PLG Immigration NewsFlash
General Release Vol. 122 (April 13, 2011)

FY2012 H-1B Cap Count

As of April 7, 2011, approximately 5,900 regular cap-subject H-1B petitions and 4,500 U.S. Master's petitions have been receipted.

The USCIS announcement is available at: http://www.aila.org/content/fileviewer.aspx?docid=35074&linkid=231928.

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Possible EB-2 Priority Date Movement in the Coming Months

In preparation of the May 2011 Visa Bulletin, DOS considered the approximately 12,000 unused EB-1 numbers that will "spill-down" to EB-2, and consulted with USCIS on its processing potential for this additional number of pending or newly current EB-2s. A quick look by DOS at this point indicates that there is the possibility for greater advancement of the India EB-2 category than they had earlier thought. This will give DOS better visibility into EB-3 upgrade demand in the pipeline and will better ensure that all visas allowed annually are used. However, a rapid advance could make demand surge and, in turn, cause retrogression later in the year. The May Visa Bulletin, issued earlier this week, contains a discussion of visa availability projections for the remainder of the year.

For the May 2011 Visa Bulletin, see: http://www.travel.state.gov/visa/bulletin/bulletin_5424.html.

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USCIS Launches E-Verify Self Check

On March 21, 2011, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) launched "E-Verify Self Check." This voluntary service enables people to check their own employment eligibility status at no charge. USCIS is releasing E-Verify Self Check in phases, with the first phase accessible only to users who maintain an address and are physically located in Arizona, Colorado, the District of Columbia, Idaho, Mississippi or Virginia.

For more on E-Verify Self Check, including a link to the system, see http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/menuitem.eb1d4c2a3e5b9ac89243c6a7543f6d1a/?vgnextoid=2ec07cd67450d210VgnVCM100000082ca60aRCRD&vgnextchannel=2ec07cd67450d210VgnVCM100000082ca60aRCRD.

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New Validation Instrument for Business Enterprises Giving Off Bad VIBE

USCIS has begun "beta-testing" the Validation Instrument for Business Enterprises (VIBE) System, which is run by Dun & Bradstreet. VIBE allows USCIS to receive commercially available information about companies or organizations filing certain employment-based petitions. If the U.S. business entity's information on the petition is inconsistent with what is in VIBE, USCIS issues a request for evidence (RFE).

Some attorneys have reported that the VIBE system, which is based on publicly available information, too often contains inaccuracies and is unreliable and difficult to update.

Information in the system includes:

• business activities, such as type of business (North American Industry Classification System code), trade payment information and status (active or inactive);
• financial standing, including sales volume and credit standing;
• number of employees, both U.S. and international;
• relationships with other entities, including foreign affiliates;
• status (whether it is a single entity, branch, subsidiary or headquarters);
• ownership and legal status, such as LLC, partnership or corporation;
• company executives;
• date of establishment as a business entity; and
• current physical address.

USCIS said it will not deny a petition based upon information from VIBE without first issuing an RFE or a Notice of Intent to Deny (NOID). The Immigration Services Officer will make a final decision "based on the totality of the circumstances," the agency said.

Immigrant classifications in VIBE include EB-1 Outstanding professor or researcher and Multinational executive or manager, EB-2 and EB-3. Nonimmigrant classifications in VIBE include E-3, H-1B, H-1B1, Blanket L petitions, L and TN.

Classifications not in VIBE include EB-1 Extraordinary Ability, EB-5 Immigrant Investor, O and P.

We recommend that clients check their profile and make sure that the major areas (company address, for example) are correct to avoid RFEs.

USCIS said it encourages petitioners to raise questions about RFEs or NOIDs involving information USCIS received through VIBE and suggest ways to improve the program by e-mailing VIBE-Feedback@dhs.gov.

For more on VIBE, see: http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/menuitem.eb1d4c2a3e5b9ac89243c6a7543f6d1a/?vgnextoid=521d735652f9d210VgnVCM100000082ca60aRCRD&vgnextchannel=521d735652f9d210VgnVCM100000082ca60aRCRD.

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Government Agency Links

Follow these links to access current processing times of the USCIS Service Centers and the Department of Labor, or the Department of State's latest Visa Bulletin with the most recent cut-off dates for visa numbers:

• USCIS Service Center processing times online:
  
  https://egov.uscis.gov/cris/processTimesDisplay.do
  
  
• Department of Labor PERM processing times:
  
  http://icert.doleta.gov/#fragment-2
  
  
• Department of State Visa Bulletin:
  
  http://travel.state.gov/visa/bulletin/bulletin_1360.html
  
  

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