USCIS Announces Fee Increase for Most Immigration Filings.
A USCIS final rule appearing in the Federal Register on Friday,
Sept. 24, 2010, increases petition and application fees by an
average of ten percent. Most notable for employers and employees,
the Form I-140 Immigrant (Green card) Petition fee is increased
from $475 to $580; the Form I-485 Adjustment of Status application
fee is increased from $930 to $985; and the I-765 Employment
Authorization Document application fee is increased from $340 to
$380. There is a small increase for Form I-129 Nonimmigrant
Petitions (H and L visa petitions) from $320 to $325. USCIS is also
increasing its Premium Processing Fee from $1,000 to $1,225. The
new fees apply to all filings postmarked on and after Nov. 23,
2010. Petitioners and applicants with time-sensitive filings need
to be especially cognizant of the new fees. USCIS will reject as
improperly filed any filing postmarked after Nov. 23 that contains
the old fee. For more information, click here.
September 2010 H-1B Cap Count.
As of Sept. 24, approximately 39,600 H-1B cap-subject petitions
were receipted. In addition, USCIS has receipted 14,400 H-1B
petitions for aliens with advanced degrees. Based on current
numbers, the caps for H-1Bs will not be reached until December 2010
at the earliest.
Employers Criminally Charged for Hiring Illegal Aliens.
Between Oct. 1, 2009 and July 31, 2010, U.S. Immigration and
Customs Enforcement (ICE) Office of Homeland Security
Investigations (HSI) has initiated audits of 1,641 U.S. employers
and has issued 172 final fine notices totaling over $4 million. It
recently announced that it was bringing federal criminal charges
against two Los Angeles-area employers for knowingly hiring illegal
aliens. In one prosecution against Masters in Metal, Inc., the
owner of the company and his son can face up to six months in
prison. According to ICE HSI, an audit of the company's records
revealed 16 employees had used counterfeit resident alien cards to
obtain jobs. Although the company claimed it had terminated those
employees, ICE HSI subsequently found that two of the employees
remained on the payroll. In the other prosecution, an employee of
Parker Personnel, Inc. was taken into custody for allegedly hiring
illegal aliens and providing them with counterfeit immigration
documents. For more information, click here.
Senate Blocks Consideration of DREAM Act. The U.S.
Senate fell short of the 60 votes needed to pass a motion to
proceed to consideration of the FY 2011 defense authorization bill.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) indicated that he would
have added the DREAM Act as an amendment to the defense
authorization bill. The DREAM Act likely will be revisited during
the lame duck session of the 111th Congress. If ever enacted, it
would give certain inadmissible or deportable alien students who
graduate from U.S. high schools the opportunity to earn conditional
permanent residency. To qualify, the student must have arrived in
the U.S. as a minor, have been in the U.S. for at least five years
prior to the bill's enactment, have good moral character and
either have served in the U.S. military for at least two years or
have completed two years out of four of a bachelor's degree
program in the United States.
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