Hello and welcome to the June 2006 Immigration Newsletter!
This month started with the announcement from the USCIS that it had received sufficient applications to meet the H-1B cap for FY 2007. Though everyone expected that H-1B numbers would be over in record time this year, it was surprising that May 26th became the “D-day”. The update on cap numbers released by USCIS on May 25th showed approximately 12,000 numbers that still remained to be filled and everyone was baffled with the announcement that all those numbers were filled in a single day. Later the USCIS clarified that the cap-updates were inaccurate because of lags in data entry and receipting of cases. The Advanced Degree numbers are still available but, as we advised earlier, it is always prudent to plan early and act fast, without waiting for the last moment.
Things were pretty cold on the comprehensive immigration reform front. Now that the Senate has passed its bill, popularly known as the “Hagel-Martinez compromise”, a Senate-House Conference committee will be constituted to arrive at a compromise. We have learnt that the House is considering beginning a fresh series of hearings on immigration reform next month. In that case it is unlikely that any immigration legislation will be passed by the Congress this year. As always, we will keep you updated on all the happenings through Immigration News as well as the Immigration Monitor.
This month we take you on a wonderful journey through the world’s romance capital – Paris, and the lovely city of Moscow. Our In Focus article focuses on the E-2 Investor visa processing at the U.S. Embassy in Paris, France. The U.S. Embassy in Paris has clear procedures to update the applicants on the status of their E-2 visa petitions. The embassy maintains an online record of the applications received and updates the status regularly so that the applicants are able to track the status of their petitions online.
For the benefit of U.S. citizens wishing to bring their fiancé(e) from Russia, this month’s Immigration Article explains the fiancée visa processing at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow. Over 80% of the participants of last month’s poll voted in favor of expanding the benefit of premium processing to family visa petitions.
Continuing with our discussion on immigration reform and the likely fight between the pro- and anti-immigration lobbies in the Congress, do you think a good deal will emerge out of the Conference Committee? Will the House agree to the Senate’s proposal of increasing the H-1B cap and the Immigrant visa numbers? Don’t forget to share Your Opinion in this month’s poll.
Wallace Kaufman deserves congratulations for winning last month’s Immigration Quiz. It seems the question was quite simple as we received a lot of correct responses. Wallace wins a FREE online consultation with a VisaPro attorney.
Next month may see some activity in the House regarding the immigration reform debate. We will keep a close watch on the developments and provide you with regular updates as and when the House begins a fresh series of hearings.
See you with more updates on immigration reform and much more in the next month’s Immigration Monitor.