WASHINGTON—U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) today announced an updated number of filings for H‑1B petitions for the fiscal year 2010 program.

USCIS has received approximately 42,000 H‑1B petitions counting toward the Congressionally‑mandated 65,000 cap. The agency continues to accept petitions subject to the general cap.

Additionally, the agency has received approximately 20,000 petitions for aliens with advanced degrees; however, we continue to accept advanced degree petitions since experience has shown that not all petitions received are approvable. Congress mandated that the first 20,000 of these types of petitions are exempt from any fiscal year cap on available H‑1B visas.

For cases filed for premium processing during the initial five‑day filing window, the 15‑day premium processing period began April 7. For cases filed for premium processing after the filing window, the premium processing period begins on the date USCIS takes physical possession of the petition.

USCIS will provide regular updates as the processing of FY2010 H‑1B petitions continue.

WASHINGTON, April 3, 2009 — U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) issued a reminder that the revised Form I 9, Employment Eligibility Verification (Rev. 02/02/09), goes into effect today for all U.S. employers. The revision date is printed on the lower right hand corner of the form.

The interim final rule, published Dec.17, 2008 in the Federal Register, revised the list of documents acceptable for the Employment Eligibility Verification (Form I 9) process. Employers may no longer use previous versions of the Form I 9.

The revised list improves the security and effectiveness of the Form I 9 process. The list specifies that expired documents are no longer acceptable forms of identification or employment authorization. Allowing for expired documents makes it more difficult for employers to verify an employee’s identity and employment authorization and compromises the Form I 9 process.

USCIS also updated the Handbook for Employers – Instructions for Completing Form I 9 to reflect the requirements of the revised Form I 9.

Employers who do not have computer access can order Forms I 9 by calling our toll free forms line at 1 800 870 3676.

WASHINGTON—U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will expand Premium Processing Service for designated Forms I-140 (Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker) to include alien beneficiaries who have reached, or are reaching, their limitation of stay in H-1B non immigrant status. Currently, only certain alien beneficiaries who are in H-1B non immigrant status at the time of filing may request premium processing for Form I-140.

Beginning March 2, 2009, USCIS will accept Form I-907 (Request for Premium Processing Service) for alien worker petitions filed on behalf of alien beneficiaries who, as of the date of filing the Form I-907:

• Are the beneficiary of a Form I-140 petition filed in a preference category that has been designated for premium processing service;
• Have reached the sixth-year statutory limitation of their H-1B stay, or will reach the end of their sixth year of H-1B stay within 60 days of filing;
• Are only eligible for a further H-1B extension under section 104(c) of the American Competitiveness in the Twenty-first Century Act of 2000 (AC21); and
• Are ineligible to extend their H-1B status under section 106(a) of AC21.

Section 104(c) of AC21 permits applicants to extend their stay in H-1B non immigrant status in increments of up to three years, provided they are the beneficiary of an approved Form I-140 and an immigrant visa is not immediately available. Section 106(a) of AC21 permits applicants to extend their stay in H-1B non immigrant status in increments of up to one year, provided the Form I-140 petition or underlying labor certification has been pending for at least 365 days.

Premium Processing offers 15 calendar day-processing for designated employment-based petitions and applications upon request. There is a non refundable fee of $1,000 for this service. During the 15-day period, USCIS will issue an approval or denial notice, a notice of intent to deny, a request for evidence, or open an investigation for fraud or misrepresentation.

More details on premium processing for Form I-140 petitions are available in a Fact Sheet.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will expand Premium Processing Service for designated Forms I-140, Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker to include alien beneficiaries who have reached or are reaching their limitation of stay in H-1B non immigrant status. Currently, only certain alien beneficiaries who are in H-1B non immigrant status at the time of filing may request Form I-140 Premium Processing Service.

Starting on March 2, USCIS will accept the Form I-907, Request for Premium Processing Service, for Forms I-140 filed on behalf of alien beneficiaries who, as of the date of filing the Form I-907:

• Are the beneficiary of a form I-140 petition filed in a preference category that has been designated for premium processing service;
• Have reached the 6th year statutory limitation of their H-1B stay, or will reach the end of their 6th year of H-1B stay within 60 days of filing;
• They are only eligible for a further H-1B extension upon approval of their Form I-140 petition as prescribed by American Competitiveness in the Twenty-first Century Act (AC21) provisions 104(c)(1) and
• Are ineligible to extend their H-1B status under AC21 §106(a)(2).

Under the Premium Processing Program, USCIS may place such conditions of availability for the Premium Processing Program. The petitioner must establish that the Form I-140 for which the Form I-907 is filed satisfies these conditions. To facilitate USCIS’s determination of whether a particular filing meets the conditions, petitioners can submit:

• Copies of all Forms I-94, Arrival/Departure Record and I-797 H-1B or L approval notices that have been issued on his or her behalf;
• A copy of the relating Form I-140 petition receipt notice if the form was previously filed; and,
• A copy of the labor certification approval letter issued by the Department of Labor, if filing under the EB-2 or EB-3 classifications.

Form I-907 Premium Processing Service requests that do not clearly meet the conditions will be rejected and returned with the I-907 fee. The Form I-140 petition will be processed according to standard, non-premium processing procedures if the Form I-907 is:

• Submitted without documentation establishing the conditions for availability noted above;
• Incorrectly submitted concurrently with a Form I-140 petition at a USCIS office without geographic jurisdiction over the Form I-140 petition; or
• Submitted to request Premium Processing Service for a Form I-140 petition filed for an alien beneficiary who is eligible to extend his or her H-1B non immigrant status under AC21 §106(a) as of the date that the Form I-907 is received by USCIS.

USCIS will accept Form I-907 either together with the Form I-140 petition or after the filing of the Form I-140 petition through the mail or delivery service only. E-filing for Form I-907 will not be available. USCIS expects that adding other classifications to Premium Processing Service at this time would exceed USCIS’ capacity to provide timely Premium Process Service. USCIS will continue to evaluate whether it is able to process other groups of cases beyond this limited classification of petitions and will provide notification of any further availability of Premium Processing Service for Form I-140.

(1) Public law known as the American Competitiveness in the Twenty-first Century Act of 2000 (AC21) permits up to a three-year extension of stay for an H-1B non immigrant alien, provided he or she is the beneficiary of an approved Form I-140 petition and otherwise eligible for lawful permanent resident status except that the employment-based preference visa is unavailable.

(2) USCIS grants an H-1B extension of stay pursuant to §106(a) of AC21, in one-year increments, until such time as a final decision has been made to (1) deny the application for labor certification, or, if the labor certification is approved, to deny the employment-based immigrant petition that was filed pursuant to the approved labor certification; (2) deny the employment based immigrant petition, or; (3) grant or deny the alien’s application for an immigrant visa or for adjustment of status.

WASHINGTON—U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that petitions and applications related to the Alien Entrepreneur (EB-5) immigrant classifications and Regional Center Proposals under the EB-5 Immigrant Investor Pilot Program must be filed at the California Service Center (CSC). A Federal Register notice announcing the change was published on Jan. 9, 2009.

Currently, EB-5 petitions and applications are filed at either the Texas Service Center (TSC) or the CSC, depending on where the alien’s commercial enterprise is located. Regional center proposals are currently submitted to the Chief of Service Center Operations at USCIS headquarters. This change in filing locations is necessary to improve the efficiency in the processing of EB-5 related filings.

USCIS has established a unit at the California Service Center comprised of specially-trained adjudicators dedicated to EB-5 adjudications. By consolidating adjudications at the center, USCIS believes that it will be able to reduce overall processing times and better monitor EB-5 related adjudications.

Filing changes are effective Jan. 26, 2009. For a 30-day period that began on Jan. 9 and ends Feb. 9, 2009, EB-5 related petitions and applications mailed to USCIS headquarters or the Texas Service Center will be forwarded to the California Service Center. After February 9, EB-5 petitions and applications received at an incorrect filing location will be rejected and returned with instructions to re-file at the correct address.

For direct mail, send to:

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services
California Service Center Attn: EB-5 Processing Unit
P.O. Box 10526
Laguna Niguel, CA 92607-0526

For non-U.S. Postal Service deliveries (e.g. private couriers), send to:

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services
California Service Center Attn: EB-5 Processing Unit
24000 Avila Road, 2nd Floor
Laguna Niquel, CA 92677

For more information, visit www.uscis.gov or call the National Customer Service Center at (800) 375-5283.

• E-Verify is an Internet-based system operated by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in partnership with the Social Security Administration (SSA) that allows participating employers to electronically verify the employment eligibility of their newly hired employees. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) administers the program.
• Free, safe, secure and simple to use, E-Verify is the best means available for determining employment eligibility of new hires and the validity of their Social Security Numbers. The program provides participating employers an automated Internet-based resource to verify the employment eligibility of newly hired employees. Participating employers run authorization checks on all newly hired employees, including U.S. citizens and non-U.S. citizens, against SSA and DHS databases (about 449 million, and 60 million records respectively). Through this process, E-Verify assists employers in maintaining a legal workforce and protects jobs for authorized U.S. workers.
• USCIS began testing a photo screening tool enhancement to E-Verify and formally launched it on Sept. 17, 2007. The tool allows a participating employer to check the photos on Employment Authorization Documents (EAD) or Permanent Resident Cards (green cards) against images stored in USCIS databases. The goal of the photo tool is to detect and deter identify fraud by helping employers determine whether the document presented is the same document issued by USCIS (e.g., that it is not a forgery involving photo-substitution).
• More than 100,000 employers are currently using the E-Verify program to verify that their new hires are authorized to work in the United States. For FY2009 to date, more than 2 million employment verification queries have been run. During FY2008, approximately 6.6 million
  employment verification queries were run (as compared to a total of 3.27 million in all of FY2007). The Department of Homeland Security’s FY2009 appropriation legislation, signed into law on Sept. 30, 2008, provided $100 million to continue, expand and improve E-Verify in FY2009.
• Employers can register for E-Verify on-line at www.dhs.gov/E-Verify. The site provides instructions for completing the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) needed to officially register for the program. Once registered, employers use E-Verify by entering information
  captured on the Employment Eligibility Verification form (I-9).
• A recent study conducted by Westat, a social science research firm which monitors the effect of various changes made to the E-Verify program, found that between April and June 2008:
  • Approximately 96.1 percent of all cases queried through E-Verify were instantly found to be employment authorized (this is a substantial improvement from 94.2 percent);
  • About 99.6 percent of all work-authorized employees verified through E-Verify are verified without receiving a tentative nonconfirmation or having to take any type of corrective action;
  • Erroneous tentative nonconfirmations (those that were work-authorized but who received a nonconfirmation) have improved from 0.5% to 0.4%. Ultimately, these mismatches are successfully resolved; and
  • Of all queries received, final nonconfirmations (meaning not work-authorized) are 3.5 percent; down from 5.3 percent.
• The Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (IIRIRA) first authorized the program. E-Verify evolved from the Basic Pilot/Employment Eligibility Verification Program, which originally developed in 1997 and was made available to employers as a Web-based program in 2004. The Basic Pilot Extension and Expansion Act of 2003 extended E-Verify until November 2008. Employers can obtain additional information about E-Verify by
  visiting www.dhs.gov/E-Verify.

WASHINGTON—U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) reminds its customers that the re-registration period for Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for nationals of Honduras, Nicaragua, and El Salvador ended Dec. 30, 2008.

Individuals may re-register after the close of the re-registration period only if they demonstrate good cause for failing to file during the re-registration period. To re-register based on the good cause exception, individuals must submit their applications to the address listed in the Oct. 1, 2008 Federal Register notice for the extension of their country’s designation for TPS and must include a letter explaining why they feel they have good cause for failing to re-register during the re-registration period, along with any evidence they may have to substantiate this explanation. USCIS will consider requests filed after the re-registration period has closed on a case-by-case basis.

TPS beneficiaries must submit Form I-821 (Application for Temporary Protected Status) without the application fee, and Form I-765 (Application for Employment Authorization) in order to re-register for TPS. If the applicant is only seeking to re-register for TPS and not seeking an extension of employment authorization, he or she must submit Form I-765 for data-gathering purposes only, and is not required to submit the I-765 filing fee.
All applicants seeking an extension of employment authorization through the duration of the 18-month TPS extension must submit the required application filing fee with Form I-765. The biometric service fee must be submitted by all re-registrants 14 years of age and older. Applicants who cannot pay the fees may file requests for fee waivers with sufficient documentation of their inability to pay.

For specific instructions regarding TPS, visit USCIS’ Web site at www.uscis.gov/tps.