• USCIS Reminds of Requirements to Use Revised Form I-9

Use of Form I-9 Employment Eligibility Verification (Rev. 02/02/09) is now mandatory (86 IR 945; April 6, 2009).

• USCIS Releases Memorandum on E-Verify

USCIS has released a memorandum that simplifies instructions for use of the E-Verify Program, reviews the availability of registration and operational documents online and explains the use of tickler system capable of issuing prompts to employers to remind them to take certain actions (86 IR 946; April 6, 2009). 

• USCIS Issues Memorandum on Inadmissible Aliens

USCIS has released on March 3, 2009 a memorandum on inadmissible aliens (INA §212(a)(6)) which consolidates a series of past memoranda on the different grounds of inadmissibility (86 IR 965; April 6, 2009).

• USCIS Continues to Accept FY 2010 H-1B Petitions

USCIS announced that it continues to accept H-1B visa petitions since the numerical cap of 65,000 had not yet been reached. By May 11, 2009 USCIS had received only 45,000 H-1B petitions. The Service is still accepting petitions as long as they are received before the cap is reached (86 IR 1049; April 13, 2009). 

• US Department of State Issues a New Exchange Visitor Skills List

On April 30, 2009, the Department of State published the Revised Exchange Visitor Skills List in the Federal Register. The updated list will become effective on June 28, 2009 (Available at http://www.nafsa.org). 

• DHS Publishes New Worksite Enforcement Strategy|
  

On April 30, 2009 the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) published the new worksite enforcement strategy which will focus on criminal prosecution of employers who find and process illegal immigrants or who harbor illegal immigrants (Available at www.dhs.gov).

• PERM Decisions: Incomplete Applications Will Be Denied

An employer filed a labor certification (ETA Form 9089) which was incomplete in that sections F-2 and J-13 were left blank.  The employer rationalized that because the job was not a professional occupation and because experience, rather than education, was a prerequisite, these were permissible omissions. The Certifying Officer denied the application. On appeal the Board stated  that Section F-2 must be completed regardless of whether the occupation is professional or non-professional and that Section J-13 is a required box to fill out once an entry in box F-11 is made   (86 IR 1065; April 13, 2009; In Matter of Maestro Electric Inc., 2008-PER-00050, 2009 WL 918515 (BALCA, April 1, 2009)). 

• BALCA Decision: Rejection of Qualified US Applicants

The employer was represented by a lay person who filed a labor certification application where the employer had rejected all 35 US applicants. The Board of Alien Labor Certification Appeals (BALCA) held that poor representation, even by a non-lawyer, is not sufficient to reopen an application (86 IR 1071; Matter of J.H. Castro Designs Corp., 2007-INA-00267, 2009 WL 965675 (BALCA April 6, 2009)). 

• BALCA Decision - Unstated Job Requirements

The Board of Alien Labor Certification Appeals (BALCA) held that even though an employer who filed an application for labor certification may reject US applicants who do not possess the experience in the key duties of the job; however, an employer may not use requirements that are not listed in the Form 750A. Thus, should some requirements be so significant that a prospective applicant may be reasonably rejected if he lacked any of them, such requirements must be included in the Form 750A and will not be implied (86 IR 1073; IN Matter of J.E. Liesfield Contractor, Inc., 2008-INA-00024, 2009 WL 965674 (BALCA April 6, 2009)).

IR-Interpreter Releases; IB-Bender’s Immigration Bulletin; American Immigration Lawyers Association Monthly Journal; AILA - American Immigration Lawyer’s Association