicated under the reinstated regulations. The reinstated regulations will be in place for a period of no more than 9 months while the December 2008 Rule is under review by the Department.
2. Attorney General Vacates Decision in Matter of Compean
Attorney General Eric Holder vacated the order issued in Matter of Compean by Attorney General Mukasey in January and announced his intention to initiate a new rulemaking proceeding for regulations to govern claims of ineffective assistance of counsel in removal proceedings.
3. State Department Releases Visa Bulletin for July 2009
State Department summarizes the availability of immigrant numbers for July. Allocations were made, to the extent possible under the numerical limitations, for the demand received by June 8th in the chronological order of the reported priority dates. If the demand could not be satisfied within the statutory or regulatory limits, the category or foreign state in which demand was excessive was deemed oversubscribed
The surge in usage of the employment-based fourth and fifth preference numbers is significant beyond those specific categories themselves because, historically, there have been substantial unused numbers in these categories which have been used to meet demand for visas in the employment-based first and second preference categories, allowing the China and India cut-off dates to advance further than would be possible if those categories are limited to only their annual limits. This means EB-2 immigrants from China and India could have an even longer wait to obtain green cards.
4. Chamber of Commerce Announces Delay in Implementation of E-Verify
USCIS reports that implementation of the final rule requiring federal contractors and subcontractors to begin using USCIS E-Verify system has been delayed until 9/8/2009.
5. iCert Visa Portal System: By the Office of Foreign Labor Certification
Benefits of its use include -
-Single stop entry portal for employers to prepare, submit, and track applications for labor certification
-Central repository for OFLC immigration related content
-Search engine where visa applications that are submitted though iCert can be reviewed
-Employers can search for prevailing wages based on occupation and geographical area
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