There are new consular fees that are going into place effective July 13, 2010. The Department of State has explained that the current fees of $131 are not enough to cover all the costs associated with reviewing each applicant’s visa application. This fee list refers to cases being processed by a US Consulate / US Embassy – not the USCIS.

Here is a list of the fee increases by case type:

A. Non-Immigrant Visa Fees: Current New

1. H-1B, L-1, O, P and R-1 Visas $131.00 $150.00

2. E (investor) visas $131.00 $390.00

3. K Visa $131.00 $350.00

4. B-1/B-2 Visitor, F, M & J visas $131.00 $140.00

_______

B. Immigrant Filing Fees: Current New

1. Family-Based Immigrant Visa $355.00 $330.00

2. Employment based Immigrant Visa $355.00 $720.00

3. Diversity Visa Lottery Surcharge $375.00 $440.00
It is important to make a careful note of these changes, as anyone that has dealt with a US Embassy knows, all parts of the application must be completed exactly as each Embassy wants to avoid being denied or receiving a document stating charge of 221(g). Also, if you are submitting paperwork to any US Embassy, please be aware that most US Embassies have upgraded their websites to provide instructions as to how they want the above fees paid and which bank they prefer, etc. Here is a link for a list of US Embassies throughout the world http://www.usembassy.gov/.

A news flash issued by the New York Times states that immigration officials are now quietly reviewing the records of companies that it suspects hire illegal immigrants. This focus on audits is different from the immigration approach we saw in 2009 when the immigration officials conducted raids and arrested hundreds of individuals in the process for each company, including sometimes even the manager(s) in charge of hiring.

So far, more than 2,900 companies have been under scrutiny through these audits, which is a much larger number than the raids conducted under the Bush Administration. Under this new process, immigration is more concerned with “egregious” employers rather than arresting and deporting illegal employees.

Again, the immigration officials are trying to create a “culture of compliance,” which is obviously a current focus of the federal government under President Obama. Certainly this focus on compliance is taking precedence over immigration reform, at least for the time being. More information can be located at

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100710/us_nm/us_usa_immigration_audits_1

The US Embassy in Beijing, China has recently made the visa process easier for applicants by allowing applicants to apply for a visa at any US Embassy that they prefer regardless of where in China they reside. So visa applicants now can choose between the following US Embassies or US Consulates in China:

*US Embassy in Beijing

*US Consulates General in Chengdu

*US Consulate General in Guangzhou

*US Consulate General in Shanghai and

*US Consulate General in Shenyang.

To choose which location to make an appointment at, please refer to http://beijing.usembassy-china.org.cn/visa_interview_appointment_availability.html

Which provides an exact list of the processing visa times for each US Embassy and US Consulate in China listed per visa type. Please see http://beijing.usembassy-china.org.cn/niv_info.html for more information on visa availability dates and how to make an appointment.

In order for the US Embassy in Beijing to keep up with the demand for visas to go to the US, it must start providing appointments in Saturdays at least for the next few weeks. I find this report interesting because it is the only report that I have seen that states that the demand to come to the US has increased in 2010. Other reports seem to tell us those international students and educated folks are choosing to go to other countries. This pattern is easy to notice when you notice that H-1B visas are still available with almost half the visas remaining, while in as recently as 2008, the H-1B visas were all completed within the first month of availability in April 1, 2010.

The US Embassy in Beijing, however, is providing some refreshing information that travel to US from China has increased by 28% this year compared to last year. In 2009, the US embassies in China issued almost half a million visas to Chinese travelers coming to the US. Even more good news is that 62% of those visas were for business and tourism.

As of July 2, 2010, the USCIS has released the following H-1B visa numbers:

*Of the 65,000 H-1B annual visas available, USCIS has received 24,200 H-1B’s so far.

*Of the 20,000 H-1B annual visas available for Master’s cap, USCIS has received 10,400 H-1B’s so far.

Please refer to

http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/menuitem.5af9bb95919f35e66f614176543f6d1a/?vgnextoid=4b7cdd1d5fd37210VgnVCM100000082ca60aRCRD&vgnextchannel=73566811264a3210VgnVCM100000b92ca60aRCRD for more information.

The USCIS anticipates that the H-1B visa numbers will all be gone by August 2010. Please see http://www.siliconindia.com/shownews/_Significant_growth_in_H1B_visa__recovery-nid-69142.html for more information. While USCIS anticipates that the H-1B numbers will all be gone by August 2010, I believe we still have a little more time to get these visas filed, as we still have half of the visa availability limits remaining. For each year, USCIS only allows 65,000 for H-1B visas. When these visas are used up, then applicants must wait until the next fiscal year to file for H-1B work visas. The earliest date that USCIS accepts H-1B visas for a new fiscal year is on April 1st of each year. The H-1B start date, though, for a new H-1B visa applicant is a start employment date of October 1st of that year.

In previous years before the downturn, it was not uncommon for USCIS to receive OVER the visa limits on April 1st or April 2nd of that year. However, in the years of 2009 and 2010, H-1B visas remained available until much longer than that, which is probably a result of a slow economy.

Recently on cnn.com and other news channels, we are finally hearing about the topic of US immigration reform. Now that President Obama’s health care push is finally completed, the issue of immigration reform is back on the spotlight. This change became noticeable especially on June 1, 2010 when President Obama gave a speech requesting that Congress pass an immigration reform bill to avoid the alternative of other states passing immigration bills like Arizona’s immigration bill.

This new focus on immigration reform is exciting, but I am of course a little skeptical about how long the process could take before an actual law is enacted. One hopeful sign is that New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg has joined the push for immigration reform.

Now if you are thinking, big deal, that is just one mayor out of 50, think again.
Mayor Bloomberg is not just an ordinary mayor. He is independently wealthy due to a company that he owns, called Bloomberg LP, which is a financial data leasing company. In fact, Bloomberg LP is so successful in the financial world, that Mayor Bloomberg has been noted to be worth in the Billions and one of the richest men in the US. He in fact takes a whopping salary of $1.00 USD (that is right – one dollar!) as his salary for being New York’s mayor, because he simply does not need the money.

So it is quite natural that due to his strong financial background, Mayor Bloomberg is approaching selling immigration reform by presenting the great financial increase immigration reform will bring to the US. Mayor Bloomberg even called our current immigration system as “national suicide,” because the US is pushing away financial investors and entrepreneurs while other countries are welcoming these individuals and welcoming their investments.

Mayor Bloomberg of New York has even helped to create a partnership of other Mayors and business leaders to make the economic case for reform, including Mayors of San Antonia, Phoenix, Los Angeles and also top executives of big companies like Boeing, New York Mets, Hewlett-Packard and Walt Disney. We will keep our fingers crossed…
For additional information on Mayor Bloomberg’s plan for reform, please refer to
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/06/24/rupert-murdoch-mayor-bloo_n_623805.html.

Although in the state of Florida it is now standard procedure that individuals being held in criminal custody will undergo a “hold” by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), according to the Associated Press, Florida has an improved system where they will be able to check fingerprints for each individual held in jail to obtain their immigration status. This is part of ICE’s program called “Secure Communities” put into place to increase the removal of illegals from the US.

The new fingerprint procedure will allow authorities to check the database of US Department of Homeland Security and within just a few hours, immigration officials will receive a notification about a specific individual being help in custody. The Immigration authorities will then be able to determine whether the individual is subject to deportation from the US.

Because this system uses fingerprints and not other data, individuals who are using a fake identity or who have been previously deported will be caught right away. In fact, since ICE began implementing this system in 2008, already over 31,000 individuals have been deported.

Florida is not the only state that is now quickly implementing this program. There are 22 other states that are now participating in the program and by 2013, this program will be implemented nationwide. This new program put into place by ICE is just more proof of the increased enforcement and prosecution of illegals in the US.

Again, the above program already put into place in Florida is just another sign that illegals will not be able to stay in the US and enjoy the previous privileges (i.e. getting their driver’s licenses renewed without any immigration status proof, working without authorization) that they used to enjoy now unless they legalize themselves. The unfortunate part is that most of these individuals would love to legalize themselves – if only the US would allow them! In any event, it is best for illegal individuals and individuals previously deported to AVOID committing any crimes on our soil, as when they are caught for the criminal act, Immigration authorities will not be far behind…

According to TRAC at http://trac.syr.edu/whatsnew/email.100614.html, immigration prosecutions are again on the rise. In March 2010 alone, there were 8,287 immigration prosecutions, which is a 30% increase and more than any month since July 2009.

TRAC offers free reports on enforcement activities of DHS and other federal agencies as well including IRS, FBI, etc

It is hard to believe that even in this economic downturn and even though USCIS raised their fees by a lot in 2007, here they are again making proposals for increasing their fees…again! Now do not get me wrong. I am not saying that USCIS has not increased their services or speeded up their processing times. To be honest, now USCIS officers are so well-trained that they have very little in common with the USCIS officers we saw before September 11, 2001. The Immigration Officers now are on top of their game and on top of their cases, for the most part.

But the point is that while they have increased their services, or at least it seems that way to me in dealing with them full-time in my US immigration law office, the truth is that applicants are still recovering from the fee increase of 2007. So how can USCIS now demand more USCIS filing fees?

In any event, there is one positive note and that note is that at least the N-400 filing fees remain the same. The proposal suggests that the USCIS filing fees for form I-130 increase from the current fee of $355 to $420. For form I-485, the proposal suggests an increase from $930 (not including biometrics) to $985 (also not including biometrics fee). For the form I-140, petition for alien worker, the fee increase is a little larger going from the current USCIS fee of $475 to $580 if the fee increase is passed. This fee increase seems to be about a 10% increase.

We are not saying that USCIS does not deserve a raise, only that given this downturn, maybe a raise can come at a later time…even though it is deserved (in case an immigration officer is reading this….). For general information from USCIS directly as to the reason for the proposed fee increase, please see http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/menuitem.5af9bb95919f35e66f614176543f6d1a/?vgnextoid=65dc3d5d65919210VgnVCM100000082ca60aRCRD&vgnextchannel=68439c7755cb9010

The Department of Labor (DOL) has released the current processing times that they are working on as of May 31, 2010 for all PERM cases. For regular PERM processing cases, the DOL is working on cases with priority dates of August 2009. For PERM audit cases, DOL is working on cases with priority dates of May 2008. For PERM Appeals, the DOL is working on cases with priority dates of December 2007.

As you can see, the PERM processing times are rather slow, as an average processing time for a standard PERM case that has not been audited is around 8-9 months. This is a long way from the previous promise that PERM cases can possibly be reviewed and certified in less than 30 days, etc. The whole idea behind why PERM was created is that since the form ETA 9089 is filed electronically, the processing time should be quick. However, the process now in action is different…

Still, at least the DOL has provided their processing times for the general public, so that individuals considering filing for PERM can plan ahead. Please also take into account the dates noted on the visa bulletin in planning ahead, as even if your PERM case is certified, you also need to wait for your priority date to become current before you can file for adjustment of status. The most recent visa bulletin can be located at http://travel.state.gov/visa/bulletin/bulletin_1360.html

You do not have to wait for the priority date to be current to file form I-140, which must be filed within a certain time from when the PERM case is certified. PERM applications now have an expiration date within which the form I-140 must be filed or else the PERM certified case will become invalid. The form I-140 can be filed without the form I-485 or with the form I-485, if the visa priority date is current as noted on the visa bulletin.

For further information on the current DOL processing times, you can go to http://icert.doleta.gov/#fragment-2

Immigration Policy Center has issued an interesting article explaining that President Obama wants an additional $500 Million dollars to enforce our borders and also wants to send 1,200 National Guard troops to enforce the borders along the US-Mexico border. This is more proof that while President Obama has stated that he wants to focus on Immigration Reform, the bottom line focus right now is on Border enforcement, not national immigration reform.

While border enforcement is important, the federal government cannot solve the US immigration problem of an estimated 11 million to 20 million illegal individuals currently residing in the US. Immigration reform, not just border enforcement, is urgently needed.

For some interesting numbers on the major money being spent by the US government on border enforcement, please go to http://www.immigrationpolicy.org/newsroom/release/when-enough-enough for details.