[April 15, 2008]

IMMIGRATION JUDGES

¨ù                 that the U.S. entered into a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Czech Republic that will add that country to the list of Visa Waiver Program countries?

¨ù                 that U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced that nearly 163,000 H-1B petitions were received during the filing period ending on April 7, 2008?

¨ù                 that more than 31,200 of these petitions were for advanced degree category?

¨ù                 that USCIS expects to conduct a computer-generated random selection process beginning with selection of 20,000 petitions under the advanced degree exemptions?

¨ù                 that the others will join the random selection process for the cap - subject 65,000 limit?

¨ù                 that regular updates will be provided?

¨ù                 that Immigration received approximately 1.4 million naturalization applications during 2007?

¨ù                 that individuals who filed for citizenship during the summer of 2007, can now anticipate an average processing time of 14  - 16 months for these applications?

¨ù                 that the Department of Labor issued new statistics on PERM applications (Labor Certifications)?

¨ù                 that statistics indicate that more than 85,100 PERM cases were certified during FY 2007?

¨ù                 that foreign workers representing 176 countries were certified for permanent work in the U.S.; the top countries were Indian (24,573), China (6,846), Mexico (6,442), South Korea (5,159), and Canada?

¨ù                 that the top states receiving workers were California (20,222), New York (8,843), New Jersey (6,594), Texas (6,534) and Florida (5,128)?

¨ù                 that the top employers were Microsoft Corporation, Cognizant Technologies, Oracle USA, Inc., Intel Corporation, Ernst & Young, LLP, and Motorola Incorporated?

¨ù                 that nearly six out of 10 PERM cases were certified for small employers (less than 250 workers)?

¨ù                 that the top economic section was information technology, the top industry sub-sectors were custom computer programming services and computer systems design and related services, and the top occupations in demand were computer software engineers, system software engineers, and computer systems analysts?

¨ù                 that on February 26, 2008, the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) published in the Federal Register the new rule increasing civil monetary fines imposed on employers who violate immigration laws?