Eb-2 and EB-3 from China visa bulletin updates

Beginning with the June 2013 Visa Bulletin, the third preference employment-based immigrant visa category (EB-3) for individuals born in the People’s Republic of China (China) has a more recent cut-off date than the second preference employment-based category (EB-2). The December 2013 Visa Bulletin indicates that EB-3 immigrant visas are available for Chinese nationals whose priority dates are earlier than October 1, 2011, while EB-2 visas are available for those whose priority dates precede November 8, 2008. This situation is likely to continue.1 Accordingly, practitioners should consider filing Immigrant Petitions for Alien Worker (Form I-140) in both the EB-2 and EB-3 categories either concurrently for new petitions, or filing an EB-3 petition for a Chinese national who is already the beneficiary, Please contact us if interested

ICE breaks of Immigration fraud ring

A man illegally living in the United States was convicted at trial late Wednesday of attempting to bribe a corrupt government official to obtain a "green card," part of a long-term joint undercover investigation into a group of Chinese nationals engaged in purchasing fraudulent permanent resident alien cards. The investigation was conducted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Washington, D.C., and the Herndon Police Department. "This conviction is the culmination of an intensive undercover investigation that dismantled an immigration fraud organization," said HSI Washington, D.C. Special Agent in Charge John P. Torres. "These organizations threaten our national security and place our communities at risk because they create a vulnerability that may enable terrorists and criminals to gain entry to and remain in the United States. HSI DC recognizes the extraordinary contribution by the Herndon Police Department and other law enforcement partners in our continued commitment to make our communities safer." Rui Shui Chen, 44, a citizen of the People's Republic of China who was not legally present in the United States, was convicted Sept. 26 of conspiring to commit immigration fraud, which carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison, and misuse of immigration documents, which carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison. Sentencing is scheduled for Dec. 14. "Green cards sold on the black market pose a serious threat to our national security," said Neil H. MacBride, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia. "This is a difficult crime to infiltrate, and the success of this investigation is a tribute to the patient and dedicated investigators at HSI DC and Herndon Police Department."

DV Lottery Snafu

Tens of thousands of would-be immigrants may be unable to move legally to the United States after the State Department said Friday that a computer glitch is forcing them to scrap the results of an annual worldwide lottery for U.S. visas.

More than 14 million applicants entered a lottery last fall for one of 50,000 visas distributed as part of the annual Diversity Visa Lottery, designed for people who would otherwise have little chance of legally entering the country. The program doesn’t require applicants to have a family or employer as a sponsor.

PERM recruitment- Employer refferal program

Per BALCA:

"We find that, in order to make the employee referral program recruitment step meaningful, an employer must minimally be able to document that (1) its employee referral program offers incentives to employees for referral of candidates, (2) that the employee referral program was in effect during the recruitment effort the employer is relying on to support its labor certification application, and (3) that the Employer’s employees were on notice of the job opening at issue." Matter of SANMINA-SCI CORPORATION, 2010-PER-00697, Jan. 19, 2011.