Visa availability. In the Visa Bulletin for March 2014, the Department of State’s Visa Office makes the following estimates of visa availability in the coming months:
EMPLOYMENT-based categories (potential monthly movement)
Employment First: Current
Employment Second: Worldwide: Current; China: Three to five weeks; India: No forward movement
Employment Third: Worldwide: This cut-off date has been advanced over four and one half years since last spring in an effort to generate new demand. After such a rapid advance of a cut-off date applicant demand for number use, particularly for adjustment of status cases, can be expected to increase significantly. Once such demand begins to materialize at a greater rate it could have a significant impact on this cut-off date situation. Little if any forward movement of this cut-off date is likely during the next few months.
China: Will remain at the worldwide date; India: Little if any movement; Mexico: Will remain at the worldwide date; Philippines: Three to six weeks
Employment Fourth: Current; Employment Fifth: Current
The above projections for the Employment categories are for what is likely to happen during each of the next several months based on current applicant demand patterns. Readers should never assume that recent trends in cut-off date movements are guaranteed for the future, or that “corrective” action will not be required at some point in an effort to maintain number use within the applicable annual limits. The determination of the actual monthly cut-off dates is subject to fluctuations in applicant demand and a number of other variables. Unless indicated, those categories with a “Current” projection will remain so for the foreseeable future.
The Visa Bulletin for March 2014 is available at http://travel.state.gov/content/visas/english/law-and-policy/bulletin/2014/visa-bulletin-for-march-2014.html.
Visa Bulletin moved. The Department of State has redesigned and reorganized its website at http://www.travel.state.gov. The Visa Bulletin is now found under “Law and Policy” in the Visas section of the website. Visitors to the website have several ways to access the Visa Bulletin.
From the homepage:
• Click on the link for usvisas.state.gov, located on the upper right side of the main graphic, or the link “U.S. Visas” located at the bottom of the page. These links will take you to the Visas section of the website.
• Once in the Visas section, scroll down the page to the “We Want You to Know” section.
• Click on the icon, “Check the Visa Bulletin,” or click on the link for the Visa Bulletin in the Law and Policy box.
• Alternately, once in the Visas section of the website, hover over the “Immigrate” icon along the top of the page. A drop-down menu will appear with a link to the Visa Bulletin.
DOL Adds Q&A to FAQ Re Notification and Consideration of Laid-Off U.S. Workers for PERM Labor Certification Applications
The Department of Labor’s Employment and Training Administration has added a new question and answer (Q&A) to its frequently asked questions (FAQ). The new Q&A concerns notification and consideration of laid-off U.S. workers for PERM labor certification applications.
The new Q&A asks, “How does an employer demonstrate that it notified and considered laid-off U.S. workers for the job opportunity listed on the ETA Form 9089?” The answer notes that some employers have misconstrued the regulations to require only that they inform workers when laid off that the employer may have future positions and inviting the worker to monitor the employer’s job postings and apply, rather than their actively notifying and considering the laid-off workers.
In fact, the Q&A notes, misapplication of the regulatory requirements will result in denial of a PERM application. The employer must make a reasonable, good-faith effort to notify each potentially qualified worker who has been laid off during the six months preceding the application whenever a relevant job opening exists and invite the worker to apply.
The Q&A notes that an employer who files multiple labor certifications can satisfy its responsibilities under the relevant regulation by notifying each laid-off worker (in the manner chosen by the worker) at least once a month that a list of current relevant job openings is maintained electronically on a website operated by the employer.
“Simply informing a laid-off worker to monitor the employer’s website for future openings and inviting the worker, if interested, to apply for those openings, will not satisfy the employer’s regulatory obligation to notify all of its potentially qualified laid-off U.S. workers of the job opportunity,” the Q&A states.
The Q&A adds that an employer must maintain documentation showing that it has met its notice and consideration requirements, including copies of all relevant letters, e-mails, faxes, Web pages (including those listing details of the relevant job openings and applications by laid-off workers for those openings), and other contemporaneous documents that show when and how notice and consideration was given. In addition, an employer must obtain and maintain written documentation that a laid-off worker has declined to receive notices, requested discontinuation of the notices, or refused to give or update contact information.
The new Q&A is available at http://www.foreignlaborcert.doleta.gov/faqsanswers.cfm#recrep2.
For a commentary, See Dol policy on laid-off US workers for perm labor certification applications, by Cyrus D. Mehta, available at http://blog.cyrusmehta.com/2014/02/dol-policy-on-laid-off-us-workers-for.html
USCIS Revises Naturalization Application
As part of its forms improvement initiative, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) released a revised Form N-400, Application for Naturalization, on February 4, 2014. The eligibility requirements for naturalization have not changed.
The revised N-400 includes additional questions relating to good moral character and to security, to conform with the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 and the Child Soldier Prevention Act of 2008; “clearer and more comprehensive” instructions that highlight general eligibility requirements and provide specifics on how to complete each part of the application; and 2D barcode technology at the bottom of each page to enable USCIS to scan data for direct input into USCIS systems.
Applicants may use previous versions of the form until May 5, 2014, at which time USCIS will begin rejecting and returning previous versions of the N-400.
USCIS will hold a stakeholder engagement on February 20, 2014, about the revised form. For more information on the teleconference, see http://www.uscis.gov/outreach/revised-form-n-400-application-naturalization.
The announcement, which includes a link to a related video, is available at http://www.uscis.gov/news/alerts/uscis-revises-form-n-400-application-naturalization. The revised form is at http://www.uscis.gov/n-400. Information on USCIS’s forms improvement initiative is available at http://www.uscis.gov/forms/forms-updates/uscis-form-improvements-initiative.
Cyrus D. Mehta
