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This notice provides an update of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) poverty guidelines to account for last calendar year's increase in prices as measured by the Consumer Price Index.

 HHS 2014 Poverty Guidelines

As part of its form improvements initiative, USCIS is releasing a revised Form N-400, Application for Naturalization. Through the Federal Register, USCIS received numerous comments from the public that helped inform this revision.

This chart shows the average amount of time it takes to receive a decision in a particular type of case after the case file is received by the AAO. Processing times are directly related to the volume of cases received.

AAO Processing Times as of March 1, 2014

USCIS has implemented a new process to receive and adjudicate applications for civil surgeon designation centrally at the National Benefits Center. This process change requires physicians seeking civil surgeon designation to file a formal application at a USCIS Lockbox. Centralizing the civil surgeon application process will:

USCIS has received a sufficient number of petitions to reach the congressionally mandated H-2B cap for the first half of Fiscal Year (FY) 2014. March 14, 2014 is the final receipt date for new H-2B worker petitions requesting an employment start date before April 1, 2014.

How We Determine the Final Receipt Date

The final receipt date is when we have received enough cap-subject petitions to reach the statutory limit of 33,000 H-2B workers for the first half of FY 2014. There will not be any carry over spots from the first half to the second half of FY 2014.

Deputy Secretary Burns has authorized a waiver of application (i.e., MRV) and visa issuance (i.e., reciprocity) fees for participants in the 2014 Special Olympics Summer Games Invitational taking place in Los Angeles, CA, from June 6 to 8, 2014, and the 2015 Special Olympics World Summer Games taking place in Los Angeles, CA, from July 25 to August 2, 2015.

Release Date: March 25, 2014

Premium Processing for Cap-Subject Petitions to Begin by April 28, 2014 

WASHINGTON—U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will begin accepting H-1B petitions subject to the fiscal year (FY) 2015 cap on April 1, 2014. Cases will be considered accepted on the date that USCIS receives a properly filed petition with the correct fee. USCIS will not rely on the date that the petition is postmarked.

The filing period for H-1B petitions subject to the fiscal year (FY) 2015 numerical cap begins on April 1, 2014. USCIS will start premium processing of cap-subject H-1B petitions, including petitions seeking an exemption for individuals with a U.S. master’s degree or higher, no later than April 28. This date is based on past levels of premium processing requests and the possibility that the cap will be met in the first five business days of the filing season. 

This checklist is optional to assist FY 2015 H-1B petioners submit an I-129 H-1B petiton. 

Please click on the attachment to view the checklist.

This question is raised often and debated much amongst lawyers focusing their practice on employment-based immigration. This morning, I have a call scheduled with a corporate client who is considering the legality of accepting a volunteer in their for-profit IT business.

The Office of Foreign Labor Certification has posted updated program factsheets containing the Quarter 1 FY 2014 selected statistics for the Permanent Labor Certification Program, Prevailing Wage Determination Program, H-1B Temporary Visa Program,

This notice contains renewal information only for those individuals granted DACA by U.S.

 Effective February 18, 2014, the reciprocity schedule for Chinese nationals is revised for the A-2, C- 3, and G-2 nonimmigrant visa (NIV) categories. All other visa validities for nationals of China will remain unchanged. 

Please click the attachment for more information