USCIS Is Issuing RFEs on I-485s for Medical Exams

The I-485 medical exam is required for many  I-485 applications. The medical examination report, form I-693, is part of the supporting documentation to the I-485 filing. The I-693 form is generally valid for a one-year period.

USCIS has begun issuing RFE (requests for evidence) for updated medical examinations in connection with long-pending I-485 applications.

This is because is many medical exam forms are set to expire on May 31, 2014. From June 1, 2014 onwards, adjustment candidates should be aware that they might be requested to obtain and submit fresh medical exams to update their medical records on pending I-485.

The medical report I-693 is supposed to be valid only for one year but the USCIS has been issuing its policy annually to extend the medical report on file with the USCIS for I-485 applicant. But AILA has reported that the USCIS will cease such age-old policy. 

USCIS US Citizen I-129F, I-130 & I-485 Processing Statistics As Of 02/28/14

Please see below latest US Citizen Beneficiary Statistics released by USCIS:

USCIS I-130 - Immediate Relative Category Processing Statistics:

	CSC	VSC	National
All Other Pending	14,519	25,542	306,382
Customer action waiting	13,245	1,556	25,854
Completed	13,625	909	57,614
New receipts	85	3,717	38,617

CSC = California Service Center 
VSC = Vermont Service Center 
    
USCIS I-129F Processing Statistics:

	CSC	VSC	National
All Other Pending	2,648	800	12,021
Customer action waiting	1,620	150	2,241
Completed	1,901	588	4,309
New receipts	1,641	79	4,016

USCIS I-485 Processing Statistics: 

USCIS FB I-485 & I-130 Processing Statistics As Of 02/28/14

Please see below latest FB (family based) statistics released by USCIS:

USCIS I-130 - Preference Category Processing Statistics

	CSC	VSC	NSC	National
All Other Pending	3,393	12,728	0	18,375
Pending but adjudication deferred	350,996	122,074	4,474	482,809
Customer action waiting	11,597	4,973	1,384	18,140
Completed	14,515	3,655	1,473	20,764
New receipts	14,272	3,468	498	18,364

Volume in Texas Service Center (TSC) is currently low.

CSC = California Service Center
VSC = Vermont Service Center
NSC = Nebraska Service Center
 
USCIS FB I-485 Processing Statistics

USCIS EB I-140 and I-485 Processing Statistics As Of 02/28/14

USCIS EB I-140 Processing Statistics 

	TSC	NSC	National
Pending	11,986	4,846	16,884
Customer Action Wait	809	2,473	3,282
Completed	2,417	1,288	3,705
New Receipt	3,584	2,413	5,997

The number of completed cases in most categories decreased at both NSC and TSC in the last one month.

USCIS EB I-485 Processing Statistics

USCIS received about 172,500 H-1B petitions For Fiscal Year 2015

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced on April 7 that it has received a sufficient number of H-1B petitions to reach the statutory cap of 65,000 visas for fiscal year (FY) 2015. USCIS has also received more than the limit of 20,000 H-1B petitions filed under the advanced degree exemption.

USCIS received about 172,500 H-1B petitions during the filing period which began April 1, including petitions filed for the advanced degree exemption. On April 10, 2014, USCIS completed a computer-generated random selection process, or lottery, to select enough petitions to meet the 65,000 general-category cap and 20,000 cap under the advanced degree exemption.

For cap-subject petitions not randomly selected, USCIS will reject and return the petition with filing fees, unless it is found to be a duplicate filing.

The agency conducted the selection process for the advanced degree exemption first. All advanced degree petitions not selected then became part of the random selection process for the 65,000 limit.

On March 25, USCIS announced that they would begin premium processing for H-1B cap cases no later than April 28.  For more information on premium processing for FY 2015 cap-subject petitions, see the related USCIS Alert.

May 2014 Visa Bulletin Analysis

For May 2014 Visa Bulletin, please click here: http://blog.mygcvisa.com/2014/04/may-2014-visa-bulletin.html

Please see below analysis of May 2014 Visa Bulletin:

EB1: All EB1 categories are current and should continue to remain current for fiscal year. Demand continues to be around 1000-1200 every month (per the latest pending inventory).

EB2 ROW: This category continues to remain current. Demand in EB2ROW continues to be very low at an average of around 400 per month. This is good news for EB2 India and China, as they could get a higher spillover in FY 2014.

EB2 China: EB2 China also moved forward by 5 weeks. It should continue to move forward around 3 to 5 weeks per month. It is still be behind EB3 China which is ahead by more than 3 years.

EB2 India: There was no change in EB2 India movement. As we had mentioned earlier, there was huge retrogression in EB2 India due to large amount of porting from EB3 India to EB2 India. We have added a blog post exclusive to EB2 India movement in fiscal year 2014. Also please see this blog post for updates in EB2 (India, ROW and China) category.

June 2014 Visa Bulletin Predictions

For May 2014 Visa Bulletin, please click here: http://blog.mygcvisa.com/2014/04/may-2014-visa-bulletin.html

Please see June 2014 Visa Bulletin Predictions below (for both Family Based and Employment Based):

Quick Summary:

• EB1, EB4, EB 5: Current
• EB2 Rest Of World: Current
  EB2 China: 4-6 weeks (still behind EB3 China)
  EB2 India: 0 day. Please see article 1. Also see article 2.
• EB3 (ROW, China, Mexico): 0 day. Please see article.
  EB3 India: 2 weeks.
  EB3 Philippines: 3 to 6 months. Please see article.
• FB categories: 1 to 14 weeks. Please see article.
• F2A: 0 day. Please see article.

Please Note: These numbers do not include the 10,000 additional unused visas from FB category to EB category.

Family Based:

Family-Sponsored	All Chargeability Areas Except Those Listed	CHINA- mainland born	INDIA	MEXICO	PHILIPPINES
F1	01APR07	01APR07	01APR07	01DEC93	01JUL02
F2A	08SEP13	08SEP13	08SEP13	15APR12	08SEP13
F2B	01JUN07	01JUN07	01JUN07	01JUN93	15JUL03
F3	15OCT03	15OCT03	15OCT03	08JUL93	08MAR93
F4	22DEC01	22DEC01	22DEC01	08DEC96	01DEC90

Employment Based:

May 2014 Visa Bulletin

For April 2013 Visa Bulletin, please click here: http://blog.mygcvisa.com/2014/03/april-2014-visa-bulletin.html

May 2014 Visa Bulletin has been released (valid from May 1 to May 31 only). Please see below for more details.

Family Based:

Family-Sponsored	All Chargeability Areas Except Those Listed	CHINA-mainland born	INDIA	MEXICO	PHILIPPINES
F1	08MAR07	08MAR07	08MAR07	15NOV93	01FEB02
F2A	08SEP13	08SEP13	08SEP13	15APR12	08SEP13
F2B	01FEB07	01FEB07	01FEB07	15MAY93	22JUN03
F3	01SEP03	01SEP03	01SEP03	01JUL93	01MAR93
F4	08DEC01	08DEC01	08DEC01	01DEC96	01NOV90

Employment Based:

May 2014 Demand Data

May 2014 Demand Data should be published soon. Demand data is used by DOS to calculate the monthly visa bulletin dates. If you are not familiar with demand data, please see this article: What is Demand Data?

There should not be any major changes in the May 2014 Demand Data.

EB2 India: As many of you know, due to huge demand from EB3 India porting to EB2 India, USCIS had to stop allocating visas to EB2 India category from November 20, 2013.  The demand data should include these porting cases, if they have been preadjudicated.

Currently the cases are been counted twice in both EB3 and EB2 category (since they do not have a system to accurately track various porting cases). Please see article.

EB3 ROW: The full demand for EB3 ROW/Mexico/China should start showing up in the next I-485 pending inventory. However since VB dates keep moving forward and visa is available, not all cases would appear in this demand data. This is because demand data only contains preadjudicated cases (and CP cases).

Currently it takes about 4+ months to process I-485 and preadjudicate case. Hence demand data for these categories could appear to be low, though dates have moved by 3+ years.

How to Properly File Your H-1B Petition

Please follow these steps:

1. Complete all sections of the Form I-129 petition, including the H Classification Supplement (pages 11 and 12 of the form) and the H-1B Data Collection and Filing Fee Exemption Supplement (pages 17-19). Make sure the Form I-129 has a revision date of November 23, 2010, or later. (You can find current versions of forms at www.uscis.gov/forms.)
2. Make sure each form has an original signature, preferably in black ink.
3. Include a signed check or money order with the correct fee amount.
4. Submit all required documentation and evidence with the petition at the time of filing to ensure timely processing.
5. Be sure to file the petition to the correct USCIS service center. See the section below on Where to Mail Your H-1B Cap-Subject Petition.

Note: It is your responsibility to ensure that Form I-129 is completed accurately and submitted properly.

 

Additional Documents Required With Your Petition

Labor Condition Application (LCA)
You must submit a certified Department of Labor LCA (Form ETA 9035) at the time you file your petition. A copy of the LCA is acceptable.

Note: USCIS encourages petitioners to keep Department of Labor LCA processing times in mind when preparing the H-1B petition and plan accordingly.  If the LCA is certified for multiple workers, you must provide the name and USCIS case receipt number of any foreign worker who has previously used the LCA.

Petitioners should be sure to sign the LCA before submitting it with the petition to USCIS.
Please see the Department of Labor’s Office of Foreign Labor Certification website for more information on the LCA process.