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USCIS to Expand Pilot Program to All 50 States and District of Columbia


USCIS is scheduled to expand the Pilot Program for local green card cases to residents in all 50 states and District of Columbia and provide web access. USCIS requested on 11/30/2004 the OMB to review its notice which it intends to publish in the federal register. Right on, USCIS!!

Since last April 2004, the USCIS has been testing this pilot program through Dallas and New York district offices adjudicating certain family-based I-130/485 green card applications and other local district office proceedings within 90 days. During the testing period, the applicants in other local district jurisdictions felt the program was unfair to them.

On behalf of the immigrants across the board and throughout the nation, we "wholeheartedly" welcome the move and salute the USCIS leadership.
The details have yet to be announced and it is unclear whether the nation-wide pilot program will be a carbon copy of the ongoing Dallas Pilot Program model of 90-day adjudication or it will take longer. However, the immigrant community should send "applaud" to the USCIS leadership.
 
Serenity_now!!! said:
USCIS to Expand Pilot Program to All 50 States and District of Columbia


USCIS is scheduled to expand the Pilot Program for local green card cases to residents in all 50 states and District of Columbia and provide web access. USCIS requested on 11/30/2004 the OMB to review its notice which it intends to publish in the federal register. Right on, USCIS!!

Since last April 2004, the USCIS has been testing this pilot program through Dallas and New York district offices adjudicating certain family-based I-130/485 green card applications and other local district office proceedings within 90 days. During the testing period, the applicants in other local district jurisdictions felt the program was unfair to them.

On behalf of the immigrants across the board and throughout the nation, we "wholeheartedly" welcome the move and salute the USCIS leadership.
The details have yet to be announced and it is unclear whether the nation-wide pilot program will be a carbon copy of the ongoing Dallas Pilot Program model of 90-day adjudication or it will take longer. However, the immigrant community should send "applaud" to the USCIS leadership.
Click to expand...

how does this affect employment based I-485???
 
Serenity_now!!! said:
USCIS to Expand Pilot Program to All 50 States and District of Columbia


USCIS is scheduled to expand the Pilot Program for local green card cases to residents in all 50 states and District of Columbia and provide web access. USCIS requested on 11/30/2004 the OMB to review its notice which it intends to publish in the federal register. Right on, USCIS!!

Since last April 2004, the USCIS has been testing this pilot program through Dallas and New York district offices adjudicating certain family-based I-130/485 green card applications and other local district office proceedings within 90 days. During the testing period, the applicants in other local district jurisdictions felt the program was unfair to them.

On behalf of the immigrants across the board and throughout the nation, we "wholeheartedly" welcome the move and salute the USCIS leadership.
The details have yet to be announced and it is unclear whether the nation-wide pilot program will be a carbon copy of the ongoing Dallas Pilot Program model of 90-day adjudication or it will take longer. However, the immigrant community should send "applaud" to the USCIS leadership.
Click to expand...

This is for family based immigration, not for employment based...
 
They will definitely apply it for employment cases too, as CSC is doing now.
Starting January 1st , once the cutt-off dates will take effect, CIS will stop being responsible for the duration of the GC process. They will eventually eliminate the backlog and from that date on, Department of State, by controlling the Visa allowance, will solely determine how lengthy the process will be.
Again, once the PD become current, CIS will process the case in 90 days.
 
Serenity,

I am glad to observe your optimism about CIS. As someone who had to wait 23 months for the approval of a straightforward I-485 w/o any RFE, I sincerely hope that future applicants do not have to undergo same senseless wait. It would be very good if CIS can actually approve every straightforward I-485 app within 90 days throughout the country.
 
By the same talking….the number of employment based GC cases will dramatically diminish once the Congress will pass the new H1-B law.
I don’t know if you guys are aware of the new law, but the employers will be allowed to hire only aliens holding Master’s or PhD Degrees, or to offer salaries higher of $60,000 for those with a Bachelor’s Degree.
Pretty tight, uh?
 
Serenity_now!!! said:
I don’t know if you guys are aware of the new law, but the employers will be allowed to hire only aliens holding Master’s or PhD Degrees, or to offer salaries higher of $60,000 for those with a Bachelor’s Degree. Pretty tight, uh?
Click to expand...

It would be pretty tight, if it was correct. Fortunately, it is not. This requirement only applies to the extra 20,000 places being added to the H-1B cap in FY2005 and beyond.

Your comments on the magical backlog elimination fall into an equally erroneous and spurrious category.
 
TheRealCanadian,
Please read the comments regarding the upcoming H1-B law.

How H-1B Dependent Employers Are Affected by the Upcoming H-1B Law Change?

The H-1B dependent employers, who are mostly consulting firms, may be forced to employ H-1B aliens in one of two categories in order to avoid the "No U.S. Worker Displacement Attestation" requirement (Remember that no displacement obligation is not only applied to the petitioning firm's behavior but also its client's behaviors and the petitioning firm is responsible for such behavior of its clients unless it proves no actual or presumed knowledge of such behavior of the clients):

$60,000 or Higher Salary
Master's Degree or Higher Degree Holder

For these firms, the chances for hiring a bachelor's degree holder may become slimmer in the future in order for them to stay in business for the two reasons. First, they cannot afford the no displacement attestations because of the potential high risk involved. Second, the new law will afford them 20,000 additional H-1B numbers for alien U.S. master's degree holders that are not subject to the H-1B annual cap.

It is thus likely that the alien H-1B aspirants may have a narrower door to pass to apply and become a H-1B temporary worker in the future. The new law will practically push the H-1B system to require a master's degree as the threshold in practical sense.

The bachelor's degree holders' green card opportunities may also become proportionally narrow in the future for two reasons: First is the reduced H-1B employment opportunities for this group. The second is the upcoming EB-3 immigrant visa cut-off dates for people from India, China, and Philippines. In fact, the statistics indicate that India alone has supplied about 40% of total H-1B workers in the immediate past and most of these workers had a bachelor's degree. Another large number came from People's Republic of China. The Chinese may have a better survivability becuase of higher percentage of advanced degree holders for the H-1B workers at least in passing the narrow door of H-1B visa status. However, their market has been somewhat limited to certain types of employers because of their language and cultural barriers.

In the event that certain employers will have to go for the H-1B petition option as a H-1B dependent employer, they should keep in mind that the new law will not reinstate the "Recruitment Attestation" requirement which was another requirement for the H-1B dependent employers. Recruitment attestation is similar to the labor market test requirement in the permanent labor certification applications which imposed on employers the obligation to prove that it had tested the labor market for the position and the employer failed to located a qualified U.S. worker who was available for the job. This requirement was another hurdle for the H-1B dependent employers before such requirement sunset in 2003.

It is interesting to see how the new law will affect the trend of outsourcing of high tech jobs. The negative impact is obvious considering the fact that the new law will severely curtail the consulting firms to bring in foreign professional workers in an alternative nonimmigrant visa option of L-1.
 
The consulting firms – H1-B dependent employers – employ most of the aliens in this country. Yes, it’s a limited category but with a large representation.
 
Serenity_now!!! said:
The consulting firms – H1-B dependent employers – employ most of the aliens in this country. Yes, it’s a limited category but with a large representation.
Click to expand...

Do you have any statistics to determine what percentage of US employers of aliens fall under the definition of "H-1B dependent employer"? How about the fact that there are far more aliens employed in F, L, J, H-2, O, TN and P status than H-1?

You claimed that bachelor's degree holders would be ineligible for H-1B status, which is clearly incorrect. You're now claiming that the 90-day pilot program will be extended to EB cases, for which there is absolutely no evidence, since the Service Centers aren't being included. You appear to take a nugget of truth, apply your own hopes and beliefs, cook them together for a while and produce something utterly different than what is really going to happen.
 
Serenity_now!!! said:
They will definitely apply it for employment cases too, as CSC is doing now.
Starting January 1st , once the cutt-off dates will take effect, CIS will stop being responsible for the duration of the GC process. They will eventually eliminate the backlog and from that date on, Department of State, by controlling the Visa allowance, will solely determine how lengthy the process will be.
Again, once the PD become current, CIS will process the case in 90 days.
Click to expand...
Serenity_now,

What do you mean "once the PD become current, CIS will process the case in 90 days"? My PD is June 2001 and I485 RD is Dec 2002 but still waiting, do you think when my case will be processed once this pilot process is expanded to toher SCs?
 
Are you high on ...dxxx... Serenity_now !!!

Looks like you have accepted a position as a USCIS lawyer and you are endlessly arguing about the Family Based pilot program and H1-B dependent employers.

All that you have said till now is some information you got from a immigration website and lot of your own analysis with a very high degree of optimism.

I still do not see how that pilot program is affecting the employment based GCs, how a non H1-B dependent employer is restricted form hiring bachelor degree holders on H1 visa and how USCIS can reach a 6 month adjudication with current backlogs (forget 90days.. even 6 months is a far cry).
 
Serenity_now!!! said:
TheRealCanadian,
Please read the comments regarding the upcoming H1-B law.

How H-1B Dependent Employers Are Affected by the Upcoming H-1B Law Change?

The H-1B dependent employers, who are mostly consulting firms, may be forced to employ H-1B aliens in one of two categories in order to avoid the "No U.S. Worker Displacement Attestation" requirement (Remember that no displacement obligation is not only applied to the petitioning firm's behavior but also its client's behaviors and the petitioning firm is responsible for such behavior of its clients unless it proves no actual or presumed knowledge of such behavior of the clients):

$60,000 or Higher Salary
Master's Degree or Higher Degree Holder

For these firms, the chances for hiring a bachelor's degree holder may become slimmer in the future in order for them to stay in business for the two reasons. First, they cannot afford the no displacement attestations because of the potential high risk involved. Second, the new law will afford them 20,000 additional H-1B numbers for alien U.S. master's degree holders that are not subject to the H-1B annual cap.

It is thus likely that the alien H-1B aspirants may have a narrower door to pass to apply and become a H-1B temporary worker in the future. The new law will practically push the H-1B system to require a master's degree as the threshold in practical sense.

The bachelor's degree holders' green card opportunities may also become proportionally narrow in the future for two reasons: First is the reduced H-1B employment opportunities for this group. The second is the upcoming EB-3 immigrant visa cut-off dates for people from India, China, and Philippines. In fact, the statistics indicate that India alone has supplied about 40% of total H-1B workers in the immediate past and most of these workers had a bachelor's degree. Another large number came from People's Republic of China. The Chinese may have a better survivability becuase of higher percentage of advanced degree holders for the H-1B workers at least in passing the narrow door of H-1B visa status. However, their market has been somewhat limited to certain types of employers because of their language and cultural barriers.

In the event that certain employers will have to go for the H-1B petition option as a H-1B dependent employer, they should keep in mind that the new law will not reinstate the "Recruitment Attestation" requirement which was another requirement for the H-1B dependent employers. Recruitment attestation is similar to the labor market test requirement in the permanent labor certification applications which imposed on employers the obligation to prove that it had tested the labor market for the position and the employer failed to located a qualified U.S. worker who was available for the job. This requirement was another hurdle for the H-1B dependent employers before such requirement sunset in 2003.

It is interesting to see how the new law will affect the trend of outsourcing of high tech jobs. The negative impact is obvious considering the fact that the new law will severely curtail the consulting firms to bring in foreign professional workers in an alternative nonimmigrant visa option of L-1.
Click to expand...

Most good engineers who come here do not, do their masters in India, as they can get a job without the masters. The set of engineers who do their masters in india do that because they don't get a job otherwise..so you know what type of engineering they have done. The other kind of people who come with masters , majority are not engineers, they are MCA etc.. or BS guy with some MCA degree.
We all know what are the strengths of a good engineer ..so I wonder why would a company make decisions based on MS or BE. But again thats just my opinion..on a second thought good engineers do not come here through body shoppers..so all the brainers need not worry .
 
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I’m sorry I have created such turmoil.
I want to be more specific...

1.Regarding the Pilot Program – it’s already in effect at CSC and it will be applied to all SC’s. It is just a matter of time. The goal of the program is to reduce the processing time to 90 days. I am not that naïve to think that somebody will get his GC in 90 days. Evidently, the government has another way to let the “fruit to ripe”, and that is by controlling the visas. The whole process will take exactly the same amount of time, but CIS will not be the one to control it. CIS announced they will eliminate the backlog by the end of 2006. Take that date as the start of this new approach.

2.Starting that date (end of 2006) priority date will be the one to control the GC process and not the I-485 notice date. Once the cut-off date will pass your priority date, that will allow you to submit your I-485 application. In 90 days you will have the GC but, remember, after you already waited in line for two years in order to pass the cut-off date.

3.The new H1-B law will take effect 180 days after signed by the president and it is not approved yet by the Congress.

All of us will have GC’s in our pockets long before any of these to happen.

I posted that just FYI. I know there are a lot of people interested in things like that. If not, disregard.

Relax. Serenity now!
 
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Serenity_now!!! said:
Regarding the Pilot Program – it’s already in effect at CSC and it will be applied to all SC’s. It is just a matter of time.
Click to expand...

Almost five years ago, then-Governor Bush promised to reduce immigration processing times down to 180 days. Hasn't happened yet, and really there hasn't been much change in immigration processing times since 1996 or 1997. Maybe by 2010 this'll happen, but if I went by predictions I made for my life in 1999, I'd be a dot-com millionaire by now.

Starting that date (end of 2006) priority date will be the one to control the GC process and not the I-485 notice date.
Click to expand...

Considering that the majority of EB applicants are not resricted by priority dates, and never have been, this is an interesting supposition. Having certain groups of applicants held up by priority dates didn't eliminate the backlog in 1999, and won't now.

The new H1-B law will take effect 180 days after signed by the president and it is not approved yet by the Congress.
Click to expand...

Wrong again. Certain H-1B provisions in the spending bill will take effect immediately upon the President's singature, like the raised "fraud/training fees" that affect everyone.
 
TheRealCanadian,

You obviously have a certain urge for debating and arguing, I will not fall for that.
Your lack of a more plausible argument is understandable as long as you associate yourself with that puerile and pejorative TV commercial.
 
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