News Update - April 4, 2009

By Alan Lee, Esq.^†‡

H-1B News - 4/4/09

There is as yet no solid information from U.S.C.I.S. on the number of new cap-subject
H-1B's received in the first days of April. There are reports on the Internet of scanning problems with FedEx deliveries to the California Service Center although the packages have all been delivered and with scanning delays with UPS at the Vermont Service Center. Last year, U.S.C.I.S. received 163,000 H-1B petitions for the approximate 85,000 slots, but everyone expects much less volume this year due to the economic downturn, organizations taking TARP funds not participating, and the bad public image given to large organizations sponsoring H-1B's while many Americans are out of work.

† The author is a 26+ year practitioner of immigration law based in New York City. He was awarded the Sidney A. Levine prize for best legal writing at the Cleveland-Marshall College of Law in 1977 and has written extensively on immigration over the past years for the ethnic newspapers, World Journal, Sing Tao, Pakistan Calling, Muhasha and OCS. He has testified as an expert on immigration in civil court proceedings and was recognized by the Taiwan government in 1985 for his work protecting human rights. His article, "The Bush Temporary Worker Proposal and Comparative Pending Legislation: an Analysis" was Interpreter Releases' cover display article at the American Immigration Lawyers Association annual conference in 2004, and his victory in the Second Circuit Court of Appeals in a case of first impression nationwide, Firstland International v. INS, successfully challenged INS' policy of over 40 years of revoking approved immigrant visa petitions under a nebulous standard of proof. Its value as precedent, however, was short-lived as it was specifically targeted by the Administration in the Intelligence Reform Act of 2004.

‡ This article © 2009 Alan Lee, Esq.

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The information provided here is of a general nature and may not apply to any particular set of facts or circumstances. It should not be construed as legal advice and does not constitute an engagement of the Law Office of Alan Lee or establish an attorney-client relationship.