The USCIS and the State Department have agreed to a process that will facilitate the entry of nonimmigrant petition-based employment visa petitions (H, L, O, P, Q) into the State Department’s PIMS system, where an extension of stay, change of status, or petition amendment is requested. Upon approval of a petition where a change, extension, or amendment is requested, and the petitioner provides duplicate original petitions to USCIS, USCIS will send the duplicate copy to the State Department’s Kentucky Consular Center (KCC) for scanning and entry into the PIMS database.

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The House Judiciary Committee passed HR 5060, a bill allowing P-1 athletes to seek extensions beyond 10 years, the current limit on the status. If the bill eventually becomes law, P-1s will be able to extend in five-year increments for as long as they can demonstrate they qualify in the category. The bill failed to pass before the close of the 110^th Congress.

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The US House of Representatives passed HR 1312, also known as the Arts Require Timely Services (ARTS) Act.  The bill mandated that O-1 cases be adjudicated in a one-month timetable or automatically convert at no cost to the applicant to premium processing.  The bill failed to pass before the close of the 110^th Congress.

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On April 8, 2008, USCIS announced that the H-1B cap has been hit, and it will hold a lottery to randomly select the 65,000 petitions.  The H-1B visa is the category commonly used by fashion models.

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Congress has failed to pass legislation that would have extended the provision of immigration law allowing returning workers on H-2B visas to be exempt from the annual 66,000 cap on H-2B temporary workers.

The Save Our Small Businesses Act, was introduced in the Senate as S 988 on March 26, 2007, and in the House of Representatives as HR 1843 on March 29, 2007.  Both acts would have extended the termination date for the exemption of returning H-2B workers from the numerical limitations beginning October 1, 2007.  When these measure were not passed, the issue was attached to the Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act of 2008, or HR 2638.

On February 26, 2008, Jim Gerlach (R-PA) introduced HR 5495, also known as the Relief for America’s Small and Seasonal Businesses Act in the House of Representatives.  If passed, the bill would extend for one year the provision allowing returning workers on H-2B visas to be exempt from the annual 66,000 cap on H-2B temporary workers.  

The H-2B visa allows for 66,000 temporary, nonagricultural nonimmigrants to work in the US each year.  Workers who fall into this immigration category include entertainers and athletes and who do not meet the requirements of the O and P visa categories. 

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“Frozen River,” a movie about two women who smuggle Chinese migrants from Canada into the United States, won the prize for best American drama at this year’s Sundance Film Festival.

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Disclaimer: This newsletter is provided as a public service and not intended to establish an attorney client relationship. Any reliance on information contained herein is taken at your own risk.