News Update - September 05, 2010Current H-1B Count; Added Information Needed On H-1B Petitions; Asylum Application Success Rates Up; Watch Out For FACEBOOKThe H-1B count as of August 27, 2010, shows that the approximate 85,000 overall cap is now over half filled at 47,900, of which 34,900 are counted against the 65,000 regular cap and 13,000 against the U.S. Masters cap of 20,000. But with the U.S. economy in its present state, no one is expecting the approximate remaining 37,000 numbers to be used up at any time soon. Petitioners for H-1B benefits should note that as a result of Public Law 111-230 signed by President Obama on August 13, 2010, requiring an additional $2,000 for H-1B petitions in which an organization has over 50 employees and over half on H-1B visa statuses, any exempt petitioner should include with the H-1B petition a cover letter that explains why the added fee does not apply, and include a notation as to whether or not the fee is required in bold capital letters at the top of the cover letter. Such could avoid the need for U.S.C.I.S. to send out a request for further evidence (RFE) to answer the question. In asylum news, the Transactional Records Access Clearing house (TRAC) has released a report available at "http://trac.syr.edu/immigration/reports/240/" that Department of Justice data shows that denial rates for asylum in the immigration courts are dropping - that during the first nine months of fiscal year 2010, only 50% were denied. Facebook users should be aware that government agencies are delving into Facebook pages in adjudicating cases, with reports that consular officers are using Facebook in adjudicating non-immigrant visa applications and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) inspectors use Google to obtain data about applicants. For example, if a visa applicant's Facebook.com profile says that he/she is living and working in the United States, a consular officer will most likely deny an application for a B-1/B-2 visa.
† The author is a 30+ 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 © 2010 Alan Lee, Esq.
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Copyright © 2003-2012 Alan Lee,
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