• Department Of State Proposes Rule Change To Exchange Visitor Program For Secondary School Students

An advance notice of proposed rule making (ANPRM) was issued to identify six areas for comment to include use of standard information on the Family Application Form, requirements for photographs of host families homes, appropriateness of references for a host family from local coordinators and family members, whether fingerprint based background checks should be required, establishment of baseline financial resources for host families and establishment of limitations on the composition of potential host families.  (87 IR 955; May 10, 2010). 

• Degree Equivalency-EDGE Database

The Administrative Appeals Office (AAO) and the Service Centers in Nebraska and Texas are relying on the AACRAO EDGE Database in making degree equivalency determinations in EB-2 and EB-3  I-140 petitions.  The American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admission Officers (AACRAO) known as the EDGE Database (Electronic Database for Global Education), is administered by the Education Admissions and Registration Professionals represented by more than 2,500 institutions in 30 countries. (http://aacraoedge.aacrao.org/registrar) (15 IB 733; May 15, 2010). 

• Labor Certifications – Business Necessity 

The Board of Alien Labor Certification Appeals (BALCA) decided In Matter of Wissen, Inc., 2009-DER-00405 (BALCA April 15, 2010), that the employer had failed to justify the requirement for a total of five years preparation in the job advertised when it required a Bachelor’s Degree plus three years experience in the job offered.  The certifying officer issued an audit notice stating the requirement required a business necessity justification to which the employer’s audit response was insufficient to justify exceeding the Specific Vocational Preparation level assigned to the occupation as shown in the O*Net Job Zones.  (87 IR 973; May 10, 2010). 

• A Department of Labor Adds H-1B Advisor To It’s Website To Help Employers Understand How to Comply with the H-1B Vista Program (http://www.dol.gov/elaws/h1b.htm) (87 IR 1024; May 17, 2010).

• Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) distinguishes between technical and substantive violations in Form I-9 Preparation

An Administrative Law Judge reviewed the obligations of an employer in the preparation of the I-9s and determined in a Motion for Summary Judgment that the failure to complete Section 2 of an I-9 form within three business days of hiring an employee is a substantive violation similar to the failure to sign the form or the failure to identify proper List A or List B and C documents or to provide their titles, identification numbers and expiration dates or alternatively to attach copies of the documents to the form. (March 18, 2010); 87 IR 1034; May 17, 2010). 

• BALCA Decision Reverses the Denial of the Labor Certification on the Failure of an Employer to Include a Notice of Filing in its Audit Response

The Board of Alien Labor Certification of Appeals vacated the denial of the certifying officer on the grounds that the officer abused his discretion in refusing to consider whether the absence of the Notice of Finding (NOF) was a mere oversight as opposed to an inability or refusal to produce a document where the preponderance of the evidence indicated the failure was inadvertent rather than purposeful or negligent to a degree that reconsideration would not be warranted.  (Matter of Luigi’s Restaurant, 2009-BER-00357, August 31, 2009; 15 IB 754; May 15, 2010).

• BALCA Confirmed the Denial of a Labor Certification on Alternative Requirements

Where the employer sought labor certification on the grounds that alternative requirements of a high school diploma and 14 years of experience in marketing research was substantially equivalent to the primary equirement of a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration and 2 years experience, The Board upheld the certifying officer who issued a finding that the substantially equivalent alternative would have been a high school diploma and 4 years experience according to agency guidelines. (Matter of Globalnet Management, LC, 2009 BALCA Lexis 221 (BALCA August 6, 2009; 15 ID 660, May 1, 2010). 

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