DOL Confirms Additional iCERT Glitch Discovered

DOL has confirmed Aila member reports of a new problem with the iCERT system that can lead to LCA denials. Specifically, when registering a company or when adding a company to your account list, if the company’s FEIN begins with zero (”0″), the system drops some digits and inserts errant digits. The erroneous FEIN then populates new LCAs. If the user doesn’t notice the incorrect FEIN, and submits an LCA, that LCA can be denied for FEIN no-match. DOL is aware of the problem and is working on a fix. Meanwhile, attorneys are advised to review iCERT LCA submissions closely, and to correct when necessary the FEIN before submission.

DOS on Employment-Based Visa Availability Before October 1, 2009

The State Department has advised AILA at due to the large number of approvals issued in the past few weeks, employment-based visa numbers are no longer available for this fiscal year that concludes on September 30, 2009. This affects all categories of employment based immigrant visas. Numbers will become available again on October 1, 2009, as stated in the October 2009 Visa Bulletin. USCIS will continue to accept I-485 applications in categories showing visa availability based on the September Visa Bulletin, USCIS will not able to approve pending I-485 applications unless a visa number was previously captured.  Where a USCIS officer adjudicated or pre-adjudicated a case and it was in the DOS “pending” queue and DOS has sent the electronic notification allocating a number to the Service Center, USCIS should issue the approval. For those consular processing because visa numbers for scheduled cases have already been allocated as part of the scheduling process, scheduled immigrant visa appointments at consulates for September will continue and immigrant visas may be issued.

USCIS Updates FY 2010 H-1B Count

September 18, 2009 H-1B Cap Count

As of September 18, 2009, approximately 46,000 H-1B cap-subject petitions have been received by USCIS and counted towards the H-1B cap. Approximately 20,000 petitions qualifying for the advanced degree cap exemption had been filed. USCIS will continue to accept both cap-subject petitions and advanced degree petitions until a sufficient number of H-1B petitions have been received to reach the statutory limits.