TOUGH DAYS ahead?

G

gimmeabreak

Registered Users (C)
The President signed the Omnibus bill yesterday, December 8th, 2004. Following are the provisions that effect us:



H1B fee increase, effective immediately.

Unless the employer is filing a 2nd extension for the same employee:

· Effective immediately: For employers with over than 25 employees: filing fee = $1685

· Effective immediately: Employers with less than 25 employees: filing fee = $935

· After March 8, 2005:

o For employers with over than 25 employees: filing fee = $2185

o Employers with less than 25 employees: filing fee = $1435

These fees are for non-premium processing. For premium processing, add another $1000 to these fee.

Other Provisions:

· Employer has to match the prevailing wages when filing a H1B. We can no longer file with 95% of the salary.

· After March 8, 2005: US Masters/PhD students can file for a H1B. Only 20,000 are allowed



EB-3 Retrogresses for India, Philippines and China.



This morning the Department of Labor issued the backlog numbers. Beginning January 1st, 2005, green card petitions filed by employers for Bachelor degree holders and Schedule A occupations (nurses and physical therapists), "EB-3 cases" will retrogress to January 2002. Priority date will be the date of filing the labor certification or I-140, whichever was filed first.



This is effect ends the simultaneous filing of the Adjustment of Status petition with the I-140 for EB-3 filings. Any I-140 filed for Bachelors degree holders after January 1st, will have to wait 3 years before a person could adjust status. Similarly, if the beneficiary is outside the US, the person will need to wait 3 years before the Consulate will issue their green card and allow them to travel to the US.





Action Plan

· For H1s: If you are filing for a transfer petition or for an extension of an existing H1, file as soon as you can. The fees have been raised, but will be increased even further in March.

· For I-140/485:We are still allowed to file I-140 together with the I-485 till January 1st. Do it. If you keep it pending, you will not be able to file the I-485 for three years even if your I-140 is approved earlier.

· For Labor Certifications: Again, for Labor Certifications, file before January 1st, 2005. If you do not have advertisements that are current, file non-RIR petitions. Even is the Department of Labor takes 2 years to approve your labor certification, because you are filing before January 1st, you should be able to file your I-140 and I-485 together. Besides, the Department of Labor is starting the PERM process early next year and attorneys are not sure how that will effect processing. For that reason as well, it is recommended the you file while the current method is still being used.
 
nice summary

Very nice summary Gimmeabreak! Thanks for simplifying everything :)

One question, you say :

For I-140/485:We are still allowed to file I-140 together with the I-485 till January 1st.

I know USCIS is thinking of stopping concurrent applications, but i haven't seen any reports that have announced this yet. Where did you get hte Jan 1st date from??
 
Labor filed before Jan 1st 2005

Hi Gimmeabreak,
According to your summary, I filed my labour Feb 2003 and am still waiting. Once my labor gets cleared can I concurrently apply for I140/I485 as my PD date is before Jan 1st 2005. Its my understanding that I can file for 485 only when PD becomes current..so with current dates almost a year behind. Also any idea (from past statistics) after a retrogression do the dates move any faster?

Thanks

-Madhu
 
what does this sentence mean --> "Any I-140 filed for Bachelors degree holders after January 1st, will have to wait 3 years before a person could adjust status."
My Labor is pending,so if i file for I-140 next year,i have to wait for 3 years???
I have a Masters though..but my case is EB3
 
You can file 140 but cannot file 485. Thats was the rule before . So it would basically mean that concurrent processing of 485 and I140 is going to be history. You have choice to opt for consular processing.
 
astreix said:
You can file 140 but cannot file 485. Thats was the rule before . So it would basically mean that concurrent processing of 485 and I140 is going to be history. You have choice to opt for consular processing.
Click to expand...

I assume that you are talking about visa number not current for China, Phillipines and Mexico. I am from South America, so I can file I-140+485 concurrently, right ?
 
Yes, you can still apply concurrently if you were not born in any of the following countries: China, Phillipines and India.
I don't know about the visa numbers for Mexico though.
 
gcbeku said:
Hi Gimmeabreak,
According to your summary, I filed my labour Feb 2003 and am still waiting. Once my labor gets cleared can I concurrently apply for I140/I485 as my PD date is before Jan 1st 2005. Its my understanding that I can file for 485 only when PD becomes current..so with current dates almost a year behind. Also any idea (from past statistics) after a retrogression do the dates move any faster?

Thanks

-Madhu
Click to expand...

If you are citizen from India, China, and Phillipnes. Your PD has to be before Jan 02. On Jan 01/05, they will start to apply this process. The retrogression date is Jan 01/2002.
 
Its confusing.. I applied I140/485 concurrent in Aug 2004, with substitute labor. I guess my PD will be Aug 2004(because substitute labor). How does this retrogression effect me?

Will it effect all the applications that are going to apply after 1st jan 2005 or it also effects all the applications which where filed in 2004 (with processing dates 2004)??

Thanks in advance !!
 
from murth.com

the following new flash from murthy.com is clear enough for any question regarding:

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Employment Visa Numbers Retrogress!
Dec 09, 2004

As predicted, the Department of State (DOS) has announced that the Employment Based, 3rd Preference (EB3) visa numbers for India, mainland China, and the Philippines will retrogress on January 1, 2005. The EB3 numbers for nationals of the listed countries will retrogress to January 1, 2002. This means that, as of January 1, 2005, anyone who is the beneficiary of a labor certification (or I-140 if a labor certification was not required) in the EB3 category filed on or after January 1, 2002, will not be permitted to file the I-485 or have a consular interview for an immigrant visa until the numbers move beyond this date. The DOS has indicated that further retrogression may be possible in future months. For a detailed analysis of the implications of retrogression, see our Sep 24, 2004 article, Priority Dates May Retrogress <murthy.com/news/n_pridat.html>, available on MurthyDotCom. The DOS Visa Dates <murthy.com/visadate.html> are also available on MurthyDotCom.
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