April 2006 II Immigration Bulletin

April 7, 2006

USCIS Reaches H-2B Cap for the Second Half of Fiscal Year 2006

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services ("CIS") recently announced that it has received a sufficient number of petitions to reach the Congressionally-mandated H-2B cap for the second six months of fiscal year 2006 ("FY2006"). The CIS declared that April 4, 2006, would be the "final receipt date" for new H-2B worker petitions requesting employment start dates before October 1, 2006. The "final receipt date" is the date on which the CIS determines that it has received enough cap-subject petitions to reach the limit of 33,000 H-2B workers for the second half of FY2006.

The CIS will apply a computer-generated random selection process to all petitions which are subject to the cap and were received on April 4, 2006. This process will select the number of petitions required to meet the cap. The CIS will reject all cap-subject petitions not randomly selected as well as any petitions for new H-2B workers seeking employment start dates on or after April 1, 2006, that arrive after the "final receipt date."

Please note that petitions for both current and returning H-2B workers do not count toward the Congressionally-mandated H-2B cap. "Returning workers" are exempt from H-2B cap limitations. To qualify as a "returning worker," the worker and individual must have counted against the H-2B cap between October 1, 2002 and September 30, 2005.

Please also note that the CIS will continue to process petitions filed to:

§ Extend the stay of a current H-2B worker in the United States;

§ Change the terms of employment for current H-2B workers and extend their stay;

§ Allow current H-2B workers to change/add employers and extend their stay; or

§ Request eligible H-2B "returning workers."

USCIS Notifies Employers of Filing Changes

Effective April 1, 2006, all petitions containing a Form I-129 (and all related applications) must be filed with the Vermont Service Center. Also effective April 1, 2006, all petitions containing a Form I‑140 must be filed with the Nebraska Service Center. These changes mark the first phase of a CIS initiative to use centralized filing and "bi-specialized" adjudication. Dividing work between the Service Centers will allow the CIS to better manage cases and improve customer service.

Please note that, until further notice, the CIS will not reject applications or petitions filed at an incorrect Service Center. Instead, the CIS will accept the filing, redirect it to the correct location, and honor the initial receipt date.

USDOS Announces Schedule A Numbers Remaining

Recently, the U.S. Department of State ("DOS") announced that there are approximately 20,000 Schedule A visa numbers remaining for the 2006 fiscal year. The DOS expects this category to remain "current" through the end of the fiscal year, i.e., September 30, 2006. The DOS further announced that it anticipates the need to establish a cut-off date at some point during the first quarter of Fiscal Year 2007, i.e., sometime between October 1, 2006 and December 31, 2006.

France to Issue Biometric Passports Beginning in June 2006

The French Ministry of the Interior recently announced that it expects to start issuing the much-awaited biometric passports in early April. The initiative will begin in the Paris area and should be active throughout France by June 2006. French nationals holding the new biometric passport will no longer need to apply for a visa to enter the United States as a business visitor/tourist.

As previously noted, the U.S. Department of State now requires French nationals traveling to the United States with passports issued on or after October 6, 2005, to present a biometric passport or valid visa upon entry. Because the French government has so far been unable to issue biometric passports, an extremely large number of visa applications have been filed with U.S. Consulates in France, creating unusually long visa processing times. Currently, it is taking U.S. Consulates in France more than two months to process such applications.

The French government's difficulty/delay in issuing the required passports was the result of a dispute between the government and various labor unions.

Please contact any member of the Cohen & Grigsby Immigration Department if you have any questions regarding the above.