June 2007

EMPLOYMENT-BASED VISA PRIORITY DATES ARE CURRENT
USCIS recently revised all employment-based priority dates as CURRENT (except those for "other workers"). All applicants, including those from China, India, Mexico, and the Philippines, are immediately eligible to file their visa applications. Contact us immediately to file your PERMs, I-130s, labor certifications and more. All applicants, except for "other workers," are immediately eligible to file to receive benefits like work authorization for yourself and your spouses. It is important to contact Fleischer Law Firm as soon as possible to file your employment-based visas because a new fee schedule will be in place beginning July 30, 2007. In order to avoid paying higher filing-fees, contact us immediately to begin your employment-based visa application.

The employment-based visa priority dates can be found at www.uscis.gov in the current visa bulletin.

All fees will be raised by the new fee schedule on July 30. The complete new fee schedule can be found at www.uscis.gov. Below are some notable changes to the schedule:

Form Number	Current Fee	New Fee - effective 7/30/07
I-129 (Petition for a non-immigrant worker)	$190	$320
I-130 (Petition for alien relative)	$190	$355
I-140 (Immigrant petition for alien worker)	$195	$475
I-485 (Application to register for permanent residence or adjust status)	$325	$1,010
I-751 (Application to remove conditions on residence)	$205	$545
I-765 (Application for employment authorization)	$180	$340
N-400 (Application for naturalization)	$330	$675

Again, the new fees will be effective starting July 30, 2007. Contact us immediately to begin your filings and avoid the new higher fee schedule.

Attention Employers: Cost of Labor Certification is your Responsibility
The Department of Labor recently published a regulation in the Federal Register amending current regulations concerning the Labor Certification process for the Permanent Employment of Aliens in the U.S. Most notably, the regulation requires that employers now pay the costs of preparing, filing, and obtaining a Labor Certification for their employees. The regulation also strictly prohibits the transfer of the employer's costs during the labor certification or application process to the alien beneficiary. In other words, employers are now responsible for paying attorney fees for labor certifications.

The rule does allow an alien to pay his or her own personal costs, including attorney fees for personal representation, incurred in connection with labor certification. However, if the same attorney represents both the alien and the employer, the employer must bear the costs of attorney representation

This new regulation goes into effect July 16, 2007. It is important that you contact us immediately to begin any labor certifications so to avoid the added cost of attorney's fees.