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*******
UPCOMING NPZ SPEAKING
EVENTS:
TEANECK
INTERNATIONAL
FILM
FESTIVAL, 2015
When: November 6th, 2015
Time: 7:00 PM
Where:
Teaneck Cinemas
503 Cedar Lane
Teaneck, NJ 07666
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Quick Links
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:: 201-670-0006 (X100)
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OUR OFFICES:
NEW JERSEY OFFICE:
VISASERVE Plaza
487 Goffle Road
Ridgewood, NJ 07450
Phone: 201-670-0006 (x107)
NEW YORK OFFICE:
108 West 39th Street
8th Floor, Suite 800
New York, NY 10018
Phone: 1-866-599-3625
INDIANA OFFICE:
Indianapolis City Center
201 North Illinois Street
16th Floor, South Tower
Indianapolis, IN 46204
Phone: 317-936-6600
BOSTON AREA OFFICE:
300 Brickstone Square
Suite 201
Andover, Massachusetts
01810
ATT: Call Rabindra Singh, Esq. at 125
INDIA AFFILIATED OFFICE:
Kaival Chalishazar, Adv.
Kaival Chalishazar & Co.
22 Vasant Kunj
New Sharda Mandir Road, Paldi, Ahmedabad 380007, India
ATT: Call Kaival at x130
(This office provides on the ground services to our Indian clients such as India Divorce, India Real Estate Purchase and Sale, Business Sale Purchase, Adoption, Litigation and High Court Complaints.
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OF COUNSEL:
Law Office of Michael Phulwani
F603 Remi Biz Court
Veera Desai Road
Andheri West
Mumbai 400 053, India
ATT: Ask for Sangeeta
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Dear Readers:
We are closing-in on the one year anniversary of President Obama's Executive Actions. So much has happened with the the President's Executive Action Plan and so much has NOT happened. In general, the initiatives set forth in the various memoranda promulgated by the Obama Administration have taken shape: (1) The Visa Bulletin has been modified; and (2) STEM OPT is proposed to be extended; and (3) Priorities for Enforcement have been revamped; and (4) H-4 dependents are eligible (in some cases) to work; and (5) The Provisional Waiver Program is slotted to be expanded; and (6) The definition of "Extreme Hardship" has been clarified; and (7) the definition of "specialized knowledge" in the L-1B context was clarified.
Another part of President Obama's Administrative Actions was the promise of expansion of the U.S. Naturalization Application Process. Recently, the USCIS announced the ability of applicants to pay the Naturalization Application fee by credit card. Also recently, the Obama Administration launched a new, multilingual campaign to encourage eligible immigrants to become U.S. citizens. "It's not about changing who you are, it's about adding a new chapter to your journey, as an American citizen. And to our journey as a nation of immigrants," President Obama says in a promotional video. "If you're eligible, commit to becoming a citizen today," he adds. "Help others who are ready to take this step as well. It is an important step for you and an important step for our nation. Join us, together we can make America stand even stronger." According to the White House, there are 13.3 million legal permanent residents in the United States, 8.8 million of whom are eligible to apply for citizenship.
As part of the effort, USCIS is expanding its services to new, rural areas, allowing credit card payments for naturalization fees and launching new tools to aid immigrants seeking to become citizens. Additionally USCIS will be expanding its use, reach and the variety of languages for public service announcements promoting citizenship. USCIS has already placed PSAs in California, New York, Texas, and Florida. The White House also said that the USCIS will place PSAs in New Jersey, Illinois, Massachusetts, Virginia, Washington, and Arizona. All together, those states have 75 percent of all the legal permanent residents (green card holders) in the U.S.
Members of the Nachman Phulwani Zimovcak (NPZ) Law Group continue to volunteer their time teaching Naturalization classes in the community for various NGOs. If you, your family or any of your friends or colleagues may be able to benefit from the U.S. immigration and nationality law services of the NPZ Law Group, please feel free to contact us by e-mail at [email protected] or you can feel free to call us at 201-670-0006 (x107). We have offices in NJ, NY, Indiana and Boston and Counsel offices in India and Canada. We look forward to being of assistance.
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MEHTA V. DEPT. OF STATE: WILL PLAINTIFFS BE SUCCESSFUL IN OBTAINING THE INJUNCTIVE RELIEF IN THE CLASS ACTION COMPLAINT? By: Michael Phulwani, Esq., David H. Nachman, Esq., and Rabindra K. Singh, Esq.
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Without wasting too much ink (and time) discussing how the October 2015 Visa Bulletin was transformed by the Department of State (DOS) when it was originally released on September 9th, 2015, and how the Priority Dates (PD) were revised only four (4) days before its effective date, this article seeks to analyze the very important question of whether the Plaintiffs in the Class Action Lawsuit can obtain Injunctive Relief from the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington in Seattle.
Injunctive Relief consists of a special court order called an "injunction" which is a form of equitable relief, requiring an individual to do or not do a specific action. Because it is an extraordinary remedy, the courts utilize the injunction (or other equitable relief) in special cases where the preservation of the status quo (or taking some specific action) is required in order to prevent a possible injustice.
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MEHTA V. DEPT. OF STATE: WHY PLAINTIFFS FAILED IN OBTAINING INJUNCTIVE RELIEF IN THE CLASS ACTION COMPLAINT? By: Michael Phulwani, Esq., David H. Nachman, Esq., and Rabindra K. Singh, Esq.
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As we previously projected in our recent article/blog posting, MEHTA V. DEPT. OF STATE: WILL PLAINTIFFS BE SUCCESSFUL IN OBTAINING THE INJUNCTIVE RELIEF IN THE CLASS ACTION COMPLAINT?, the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington at Seattle on October 7, 2015, denied the Motion for Injunctive Relief (Temporary Restraining Order) by a group of high-skilled immigrants that would have forced the Department of Homeland Security ("DHS") to accept Adjustment of Status Applications ("AOS") as per the "Filing Date" chart contained in the originally issued October 2015 Visa Bulletin by the Department of State ("DOS").
This supplementary blog posting/article seeks to analyze the very important question of why the Plaintiffs in the Class Action Complaint failed to prove "Irreparable Harm" in obtaining the Injunctive Relief (TRO) from the United States District Court in Seattle.
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USCIS ANNOUNCEMENT: I-140, I-485 WORKLOAD TRANSFERS AND A CHANGE IN THE DIRECT FILING ADDRESS FOR CERTAIN FORM I-140 PETITIONS SUBMITTED TOGETHER WITH FORM I-907, REQUEST FOR PREMIUM PROCESSING.
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On October 7th, 2015 USCIS announced that in order to improve efficiency, USCIS recently re-balanced the workload distribution of certain Form I-140 petitions and employment-based Form I-485 applications between the Texas Service Center and the Nebraska Service Center.
Unless you are submitting a Form I-907 together with a Form I-140 petition for a worksite in one of the states (
Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania), please continue to file your forms as indicated on the form instructions.
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TRANSFERRING FORMS I-600 FILED ON BEHALF OF CHILDREN FROM THE REPUBLIC OF KOREA FROM NATIONAL BENEFITS CENTER TO USCIS SEOUL FIELD OFFICE.
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Since
October 1st, 2015
, the USCIS National Benefits Center (NBC) no longer issues final approval of
Forms I-600, Petition to Classify Orphan as an Immediate Relative
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filed on behalf of children from the Republic of Korea (ROK). Instead, NBC will transfer cases that appear to be approvable to the USCIS Field Office in Seoul (USCIS Seoul). This internal change will not impact the processing of these cases.
Petitioners may continue to file Form I-600 petitions in the United States with the USCIS lockbox for processing by the NBC. Once USCIS receives your Form I-600, the NBC will review it to ensure that it is complete and contains all required documentation, including evidence of legal custody (or guardianship) and compliance with the Intercountry Adoption Universal Accreditation Act of 2012. If necessary, the NBC will issue a Request for Evidence (RFE) or Notice of Intent to Deny (NOID), and will issue a Denial notice if you fail to establish that the child qualifies for classification as an orphan.
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THE NOVEMBER 2015 VISA BULLETIN: DOS REPORTS NOVEMBER 2015 VISA NUMBERS - IS YOUR PRIORITY DATE CURRENT? IF SO, PLEASE LET US KNOW.
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Final Action Dates and Family-Based Preference Categories: The family-based categories continued to progress slowly and steadily, advancing approximately one month in most cases. F-1 Philippines jumped ahead one year from June 1, 2001 in October to June 1, 2002 in November. However, this advancement is somewhat deceptive, since F-1 Philippines retrogressed towards the end of this past fiscal year, moving from February 1, 2005 in May 2015 to dates in 2000 from June through September 2015. The October and November advancements merely represent a recovery from that retrogression. Charlie predicts that this category will likely continue to advance for the next month or so, depending on the level of demand that materializes.
Final Action Dates and Employment-Based Preference Categories: The EB-5 Regional Center Pilot Program and "certain religious workers" categories were originally listed as "unavailable" in the October Bulletin while Congress considered an extension of these programs. On September 30, 2015, both programs were temporarily reauthorized (until December 11, 2015), which resulted in those cut-off dates immediately becoming "Current" (with the exception of EB-5 China) for October. China EB-5 advanced to November 22, 2013, up from October 8, 2013 in
the October Visa Bulletin.
China EB-2 will advance one month in November from January 1, 2012 to February 1, 2012. China EB-3 will advance approximately two and a half months in November from October 15, 2011 to January 1, 2012. China EB-3 Other Workers will also move forward three months to April 2006.
India EB-2 will move forward 15 months from May 1, 2005 in October to August 1, 2006 in November. While this appears to be a big leap, it is largely the result of a correction based on the retrogression of this category late last fiscal year as the number of available visa numbers dwindled: The Final Action Date for EB-2 India reached October 1, 2008 in August 2015, but then retrogressed to January 1, 2006 in September. Charlie predicts that this category will likely continue to move forward.
The Final Action Dates for India EB-3 and EB-3 Other Workers will advance less than one month in November to April 1, 2004. Usage in this category has been particularly high and it is too early in the fiscal year for unused numbers from other categories to trickle down. Forward movement in this category should remain limited.
Final Action Dates for all Mexico EB categories will remain the same in November, with all categories current except for EB-3 and EB-3 Other Worker which are almost current at August 15, 2015. Charlie is watching these categories closely to see whether the forward movement during the last fiscal year will spur demand and impact these cut-off dates.
Philippines EB-3 and Other Workers categories will advance five and a half months in November to June 15, 2007. All other Philippines EB categories remain current.
Filing Dates
All of the employment-based Filing Dates listed in the
Revised October 2015 Visa Bulletin are the same for November. The family-based Filing Dates also remain the same with the exception of:
| Category |
October Visa Bulletin Filing Date
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November Visa Bulletin Filing Date
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Difference |
| F-2B Mexico |
1/1/1996 |
4/1/1996 |
3 Months |
| F-4 Mexico |
5/1/1998 |
6/1/1998 |
1 Month |
| F-2B Philippines |
1/1/2005 |
5/1/2005 |
4 Months |
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SE HABLA ESPANOL - OUR STAFF SPEAKS SPANISH AND MANY OTHER LANGUAGES.
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Como proyectamos anteriormente en nuestra reciente publicación del artículo/blog: MEHTA V. DEPARTAMENTO DE ESTADO: ¿SERÁN LOS DEMANDANTES EXITOSOS EN OBTENER LAS MEDIDAS CAUTELARES EN LA DENUNCIA COLECTIVA?, la Corte Federal de Distrito para el Distrito Oeste de Washington en Seattle el 7 de octubre de 2015, negó la Propuesta de Medidas Cautelares (Orden de restricción temporal) por un grupo de inmigrantes altamente cualificados que habría obligado al Departamento de Seguridad Nacional ("DHS") A aceptar solicitudes de ajuste de estado ("del AM") de acuerdo con la tabla de "fecha de presentación" contenida en el Boletín de Visas Del Departamento de Estado ("DOS"), originalmente emitido en Octubre del 2015.
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"IMMIGRATION NEWS AND VIEWS" - NPZ'S NEW PRACTICAL SERIES ON YOUTUBE ABOUT VARIOUS U.S. AND CANADIAN IMMIGRATION LAW ISSUES.
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NEW VISA BULLETIN | AC-21 MOBILITY | CHILD STATUS PROTECTION ACT | STEM EXTENSIONS.
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New Visa Bulletin
* Apply 485 application
* Who is the person in charge of the department of state who monthly decides?
* He is always considered about the visiting numbers every month
* Each month American Consulate and the immigration service request the Department of State to give us so many numbers
* What they are doing is getting the numbers and are no using them in 2007 The department of State got extremely upset
* The Department of State are encouraging people to complete their cases of the Department of State already have the completed file in order to modernize and make it easier for the Department to view the numbers
* Michael agrees that it is a great idea so that they don't waste any Visa Numbers being used up.
* This is only for people that are physically living in the U.S. Adjustment of status can only be done if the person you are talking about is in the U.S.
* You also have to be Eligible, if the person maintains legal status or if the person is considered a 245I which means they filed before April 2001
* Not anybody who is illegal
Benefits:
People who are going to benefit are the people here in the United States who are filing for their adjustment of status applications
o They'll be getting work authorization
o They'll be getting advance parole travel
o They'll be getting the ability to take advantage of EC 21 mobility
* Criteria
* AC-21- It's a property right issued by the government that the individual gets in the perm labor certification.
o Labor Certification- process generally the employer drives process, they unshackled the employer and the employee at the certain point in the process and that is called AC 21 mobility under section 106
o If a perm labor certification application is approved and I 140, and I 485 has been filed, and it's been pending for 180 days, and the individuals moving to a new position in the same or similar occupation which is open for subjective determination. For an example is an IT professional and they're going on to become a data manager or an analyst somewhere else those are considered same or similar occupations.
o An individual gets a personal property right in that labor certification and they don't have to stay at the same place of employment, they are able to move to another place of employment
o It's a wonderful benefit that was conferred under AC-21, but there are some procedural nuances with regard to proving in the adjustment of status process that the individual is in the same or similar occupation.
* You can only solve this issue only if you have filed a 45.
* What's nice about the new Visa Bulletin is that now you can file that 485 in advance of the priority date.
Child Status Protection Act
o Children that got left behind because they have aged out in history before the CSPA the child was 21 years and one day that's it. Arriving in the U.S. you must reach year before you hit 21.
o New Idea we will calculate the amount of time that immigration took in approving your petition and when the visa number becomes available we look at the age of the child.
o Ex if child is 23 but immigration took four years to approve, you minus 4 years from the agent, and the child will go back to 20. It's a good program but won't benefit children.
o Doesn't think it will be beneficial because CSPA is the law being made by the congress.
o Most important issue on the act, is the calculation of how long the I130 is pending or the I140 and then you back it out.
o The petition is more relevant
o ICSPA shakes out on this issue
Medical Exam
o Medical reports are good for one year and if we know that one year is going to lapse before the priority date actually becomes current than a lot of people who do those earlier filings potentially could lose the validity of those medical reports of the border every day without
o Currently David and Michael are telling they're clients not to file the medicals and to wait because we know that in the adjustment of status process when they don't see a medical report.
o They'll submit an RFE and they'll ask for the medical reports so they can send it back.
o When it comes and it's a simple one like a medical report it brings the case to the top of the pile and hopefully it moves right through the process
Conclusion
Stem Extensions- subject of a court action in Washington D.C. and the government had stated that they were improper so we are currently waiting for the government now to issue a new rule because there has to be a rule to deal with stem extensions. In order to deal with stem extensions and we will update the viewers ASAP!
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PROCESS OF VISA BULLETIN HAS CHANGED.
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Purpose:
* To take advantage of the opportunity to file in advanced to get the benefits associated with the green cards.
* Every day there is always new information being updated
2 Recent Development changes
* The Family Category: Jan 15 2008 was advanced by 4 weeks
* The Family 2A category: spouse, children under the age of 21 advanced by 6 weeks to April 15, 2014
* The Family 2B category- green card holders- advanced by 3 weeks Jan 15, 2004
* Brothers and Sisters of US Citizens advanced by 3 weeks Feb 8th 2003.
* 1st preference which are property workers are current
* 2nd preference is for advanced degree holders except for India Moved to May 2005
* 3rd preference is for the prof and skilled workers March 8, 2004
* 4th preference is for the religious workers but is currently unavailable because category requires extension from the congress
Problems:
* Is a nuanced because of the fiscal year and all of the new visas get dumped into the classification
* Interesting to see retrogression at the beginning of the fiscal year
* This is the First Visa Bulletin that was reported in the new fiscal year.
Process of Visa Bulletin Has Changed:
* Changed for the best and has brought good news into people who have been caught in the very long visa backlogs process
* Every Month get Bulletin has a second chart which shows how to file the 485, it may not help everybody.
* The process before was that you got sent a letter stating that you got approved
* Then you are supposed to wait until the visa number becomes available - and you can file the 485 only when the visa number becomes available
History
* Nov 2014 President Obama made an announcement about what are called executive actions
* Memoranda that were put out by the president
o 1 modernization and esteemed lining of the legal immigration systems for the 21st cent. On Nov 21st 2014 document was promulgated
o Just modified a procedure that was already in place, which is why it's an executive action as opposed to a formal rule which requires a formal rule making process, where there is a publication of a rule in the Federal register, and then a 60 day rule making process where people can give comments.
o DOS USCIS designed a new chart that is split into 2 separate categories
o AFAD- (Applications for Final Action Date) - which is the date when DOS or USCIS may render a final decision on the applications (i.e. approve the grant of permanent residency because an immigrant visa number is available). This chart contains the same "cut-off" data that has historically been published in the Visa Bulletin.
o DFA (Date for Filing Applications) - really good notifies individuals when they can allow to make filings earlier so in advance of the actual priority. It also gives people time to start gathering their documents in advance and getting their documents into the government.
o DFA is essentially ahead of AFAD.
What do you get when you file?
* Work authorization, advance parole if you're entitled, the ability to use AC-21 mobility.
* 180 day clock start ticking toward the ability to move into a new position in the same or similar occupations. Starts towards AC-21
* Child Status Protection Act Benefit- the Child Status Protection Act (CSPA) amended the Immigration Nationality Act (INA) by changing who qualifies as a child for purposes of immigrant. This permits certain beneficiaries (see the glossary for a definition of the term "beneficiary") to retain classification as a "child," even if he or she has reached the age of 21.
o Calculations of certain categories of months saved:
o F1- 14.5 months before the priority date us actually current
o F2- India 10.5 months
o F2B- India 17.5 months
o F3rd India- 10.25 months
o F4th in India- 11.75 months
o EB1- Current
o EB2- 62 month spread to file very early
o EB3= 15.75
o EB4= current
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